# Why do we wear underwear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106 "2002-06-09T15:37:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bcullman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bcullman/32/8207_2.png) [@bcullman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bcullman)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/1 "2002-06-09T15:37:37Z")
Or more precisely, why do we almost universally wear the stuff, and at what point did we realized that it would be a good idea (ie did they have unerwear in the 1500?, the 1200s?) When did it become the commodity it is today? (ie when did tidy whiteies become nearly ubiquitous?) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/2 "2002-06-09T15:41:20Z")
because you can then get more than a single day’s use out of pants, before they become soiled with typical bodily excretions, like from the apocrine glands in the groin, etc. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/3 "2002-06-09T16:24:55Z")
Tightie whities are kind of like a bra for testicles. Keeps 'em in place and protects them from chafing (for that active lifestyle!). ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/4 "2002-06-09T16:31:23Z")
I wear 'em because it’s more comfortable that way. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/5 "2002-06-09T16:32:52Z")
I don’t wear ‘em. Except for bras, which keep me from swingin’ around. I hate underpants. HATE 'EM j ---
**Author:** ![zber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c5a1d2/32.png) [@zber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zber)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/6 "2002-06-09T16:35:05Z")
From [http://www.vintageskivvies.com/pages/archives/history/ancientbeginnings.html](http://www.vintageskivvies.com/pages/archives/history/ancientbeginnings.html) "The loincloth is clearly the universal antecedent of men’s underwear. In 1352 BC Egypt, the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun was buried with 145 loincloths. Surely that was an ample supply for the afterlife. They were each a long piece of linen shaped like an isosceles triangle with strings meant to be tied around the hips. The length of cloth hanging down in back was brought forward between the legs and tucked over the tied strings in the front, from the outside in. Whenever masculine Egyptian loincloth-clad royalty covered themselves with robe or skirt, then we had an example of underwear. The loincloth was still being worn as underwear by the shepherds in southwestern France as late as 1835…" And the site goes in length to answer how it became to commodity it is today. z ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/7 "2002-06-09T16:37:08Z")
I wear them to humor my mom. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/8 "2002-06-09T16:46:28Z")
**Qadgop the Mercotan** ’s secretions were probably more a factor back before we had the luxury of daily baths. Old habits die hard, I guess. Look [here](http://www.1001loincloths.com/HISTORY.htm) Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/9 "2002-06-09T16:48:08Z")
Hey! What’s this [WE business?! 🙂](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=101600) Seriously though, underwear’s been around just about as long as people have, at least people in cold climates. It’s just the forms that have changed. From around [50 BC](http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/romrelig3.html) > [@](#): > > His underwear cannot be taken off except in covered places, lest he appear nude under the open sky, which is the same as under the eye of Jove; And even further back, as far as [1700 BC](http://www.fashionz.co.uk/UG1.html) > [@](#): > > Surprisingly, corsets have been worn since the Minoans and fashionable women of Tiryns… when they were already using underwear to shape their figures to an ideal form. :eek: I’m with **jarbabyj** here, count me out! bella ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/10 "2002-06-09T16:48:48Z")
you think _bathing_ fazes apocrine glands? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/11 "2002-06-09T17:11:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > \*\*you think _bathing_ fazes apocrine glands? \*\* 😃 No, but it does faze the accumulation of secretions. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/12 "2002-06-09T17:24:46Z")
“Why do we wear underwear? Or more precisely, why do we almost universally wear the stuff, and at what point did we realized that it would be a good idea (ie did they have unerwear in the 1500?, the 1200s?)” Of course, wearing underwear is not universal, and I’m not just speaking of Dopers here. There are cultures extant today that do not wear fabrics of any type on any part of their bodies (I don’t consider strings or gourds to be fabrics). These people live in relatively warm climates I think it is clear that underwear, as in dainties that are worn under outerwear, was developed to protect the skin from the outerwear, which, until the past few thousand years and the development of things like cotton and silk, was made out of abrasive things such as leather and rough fabrics. I would guess that uderwear has been around as long as silk which I would guess was around well before 1200. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/13 "2002-06-09T18:47:25Z")
Wouldn’t mensutruation have anything to do with it, at least in the case of women? Back before tampons were invented, and “being on the rag” was taken literally? I figure underwear would help, and outer clothing could be protected from bothersome bloodstains that didn’t matter if they were on underwear. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2002, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/14 "2002-06-10T00:19:48Z")
I’ve been waiting for a post like this. How about some of [these?](http://www.manties.com) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/15 "2002-06-10T00:21:42Z")
Whoops, try [here.](http://www.manties.net) ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/16 "2002-06-10T00:56:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racer72 \* > \*\*Whoops, try [here.](http://www.manties.net) \*\* Thanking you in advance for tonight’s nightmares. :o ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/17 "2002-06-10T01:02:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racer72 \* > \*\*Whoops, try [here.](http://www.manties.net) \*\* HaHaHaHaHaHa! Great site! Check out the stud in the red silkies with the dainty lil’ bows in the bottom left. Yummy! bella ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Spider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Barking\_Spider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Spider)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2002, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/18 "2002-06-10T01:59:59Z")
Why do we wear underwear? SECRETIONS! ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2002, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/19 "2002-06-10T06:00:11Z")
Old fashioned underwear often didn’t have gussets, so the secretion thing (yuk!) doesn’t necessarily hold true. I expect big bloomers were worn for extra warmth, to pad out a skirt in the days of full skirts, and to provide a bit more modesty should the skirt blow up. Loincloths would possibly have been more about protection than modesty, at least in some early societies. Like the penis-gourds worn by some south east asian peoples. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy144](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/90db22/32.png) [@Hippy144](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy144)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2002, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106/20 "2002-06-10T06:55:15Z")
In case you forget to zip your fly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-wear-underwear/113106.md?page=2)