The Story of Men's Underwear

Print version:

Table of Contents; Introduction; I.A Firm Foundation; Medieval Undergarments; Cleanliness and Morality; Shirts 1500

1603; The Codpiece; Doublets and Waistcoats; Shirts 1604

1710; Drawers 1604

1710; The Sikh Kacha; The Japanese Fundoshi; Cleanliness in the Seventeenth Centuries; Shirts 1711

1799; Undress; Drawers 1711

1799; Underwear as a Specialist Trade; II. Unmentionables 1800-1899; Beau Brummell and The Dandy; White Shirts; Evening Dress shirts; Detachable Collars and Cuffs, and Shirtfronts; Coloured, Striped and Patterned Shirts; Corsets and Stays; Technological Changes. Drawers and VestsHygienic Dress and Healthy Underwear; III. Under Fashion 1900-1980; Shirts

A Move to Informality 1900-40; Undershirt to T-shirt; Union Suits; Athletic Union Suits; Mormon Temple Garments; Shorts; Briefs; Interwar Fabric Innovations; Hidden Colour; Athletic Styles; Man of Action, Superhero; Comfort and Cleanliness; Coopers Jockey Y-fronts; Military Influence and Wartime Shortages; The Post-War Boom; New Styles in the 1960s: Peacock Revolution; New Fabrics; A Growing Business; A Multitude of Choice; IV. Tighty-Whities and Beyond 1980

Today. Calvin Klein

New Fashion UnderwearMen's Underpants for Women; Masculine versus Feminine; New European Designs; Men's Lingerie; G-strings and Thongs; Old Time Revivals; Boxer Rebellion; Boxers versus Briefs; Boxer Briefs and Trunks; Low Slung Jeans and Exposed Waistbands; Visibly Branded Underwear; Manufacturer and Designer Collaborations; Colour and Fit; Fabric Innovations; Health and Sports; Tight-Fitting Underwear and Male Infertility; Enhancement; Novel Ideas and Innovations; The Demise of the Vest; The Twenty-first Century Underwear Buyer: Homo/Hetero/Metro. The Twenty-first Century Underwear Buyer: Women for MenHow Men Feel About Their Underwear; Going Commando; V. Best Foot Forward: Hose, Stockings and Socks; 16th Century (1500-99); 17th Century; 18th Century; 19th Century; 20th Century; New Technologies and the Future; VI. The Big Sell: Underwear Advertising; Techniques in Advertising: Illustrations or Photographs; Showing the Garments; Being Comfortable; Highlighting Details and Features of the Garments; Hinting at the Body; The Body as Statuary; Idealised and Sexualised Masculinity; Emphasising the Crotch; Homoeroticism. Targeting a Gay AudienceSexual Ambiguity and Camp; Domestic Spaces

Bedrooms and Dressing Rooms; Male Spaces

Locker Rooms; Sporting Poses and Equipment; Sports Endorsement; Women in Men's Underwear Advertising; Selling Men's Underwear to Women; Comedy Pants; New Ways to sell and Promote Underwear; Conclusion; GLOSSARY; Notes; Bibliography; Acknowledgements