You're Dead to Me History of Underwear: from shirts and stays to bras and briefs
50 snips
Aug 28, 2026 
Dr Serena Dyer, fashion historian and curator, and Vic Michaelis, comedian and improviser, guide a playful tour of underwear through the ages. They cover shirts and shifts as universal base layers, the rise of drawers, codpieces and corsets, the birth of bras and briefs, laundries and menstrual solutions, and quirky garments like union suits and panniers. Short, curious and often funny.
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Shift Was The Universal Historical Underwear
- For ~1,000 years the basic unisex underwear in Western Europe was a T-shaped linen garment called a shift, smock, chemise or shirt that both sexes wore.
- Dr. Serena Dyer explains it protected outer clothes and wicked sweat, was home-made by women, and lasted until 19th-century mass production changed the practice.
Urine And Lye Were Historical Laundry Tools
- Medieval and early modern laundresses used lye and even urine because urea has genuine cleaning properties and whitened linens.
- Serena notes professional laundry services grew, women ran them, and accusation of 'not boiling properly' carried social suspicion.
A Clean Shirt Cuff Was A Status Signal
- Showing a tidy shirt cuff or ruffle was a deliberate signal of cleanliness and status because outer garments weren't washed often.
- Serena explains revealing collar or cuff was intimate and scandalous earlier, then slowly became acceptable by 20th century mass-produced shirts.
