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This is an alphabetical listing of all the major garments covered by HBC. Here there is some overlasp because of different names used for identical or similar garments. There is also a problem of terms being used differently in various problems. This is a particular problem in America and Britain.
Boxers are a modern style of underwear oants. Boxer shorts derived their name because they from bocxing trunks, because noth were short pants style underwear, elasticied at the waist like boxing trunks. We are not sure just when they first appeared or when the term "boxer" was first used. We do note them in the 1930s. Haines marketed a similar style of underpants in 1930 (figure 1) which they called shorts. I am not sure if they were elasticized like boxers. Some boys wore boxers, but they were more common with men. Boys more commonly wore briefs. We note more boys beginning to wear boxers in the 1990s.
Briefs are a style of underwear pants. Cotton briefs began replacing union suits for boys in America during the mid 1930s but didn’t really catch on as the dominant style until about 1940. I am not sure what inspired this new type of underwear, but assume it was the fact that boys were wearing short pants cur shjorter than the kneepants and short pants of the early 20th century. Munsingwear issued a catalog in 1940 (See HBC page) showing the various styles. All briefs had an elastic waist band and various types of fly-front closure. They were tight-fitting and button-free. The later became known as “tighty-whities” by boys who thought that “boxer shorts” were more sophisticated. But they have continued as the dominant style of boys’ underwear until the present time. Briefs were also referred to as "jockey shorts" in America and "Y-fronts" in Britain.
Both boys and girls wore many styles of combination suits. Combination suits came equipped with numerous buttons for button-on styled clothing and for holding up the long stockings that were still commonly worn. Girls had bloomer or romper styled underwear while boys, excet for the youngest, wore stright legged underwear. Many styles for boys and girls were checked. There were several styles of combination suits. They were called combination sits because they combined both underm shirts and under pants. Wards also calls them "waist suits", "union suits", and "romper togs". A 1923 Montgomery Wards mail order catalog shows the varied styles of combination suits available for boys and girls in 1923. I am not sure at this time if there were actual differences between a combinatin suit and a union suit or if they were just different terms for the same garment. A HBC reader writes, "I think the combination suit was very specific. It combined the union suit with a hose supporter or waist supporter that we saw earlier. In 1915 Stewart's catalogue there is a reference to a combination suit but it is called an "alheneeds" it was for younger boys as listed in the site. Notice it was also for summer when the extra layer of a waist to hold up stockings would be very hot!"
A corset is a close-fitting undergarment. The word appears to have originated from light-weight medieval armor. The destinguising feature of a corset is that it has been stiffened with a variety of materials, especially whale bone (baleen). Other materails including steel have been used for the stays. Corserts had lacing to adjust the fit. The principal purpose of a corset was to shape and support the figure, especially the waistline. The corset was primarily a garment for adult women, but they were often worn bt girls as well. Some sources mention children, but here we believe that they are primarily referring to girls. We note references to both "corsets" and "corset waists" in late 19th and early 20th century magazines and catalogs. Several companies made these garments. One particularly important company is Ferris Brothers.
We also note referenmces to corset waists. An example is an advertisement for a corset waist in a Good Housekeeping advertisement (1889). We were not at first
sure if there was any essential difference between a corset and corset waist. The corset is primarily an adult garment, but we have noted various references to children wearing them. This is especially true of corset waists. We notice corset waists in sizes for children in advertisements and catalogs. We are not entirely sure why children would be dressed in corsets, but believe that it was primarily to mold figures. We believe that these garments were primarily for girls, but have very little information at this time. Our initial assessment is that corset waists were in part garments that had only minor stiffening and which served some of the functions of a child's underwaists. Other corset waists appear to be really underwaists with out any stiffening at all.
A HBC reader writes, "Yes, even infants (i.e. boys and girls about 2-3 3 years old) did wear corset waists, but chiefly because they needed a garment to support underwear, stockings, and, in some cases, even diapers. The term "corset
waist" is a bit confusing because it connotes a body-shaping garment,
something desired by older girls and women to give them the fashionable hour-
glass figure. But younger children had to wear a waist of some kind, and
these garments for younger children (of both genders) were sometimes referred
to as "corset waists" by analogy because they also provided the means of
attaching hose supporters and other garments. I've noticed, for instance,
that in some of the early Sears and Wards catalogs ordinary children's
underwaists were sometimes referred to in the indexes as "corset waists."
They tended to be advertised in the section of the catalog devoted to women's
underwear and corsets because they were manufactured by the same companies and
because the main customers were mothers buying both for themselves and for
their children. So a "corset waist" doesn't necessarily mean a body-shaping
garment. For boys and for very young girls not concerned with the hour-glass
figure a "corset waist" is just an underwaist, usually with supporters
attached. Even if there was some indentation at the waist, such waists were
not necessarily tight or form-fitting." An important company is Ferris Brothers.
Drawer in English can have various meanings. Used in the plural it is a garment that covers the lower half of the body below the waist. In this sence it is commonly used to men an undergarment. In the 19th century another term for drawers was pantalettes which were often but not always fancier than drawers. An example of 19th century drawers is an unknown advertisement in 1869. I think drawers was also used to describe union suits. In the 20th century the term was used for undepants, but usually by older people.
Garter or gartier is of historic origins. It appears to have entered the English language from Old North French in the early 14th century. The word was derived for the French word describing the bend of the knee. It came to be the symbol for an English nightly order--the Order of the Garter. The garter is a device to hold up hosiery. They were worn by both adults and children. There are two basic types. One was an elastic band worn around the leg. This type was commonly used by children to hold up kneesocks. Scouts were noted for adding a colored tab to the garter. It was commonly used before kneesocks with elasticised tops became popular. Another type was an elastic strap suspended from an undergarment. These were worn by both boys and girls to hold up long stockings.
This category applies to a broad variety of devices for holding up long stockings. Theoretically it would apply to any garment worn on the upper body used for this purpose (including underwaists, pantywaists, and suspender waists). But HBC uses the term to apply specifically to waists with hose supporters already attached, even though in some cases these supporters are detachable. Most of these garments are designed to have the strain of the garters carried by the child’s shoulders. Some have waistbands and some do not, but all are worn under the outer clothing and therefore as a species of children’s underwear. One of the first such garments we notice was in the Sears 1902 catalog Sears refers to a "combination belt and supporter, but the garment was essentially a garter waist. The use of different terms somewhat complicates the assessment if the garments. Interestingly, even when the wearing of long stockings was supposedly declining in the late 1930s and early 1940s, a proliferation of styles of garter waist became very prominent in the Sears and Wards catalogs of this period. We have more different styles for this period than for any other on HBC. A good example is the Sears 1939 garter waists.
Little boys in the early 19th Century often wore pantalettes like their sisters. Some boys wore them with skeleton suits and the lace of the pantalettes were visible at the ankles of their long trousers. Pantalettes became more important as dresses got shorter as it was considered in appropriate until mid-century for even children to
have bare legs. Gradually the length of pantalettes were shrtened and they were worn only slightly longer than the dress. Pantalettes became less common in the 1870s, but were worn by some boys into the 1890s.
This is the British term for underpants. It is used exclusivedly for underpants. Unlike in America, the word is not also used to mean trousers.
Pin-on garters are a type of stocking supporters. From the end of the 19th century until the middle 1940s, hose supporters were sold individually for the support of boys’ and girls stockings. At the very beginning the elastic garters, almost always with two pendants in a Y-shape, were attached to underwaists or other underwear by means of buttons. Then the safefy-pin model was introduced which allowed the garters to be attached to garter tabs on waist suits or underwaists by pinning. The pin-on style was used almost exclusively throughout the first half of the 20th century. Pin-garters were made in various sizes—not only for children up to their teenage years but also for adult women. Women’s and children’s hose supporters were always sold together, size being the only difference. They usually were available in black or white. Black was popular in the early years of the century. By the 1930s and 1940s white was the more popular color.
Skeleton waists are a type of stocking supporters. They are a subcategory of garter waist. Our normal categories of stocking supporters on HBC are (1) Garter waists (which includes skeleton waists), (2) Suspender waists, and (3) Underwaists. Actual period ads do not always use these terms or use them consistently. Thus some skelketon waists do not use the term skeleton waist. An example here is a 1901 advertisement for the Sampson suspender waist which is an early garter waist (or skeleton waist). Both terms would apply to it, but neither is actually used in the ad itself.
This is the general description for several items listed here. The boys and girls wearing long stockings in the second half of the 19th Century held them up with various styles of stocking supporters. I believe that boys did not wear these supporters commonly in the first half of the 19th Century because kneepants were not nearly as common. Boys wearing long trousers did not commonly wear stocking supporters. It was not until the 1870s when kneepants became more commonly worn that stocking supporters became widely worn. Both boys and girls wore them. They were several different styles, including over the shoulder and waist styles. They were not very comfortable especially for boys involved in strenous outdoor activities. Notably Lord Baden Powell when he designed the first Boy Scout uniform chose kneesocks so cumbersome stocking supporters would not be necessary.
Suspender waists were a support garment to hold up other garments. So-called “suspender waists” were invented at the turn of the 20th century and were popular mainly with boys who wore knee pants and needed a way of supporting their long stockings—almost always black. Although some models of the suspender waist (such as Kazoo) were manufactured in styles that could be worn also by girls, the main wearers of these waists were boys. They were called “suspender waists” because they combined trousers suspenders with hose supporters and had leather suspender attachments for holding up knee pants in addition to hose supporters for long stockings. The style did not last very long and was most popular during the 1910s. N.B. Suspender waists are not to be confused with the older style of garter waists (such as the Dr. Parker waist) which also had suspender-like straps over the shoulders, a waist belt (sometimes with waist buttons for outer clothing), and hose supporters. With true suspender waists only the garter part of the waist can be classified as underwear because the shoulder straps would be visible (like ordinary modern suspenders) on top of a shirt.
Underoos are not precisely a garment type, but rather a brand introduced by Fruit of the Loom. It is such a unique brand, however, that we are including it our garment list. The compsany used existing underwear types (T-shirts and briefs) done as costumes--mosdtly super-hero costumes. They were a unique departure from standard white underwear. An Underoo set includes a matching top (usually a T-short) and bottom (usually brierfs). They were done for both boys and girls, but we believe they were more popular with boys. This needs to be confirmed. There were done as basically a costume for popular entertainment cgaracters. Super heros were especially popular with boys. They were also done with animated chaeracters and fantasy/science fiction. The super hero Underoos could mimic the distinctive costume of the character because many wore tights. Other underoos could not really effectively mimic the character's costume
With these Underoos there was an image of the character and/or logo on the undershirt. Larry Weiss cane up with the idea for Underros (1977). He obtained the needed licenses for the four major comic character groups (D.C. Comics, Marvel Comics, Hannah-Barbera, Archie Comics). This provided the legal right to use Superman, Batman, Shazam, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Captain America among others. Weiss presented the idea first to Hanes, but they were not interested. Scott Paper company considered the idea. Fruit of the Loom finally seized upon the idea. They were already involved in some similar product lines. They produced blank underwear used to apply transfers. Fruit of the Loom approsached Weiss. Thus it was Fruit oif the Loom which purchased Underoos (1978). The company tested marketed Underoos in three markets, including New York City area. Market reaction was very strong andcthey decided to go ahead with production. We note Underoos in the Sears Catalog (1979).
The two principal styles of modern undershirts are singlets (sleevelass) and "t"-shirts with a varikety of neck styles. The most common are crew-neck t-shirts, but there are also "V"-neck styles. We note that some boys always wore t-shirts under collared shirts and other boys rarely did so. At this time we do not have information on the national, regional, chromolgical, and soicial class factors involved.
Underwaists were another type of support garment. Underwaists (sometimes called panty-waists) were worn by younger boys and girls to support additional underwear (such as bloomers or panties) or outer clothing (such as trousers or skirts). These bodices tended to be worn by boys only until about age 10, although some models came in ages for boys as old as 12. Some models were specifically for girls and others for boys, but the great majority of styles could be worn by both boys and girls. They tended to be made of elastic knitted fabric (and therefore rather form-fitting) or of cambric material and a bit looser. They nearly always were equipped with reinforcement straps, waist buttons, and garter tabs for attaching hose supporters. The popularity of underwaists declined in the later 1930s and early 1940s although they were still available, usually in the preferred knitted style, up until about 1945. When long stockings stopped being worn by school children, the main function of the underwaist ceased to exist.
The union suit is a close-fitting underwear garment. The term union refers to the fact that a union suit involves the combination of both a shirt and pants (drawers) in a one piece suit. The garment commonly included a drop seat. This term began to be used in the 1890s. The term union suit was commonly used for adults. The children's version was a waist suit or a waist-union suit. Women also wore union suits. So did girls. But they were associated mainly with men because more men than women wore them. With boys and girls, I'm not sure. I think waist union suits were equally popular for
boys and girls because of the waist feature. Union suits for children were essentially combination suits. But union suits without the reinforcement straps were mainly a boy's garment.
Waist suits are another type of support garment. As late as the early and mid 1940s, Sears was still advertising a wide variety of children's waist suits, worn by both boys and girls (sometims in different models for the two genders but not always). These suits were mostly union suits with both long and short legs (some also having short sleeves) that were designed not only as winter underwear but also with buttons for attaching outer clothing such as short pants and skirts and with garter tabs for attaching hose supporters so that long stockings could be worn without the use of a separate garter waist. (This is why they were called waist suits.) Most of these suits were meant for children between the ages of 2 and 12, but one model of waist union suit was advertised for boys and girls as old as 16, which shows that at least in a few cases boys as old as 16 still wore long stockings. We note waist suits being offered in the Sears catalog during 1941
Winter underwear are virtually unknown to most boys today. Perhaps boys in Canada or American boys on the Northern Plains oe Scandinavian and Russian boys wear them. But for the most part they are no longer common. This is largely because modern homes and schools are so well heated. This was not the case in the 19th and early 20th cebntury. It was then very common for boys and girls to wear long underwear.
This is the British term for briefs or jkockey shorts.
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