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Some articles of clothing have some very interesting histories. I can think of two off hand. I'd love to hear what other people know.
High heels were originally introduced as men's fashion. They proved to be so hard to walk in that the men, ahem, encouraged women to wear them instead.
Before pants were introduced (I want to say either the mid-1200s or the mid-12th century, but off hand I can't remember) men and women wore pretty much the same thing from the waist down in the Middle Ages. They very quickly became known as men-only clothing. The phrase "wearing the pants in the family" came into being at the same time.
Hi Amber,
Here’s one bit of historical trivia:
Twelfth century European fashion was simple and differed only in details from the clothing of the preceding centuries. Men wore knee-length tunics for most activities which many women continue to wear in this current age.
Alice
Today, when we think of crotchless panties, we think, "Ooh, sexy!" But Victorian women wore something equivalent, split pantaloons, when they had the huge hoop skirts or bustles with everything else they wore underneath (petticoats, crinolines, etc). When they had to do number one, they could raise the front of the skirt and hoop, put a chamber pot under them, and squat. They could also use a toilet, either the normal way or facing the back. Then they could do their business because of the split panteloons. Imagine the alternative of having to take all that stuff off every time you needed to go.
I have remember hearing that butchers used high heel to keep there feet off the floor and clean and archers used them to be taller to help shoot the long bow
Yeah according to lots of sources, high heels were definitely a men's thing for way longer than they've been a women's thing. I've read they were originally for horseback riding, so the notch created by the high heel can help keep your feet in the stirrups, and that the gender shift began in the mid to late 19th century, when more of the population started becoming more urban and riding horses was becoming less common. That was also the time that the concept of pin-up girls also began to appear.
I think you could compare it to boyshort style panties, which appeared because people started to realize women can look really cute in men's boxers, so why not make something like that, but made for women?
Regarding the "blue for boys and pink for girls" thing, I've heard that it used to be the other way around. That changed to its present form in the early 20th century . It was changed in Germany by the Nazis when they came into power, and has since spread pretty much world-wide. Before the change, pink was thought to be a 'strong' color while blue was thought to be a more 'subdued' color, thus reflecting the dominant male and female characteristics.
If you checkout the Stuff Mom Didn't Tell You podcast they cover the history of many garments. They have a episode about high heheels, pants, pink vs blue. They are pretty well researched and informative.
During the time of European royalty/nobility and colonialism, it was fashionable for men to wear lace and ruffles. Even their pants looked like the capri pants women wear today.
Pretty crazy to think that many items that are considered strictly woman's clothing today started out as either just male or male/female in the past. In the case of dress/skirts, it came down to war and riding horses as the reason men stopped wearing. Swimsuits for men used to be one piece since they couldn't show their chests. Then just think not that long ago women wearing pants was considered illegal.
My daughter had an Elizabethan themed Bat Mitzvah, and I did dress in one of those shirts with the frilly lace in front, which also had wide lacy cuffs. Plus the pants had no pockets.
Can’t remember the exact years, 10th-11th century maybe, but back before clothes were really a thing men were the first to wear thongs, think loincloth, to help protect there genitalia.
Back in the 1890's well into the 1900's boys and girls were both dressed in frilly dresses up until they started school that's when when the boys were put in pants it was called breaching. unfortunately today the girls are dressed in pink and given dolls and boys are dressed in blue and given footballs, so is it any wonder they grow up so messed up. I erg everyone to read up on this subject it will add some insight into where society has messed up so many people.
I forgot to respond about the "high heels" part of this post. Men's shoes had high heels on them to stay in the horse saddle stirrups better. If you think about it; to this day cowboy boots also have a heel, Hmmmmm.
I think read somewhere men wore pantaloons to have small waist and wider hips not sure about that
Stuff Mom Never Told You has a podcast episode about the history of highheels.
https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-tz2rz-1af4091
Another about when women and men started wearing pants.
https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-kngp9-1af3ed5
If you take a look through their episode library, there are many interesting episodes about the history of various garments.
