Long underwear is an inescapable part of Canadian life, whether used for proper layering during outdoor work or exercise, or just staying warm during those wonderful Arctic snaps that immobilize cars and freeze even winter jackets.
Have you ever wondered where it all began, who the genius was who first divined an extra layer of clothing to keep our skin snug? Probably not. But some have, and better yet, some have even recorded that history. And it all began, not in the Arctic north, but in England in the 19th century.
And believe it or not, it was all about fashion, says professor Anne Bissonnette, curator of the University of Alberta’s clothing and textiles collection.
“With women, we traditionally had an accumulation of undergarments or underpinnings,” Bissonnette says. “It all accumulated at the waist.”
In Victorian England, a lady’s waistline was of great significance – the skinnier the better, as evidenced by the use of the corset. So using a combination of a top and bottom piece to stay warm eliminated a layer of clothing or two, allowing for a more slender waist.
“It’s one less thickness at the waist, and in Victorian England the waistline was very important,” Bissonnette says.
There were two styles of long underwear popular at the time – the combination or two-piece item, and the “Johnny suit” or one-piece, that featured the beloved “trap door” so many adults think of fondly.
While the combination suit later became more prominent due to its convenience, what was most significant when it came to undergarments wasn’t what you wore but what it was made of. And as the 19th century evolved, wool became the most popular fabric, despite some serious drawbacks.
“A whole lot of people were wearing this itchy underwear,” Bissonnette says.
Colleague Rachel McQueen, who has studied the history of different fabrics, says the wool at the time was different from what we use today.
“It all comes down to how thick is the fibre diameter,” McQueen says. “A thicker wool tends to make you feel itchy.”
Wool was popular at the time because of a notion it was healthier and somehow better for you. But as the idea of long undergarments progressed across more of Europe and into the Americas, new fabrics were brought in to the mix. Garment makers in the United States tried out buckskin due to a neoclassical desire to look, well, naked. Makers even tried more natural fibres, such as silk or cotton.
“Silk isn’t as warm as wool,” says McQueen. “I would say that wool would be a warmer fibre. Silk can be very insulating as well.”
The creation of synthetic fibres meant they were eventually incorporated into garment making, especially when it came to long underwear, as were different designs and finishes. In the name of creating warm, breathable garments, companies now emphasize their “wicking technology” or how a fabric moves moisture from the skin to its exterior.
“If it’s an under-layer, that moisture can be taken up by the next layer, essentially trying to move the sweat from the skin,” McQueen explains.
McQueen even studied the wicking properties of different materials and found a vast disparity in their quality.
“There’s a huge variability in terms of what’s available on the market,” McQueen says.
Anyone can test the wicking qualities of a garment by dropping some water on it and watching what happens to the water. It should spread evenly out over the garment as it would with sweat, which helps in evaporation. There should be no beading.
“You want it be immediately absorbed and then spread out through the fabric,” McQueen says.
For both McQueen and Bissonnette (who admitted she’s worn long underwear ever since she moved to Edmonton from Ohio), natural fibres are the way to go, such as silk and merino wool, which is much finer and not itchy. Wool is also less likely to take on an odour.
“It’s really good, it’s really light-weight and often it can be better to wear it under dress pants,” McQueen says.
