Looking Back – The Codpiece

It can be funny sometimes to think how styles and trends and the epitome of manliness have changed over the years. When this writer was a little girl, manly men wore white Y-front undies and never went without a white chesty Bonds singlet (at least, that’s what my father wore ... and does to this day. Some of us don’t move with the times so easily, it seems).

Five hundred years ago, the epitome of the quintessential manly man was expressed in the codpiece. Worn almost exclusively through the 1500’s and all but gone by the 1600’s, this was one unforgettable garment which was basically underwear worn as outerwear.

Men of this era wore hose to cover their legs; these did not cover the genitalia as well.  The stylish length for jackets and doublets rose over time, and men found themselves embarrassingly exposed in their nether regions when they sat or mounted their horses. To cover their genitals, they wore a simple piece of linen which was tied down or buttoned to the hose. It was named the codpiece, from the Middle English word “cod” which meant “scrotum”. The codpiece also offered better freedom of movement.

It wasn’t long before codpieces became a way for men to enhance rather than hide the area. They were padded, embellished, and made longer and bigger - to the point of being ridiculous. Some were crafted from metal. The bigger a man’s “ego”, the bigger he wore his codpiece.

There may have been other reasons for this than to simply emphasise and exaggerate a man’s sexual wares. Anthropologists believe that the prevalence of venereal diseases dictated the use of codpieces to allow them contain dressings and medications for the area, without being obvious to others.

King Henry VIII of England is perhaps the most famous wearer of the codpiece; a look at his surviving armour shows just how big he wore this garment. Considering that it is well known that he suffered from advanced and severe syphilis, and in light of the medication theory, one can surmise that perhaps it wasn’t all about his ego. Not entirely, anyway.

These days we usually only see codpieces at Renaissance Fairs and on Superhero costumes...

G-Strings – The Pros and Cons

G-Strings. Otherwise known as “thongs”, you either love them or hate them.

I have to admit, I am a fan – and have been for the better part of twenty years, when I discovered them at the age of nineteen. My mother was confused by this. My grandmother was scandalised. They could never see how it could possibly be comfortable – or what the point was if my butt wasn’t covered.

But therein lies the whole point. Don’t get me wrong; I do like big “Bridget Jones” undies under certain circumstances. Like in winter.  Or when the tummy absolutely MUST be given a little extra help at being sucked in. But come summer, when it’s hot, or when thinner clothing might display the dreaded visible panty line, there’s nothing better than a G-string.

Some ladies might say going commando in these circumstances is the better option. Um, no. I’m afraid I just can’t do that. It seems, somehow, totally unhygienic...

For the uninitiated, a g-string (or thong) is an undergarment which covers the pubis and the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a thin band which runs around the hips. It was first invented in its modern form during the age of jazz, when it was worn for modesty by burlesque dancers.

So what are the pros and cons of wearing g-strings?

Pros:

·        Feels like wearing nothing if the correct size is worn

·        No visible panty line

·        Can look and feel very sexy

·        Can be cooler in hot weather

·        Can be incredibly comfortable

·        Guys tend to love them

Cons:

·        Can be uncomfortable or even painful if the incorrect size is chosen

·        Should not be worn every single day

·        Under some garments, your butt might get rubbed or irritated – for example, rough or heavy jeans

·        They are not going to absorb sweat on a hot day like briefs will

·        Worn with pants that sit on the hips, you may be able to see the thong above the waistline – not a good look

Tips to Successfully Wearing a G-String

·        Always choose a cotton garment, or at the very least, one with a cotton gusset

·        Change regularly – at least every day.

·        Choose a size larger than your normal underwear – this is both more comfortable as well as more sanitary

·        Accept that it can take some getting used to

·        Accept that wearing a lace thong might defeat the purpose of wearing them  insofar as the visible panty line – like lace bras, lace on a thong will often show its texture through clothing

·        Don’t wear a g-string every day

·        Never wear a thong for sleeping at night

·        Avoid wearing a thong when menstruating

·        Avoid wearing a thong for long trips, like flying

What was going on under all those Skirts?

Historical women’s underwear was truly mind boggling. They might not have worn bras or underpants, but they certainly didn’t skimp on hidden fripperies under their skirts. In fact, there was some seriously hardcore hardware worn underneath clothing.

Here is a rundown on what well-dressed ladies wore underneath those long skirts...

·        Open Crotch Pantalets – these were basically two individual leg covers which came over the hips at the sides and tied at the waist. They provided no cover to the genitalia whatsoever, being fully open from the thigh to the waist. It was believed that women required proper ventilation in the area. In the mid-1800s, some of these pantalets or drawers had optional buttons applied to the crotch.

·        Dimity Pockets – before the days of handbags, this was how women carried their bits and bobs, including keys. There were worn under the skirt, tied at the waist, and were accessed via a slit in the folds of the skirt. In time, pockets were sewn directly into skirts instead.

·        Panniers – these were wide hooped petticoats. The woman tied the support garment at the waist, which gave the shape to dresses during the 1700’s. The style of the time dictated a very wide skirt from the hips – panniers created the effect.

·        Bustles – these were worn in the later 1800’s and early 1900’s. Women wanted an hourglass silhouette and the bustle nicely contrasted with the cinched and corseted waist. The bustle enhanced and showed off the buttocks – so that even the flattest-bottomed woman had a pleasing rear.

·        Cage Crinolines – these were the undergarment big guns. The shape of the early Victorian era dictated tiny waists and voluminous skirts – the bigger the better. Enter the Cage Crinoline. Rings of steel were attached with string and worn tied at the waist. They not only distributed the enormous amount of fabric in women’s skirts, they allowed a woman to walk without getting tangled in said skirting. They had to be removed to catch public transport, and women required assistance to dress.

Underwear in Space?

Carrie Fisher famously told the story of how, during the making of the Star Wars movies, director George Lucas convinced her to go commando under her costumes, because, “there is no underwear in space”. So off with the bra and panties!

According to what Lucas reportedly told Fisher, in space, when one is weightless, the flesh expands – and normal underwear would become too small and constrictive. Is this true?

Another space film which received some criticism on the underwear issue was Gravity. Sandra Bullock’s character floats weightlessly in the space station in boy-short undies and a singlet. According to a professional astronaut, this just does not ring true at all...

It seems that attire in space is anything but sexy.

So what do astronauts wear under their space suits?

Underneath the heavy and cumbersome space suit, an astronaut wears a liquid cooling and ventilation garment. This resembles a set of thermal underwear, with cooling tubes for water to keep the body temperature stable. And underneath this? Adult diapers, or nappies.

Called Maximum Absorbency Garments (MAGs), they have extra absorbency properties and are worn during lift off, landing, and “space walking”, to absorb what would usually be deposited in the toilet. Both male and female astronauts wear them. While in all possible instances the astronaut will use lavatory facilities on the space station instead, the MAG provides peace of mind. Space suits are not easy to get on and off.

NASA astronauts are given MAGs for launch, spacewalking, and re-entry attempts. They also drink a large amount of salty water before re-entry as fluids are not retained in zero-gravity; this prevents them from fainting when being re-exposed to gravity on Earth.

These undergarments become drenched in sweat – apparently the human body gets hot out there.

And what happens to the dirty underwear? Apparently dirty laundry gets tossed into a resupply ship which is unmanned. When the ship is chock full of rubbish (including those adult nappies), the hatch is closed, it is undocked, and floats off into space to fall into the atmosphere – where it burns up on its fall towards Earth. Now we all know what is in space dust...

Amazing Historical Underwear: Mary, Queen of Scots’ Chemise

There are numerous undergarment relics to be found around the world. One of these can be seen in Warwickshire, England, at Coughton Court. This manor house is the seat of the famous English Catholic family, the Throckmortons, who have been in residence there for six hundred years.

The relic is purportedly the chemise worn by Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots during her execution on February 8^th, 1587. This Catholic queen was beheaded in Scotland on the orders of her Protestant cousin Elizabeth I, due to various plots by Mary which threatened her seat on the throne of England as well as her life.

The queen’s death was anything but clean and precise. Her beheading required three attempts before it was achieved, and the whole spectacle was a very grisly end to the life of a woman and an aristocrat.

Considered to have been worn for the occasion, the long white linen chemise was worn as an “underdress”.  Low in the collar and wide across the shoulders (which, if genuine, might explain the absence of bloodstains), it has been carbon dated to the year of the Scottish queen’s death in 1587, and it is stitched with the words, “of the holy martyr, Mary, Queen of Scots”. It has been taken very seriously as a genuine relic by devout Catholics ever since the sixteenth century.

Whether the chemise is genuine we will never know – though that likelihood is somewhat questionable. Not only due to the absence of any stain. Contemporary reports stated that her undergarments were all crimson red – to represent a Catholic martyr. Whether this is true of fabricated is a mystery.

There are also reports that everything connected with the execution was ordered to be burnt – from the block and the scaffold to the queen’s clothing. Yet it is not a stretch to imagine that loyal supporters would not have secreted away whatever they could to be kept as relics of the event.

We will never know. Personally, I think it more likely that, yes, the chemise was owned and worn by the Scottish queen – just not on that last grisly day when she lost her head.

The Joys of Bra Shopping – the Teen Perspective

As a teenager, I have mixed feelings about bras. Most of those feelings are negative. As an example, when the only bra I have left is that one bra which is visible through my shirt. As I walk around, I’m perfectly aware that every single person in my vicinity knows the colour of one half of my underwear. And I begin to wonder, why did I buy this bra? Ah, yes, bra shopping. I love shopping for myself, but bra shopping is something I could very easily do without.

Firstly, since I cannot drive, and when I’m starting out with bra shopping require some … assistance, I have to go with my mother. Which would normally be fine, if we were shopping for something like clothes or presents for friends. But bra shopping is a bit more perilous in this situation. It begins with the moment I walk into the bra section, and I am bombarded with the sight of neon pink and bright green bras, and I think “how do people even wear those without the aforementioned see-through shirt disaster?” With a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure there is no one I know within a 50 metre radius, I reluctantly press on further into the shopping section of doom.

It turns out, while I was busy contemplating the issue of bumping into school peers and neon bras, my mother has already picked out a selection for me to try on. And since I’ve already managed to get separated from her, she is forced to hold it up in the air and call out to me. At this moment, I have one of two choices: walk towards the bra being suspended in the air and reveal that it is beckoning for me; or I can hide, and no doubt succumb myself to more calling out and eventual anger from my mother. Let’s face it, angry mothers are scary. So, I make my way towards her, once again hoping that no one I know is nearby.

After a hasty discussion involving my mother holding the bra up to me and asking me whether I think it will fit (if I say yes, does that mean we can leave early?), I have to go try it on anyway. Now, I don’t know about you, but stripping down in a change room is hellishly awkward. They don’t have CCTV cameras in there, right? Not to mention the straps on this bra probably won’t be set right, and the band will be stubborn and not want to attach, and basically it will just be a disaster. Still, it’s a bra, and it fit eventually, so I’m done here, and I’m ready to leave this shop as soon as possible.

Okay, so maybe I’m being a bit harsh on the bra shopping experience. It is important, and when you learn you’ve gone up a bra size, well, that’s always a bit exciting (as a teen it is, anyway). There are definitely aspects which are less than desirable, and when you’re a teenager, the bad tends to outweigh the good. Thank goodness for online shopping at Undiewarehouse!

Grab Your Gonads!

Everyone is more than aware just how important it is for women to self-check their breasts on a monthly basis, to note any lumps, bumps, dimpling, or other changes which may indicate there is something that needs to be checked out by a doctor. But what about guys?

It is every bit as important that men regularly check their testicles, in a similar way to how women are recommended to keep a watch on their breasts. Called Testicular Self Examination (TSE), it takes just a few minutes (in the shower can be a great time to do so) and can help detect testicular cancer in its earliest stages, when it is very highly curable.

Though testicular cancer is relatively rare, it also has one of the highest cure rates of all cancers – which is why it is so important to find it early. Men of all ages may be affected, but most commonly they are between sixteen and forty years of age.

All guys should regularly check their testicles, to be familiar with what is normal for them, and to easily note if a change presents. Those men for whom the risk is greater include having had an undescended testis at birth, or who are infertile - but any man can be at risk. There are also other, non-cancerous testicular conditions which need to be seen to and which TSE can identify.

TSE takes only a minute or two – literally. Choose a day once a month. Make sure the scrotum is relaxed and warm, such as just after a shower. Check one testicle first, then the other. Roll the testis using fingers and thumbs of both hands, and also feel along the underside of the scrotum (this should feel like a small bunch of tightly curled tubes). Healthy testicles should feel like smooth, firm eggs, not be painful or uncomfortable to gently handle, and one may be slightly larger than the other. One will commonly hang lower than the other.

If you note any kind of irregularity or change, see your doctor promptly. It may not necessarily be cancer! There are a number of other conditions which may cause irregularities. If it is cancer, early treatment is vitally important.

Look after what you have in your undies – grab your gonads every month!

An Heroic Campaign from Jockey...

Jockey underwear has a long and illustrious history of providing men with briefs, boxers, singlets, and much more for many decades. They have recently released a global advertising campaign which may well be their cleverest yet...

The idea of putting sporting greats in underwear advertising campaigns is nothing new – and Jockey has done so, from  baseball’s Baltimore Oriole pitcher Jim Palmer in the 1970s, to basketball player Michael Jordan, and, more recently, soccer legend David Beckham.

The latest Jockey campaign, with the catchphrase slogan , “Supporting Greatness”, shows images truly great American heroes doing what they did in their briefs.

Astronaut and moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, military man General George Patton, and baseball king Babe Ruth were all known to wear Jockey briefs – that is a fact – and the company is taking advantage of the fact that these great men wore their merchandise.

Buzz Aldrin, now aged eighty-four, was the second man to walk on the moon – and he has expressed great pride in being a part of this exciting new campaign. As he said himself, “everybody wears underwear” and “this commercial is fun”.

The television commercials are especially fun. Aldrin is seen in a spacesuit on all kinds of planets, planting the American flag whilst swatting away aliens and asteroids. Commercial spots with Patton and Ruth are in planning stages.

There are both television and print commercials to be broadcast and published, and for Jockey, the aim is to remain cool, appeal to men as buyers of underwear, and to deliver the powerful message: that if these men wore Jockeys, today’s guys should do so as well.

And we know they did. Babe Ruth was a spokesman for Jockey during the years of his career; Patton, like almost all of the American military of the time, wore them, and Aldrin wore them in training as they were a supplier to NASA. (He did not actually wear them on the moon - apparently space requires specialised undergarments – who knew?).

The end message is that Jockey is enduring, reliable, functional, and supports greatness of all kinds in its wearer. Get yours from Undiewarehouse today!

Knickers Snippets

·         Acquired from the estate of the late Baron Joseph de Bicske Dobronyi, and auctioned on eBay in 2012, a pair of underwear reputed to have belonged to Queen Elizabeth II sold for US $18,000. Described as a “museum quality collectible”, the panties were mistakenly left onboard a chartered plane in 1968, which was used that year during the queen’s first trip to Chile. Kept in a marked, manila envelope ever since, the knickers are vintage silk, with a scripted monogram “E” on them, and have an exquisitely crocheted lace hem. Buckingham Palace refused to neither confirm nor deny whether these undergarments did in fact once belong to the queen.

 

·         A pair of bloomers worn by Marilyn Monroe during the making of 1954’s River of No Return sold at auction in 2012 for US $44,000.  The item had been kept by her long-time makeup man, Alan Whitey Snyder, and was auctioned along with many other of her belongings which were kept by his estate.

·        Crooner Frank Sinatra was very slight in both stature and body size – for much of his life he could even have been considered to be unhealthily thin and of no manly shape. He was, however, very generously endowed in the manhood department. Contrary to expectation, Sinatra was not proud of this fact – quite the opposite, he was very self-conscious. He even had his underwear custom-made to ensure that everything was properly contained.

·        A pair of periwinkle coloured silk underpants custom made for Elizabeth Taylor to wear in 1963’s Cleopatra we auctioned in 2014 for US $1875. They have small snap closures, hand sewing, and a costume label inscribed with her name.

·        A pair of soiled underpants belonging to Elvis Presley failed to sell at auction in 2012. Worn in 1977 under a jumpsuit, during what would have been one of his final performances, the style was chosen by the King as they did not give visible lines under the tight fitting jumpsuit. A reserve price of US $10,000 was set but failed to be reached – perhaps because they were visibly dirty?

Underwear Museum

Have you ever visited an underwear museum?

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has a travelling exhibition called “Undressed: 350 Years of Underwear in Fashion”. Currently on exhibit at the Bendigo Art Gallery in Victoria, Australia, it highlights pieces from the V&A’s extensive underwear collection, which dates back to the seventeenth century.

The history of underwear is tracked in this interesting exhibition, with pieces ranging from crotchless bloomers that once belonged to (and were worn by) Queen Victoria, right through to contemporary white briefs from Calvin Klein.

Throughout centuries, not worn simply for cleanliness and warmth, underwear has been a useful garment to shape the body into the ideal look of each moment in time: from tight-laced Victorian waspish waistlines, to Edwardian S-bent spines and heaving mono-bosoms, to flattened, boyish shapes so popular in the Flapper era; right though to the New Look of the 1950s with lifted, separated and defined breasts, nipped in waists, and girdled hips. After the liberated underwear of the 1960s and 1970s, the 1990s introduced the Wonderbra and in the new millennium, shape-wear has again become a woman’s fashion staple.

The V&A exhibition currently on show at the Bendigo Art Gallery features a vast array of more than eighty pieces from the V&A collection, including bustles, corsets, girdles, bras and undies dating from well over a century ago.  For example:

·        Iron corsetry from the 1600s

·        A 1900s maternity corset, with differential side lacing (other corsets of the time laced at the back)

·        Health corsets for young girls which were worn in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

·        Queen Victoria’s bloomers: dating from the 1860s, they are generously proportioned, made of white linen, and embroidered on the waistband in blue: “VR” (Victoria Regina). They are also split at the crotch – very important for toileting while wearing voluminous skirts.

·        Avant-garde pieces from Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier

The Undressed: 350 Years of Underwear Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition is on show at the Bendigo Art Gallery currently, until October 26^th, 2014. It will then open at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane on November 12^th, 2014 and run until February 1st, 2015.

More Fun Facts About Undies!

·        Your Undies offer a peak into how “High Maintenance” you might be! Apparently, a woman who favours white cotton underwear is easier to get along with than a girl who likes satin and lace smalls. According to a clinical researcher named Dr. Baumgartner, simple undies are worn by women who are comfortable in their own skin, and who don’t need bells, bows and whistles to feel sexy.

·        Underwear is a very personal choice – and women tend to have very set preferences. Of more than one hundred thousand women recently surveyed:

§  37% preferred bikini briefs

§  23% preferred briefs

§  19% preferred thongs/g-strings

§  17% preferred boy shorts

·        According to a study from 2012 in the UK, the average woman owns thirty four pairs of undies; American women own twenty one pairs on average (no Australian data was available). This is easily five times more than owned by the average man.

·        Women typically have a range of underwear: everyday, work, sport, special occasion, and VERY special occasion undies.

·        Early American Spacesuits (yes, those worn by astronauts) were actually made by bra manufacturer, Playtex!

·        We keep our underwear for a LONG time. 15% of women commonly wear undies they have been wearing for up to ten years.

·        It’s not uncommon for women to “go commando” in order to avoid visible panty lines. Rather than opting for a thing, a significant number of ladies choose to just go without altogether.

·        Surveys suggest that women get grumpy if their underwear isn’t just right: if it clings, clumps, slips, chokes, or is simply ugly, a woman’s mood can be seriously impacted by what she’s go going on under her clothing.

·        The colour of one’s chosen underwear can speak volumes about their personality:

§  Black = classy, strong, ambitious

§  White = calm, tender, conservative

§  Blue = creative, pleasant

§  Yellow = loving, adventurous, cheerful

§  Green = independent and relaxed

§  Red = passionate, vibrant, naughty

·        As many as 64% of women actually wear the wrong size bra!

·        Men have their underwear preferences just as much as women do. Ten percent of men prefer boxers, twenty five percent prefer boxer briefs, and forty percent prefer wearing briefs. The remaining twenty five percent preferred “other”...