Brassiere and panties found at Lengberg Castle in Austria

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Adorno

Adorno

Bedroom Assassin
Archduke
External Developer Old Guard
It's generally believed the brassiere was invented some hundred years ago.
But recently female underwear has been found at Lengberg Castle in Austria dating back to the 15-16th. century.

Well, its not revolutionary, but not much is known of female undergarments, so the find is very interesting.
It includes a 'modern' bra - actually shaped to 'hold' breasts, and not just a 'breast band'.
Also some knickers/panties, which must have been very extravagant at that time.

Interesting article
http://www.historyextra.com/lingerie

tldr version:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2174568/Austrian-dates-bras-15th-century-The-scraps-lace-castle-vault.html


Longline bra


Breastbags


Linen pants

 
Not bad :smile: It seems underwear had a fairly steady evolution, though, as in it appeared early on and remained somewhat similar for the longest time. I was always fascinated to see Roman bikinis, for instance: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/62625104/Subligaculae.jpg
 
GodHandApostole said:
... Roman bikinis, for instance: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/62625104/Subligaculae.jpg
Click to expand...
Yes, those are a type of 'breast bands' that would hold in the breasts, but do not offer support by the shoulders.
I don't think many women today would find them comfortable  :smile:
And the pants are similar to what men would wear, I think.
 
Probably, indeed. My sister uses breastbands, though :smile: So they aren't such a strange idea for women. For the 15th century, those shown must have been something new and unusual, no doubt. I'm not sure if they used anything similar during middle ages.
 
Or we just haven't found it yet.  Unfortunately clothing is so hard to find evidence of since it breaks down easily. I am curious how these things were preserved.  It is not like they were pulled from a bog or something.  Interesting regardless, thanks for the information Adorno.

Edit:  Says in the article it is due to dry conditions, surprising since it isn't in a desert or something!
 
It was a big huss here - it was found while taking out the floor when it was renewed. It turned out it was filled with all the garbage from the attic. That was common custom back then rather than carrying the garbage all down and throwing it into some pit you just filled up the empty spaces in the newly laid floor, most likely to save up timber and insulate.

Most of the old timber ceilings are filled with some kind of rubble. It´s the baulks with planks on floor and ceiling levels and the empty spaces filled up with any building site rubble you may have produced while you worked there.

A place which should be dry and if it´s up high enough pretty unmolested by vermin and rodents.
 
Adorno said:
GodHandApostole said:
... Roman bikinis, for instance: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/62625104/Subligaculae.jpg
Click to expand...
Yes, those are a type of 'breast bands' that would hold in the breasts, but do not offer support by the shoulders.
I don't think many women today would find them comfortable  :smile:
And the pants are similar to what men would wear, I think.
Click to expand...
Just FYI, the shoulder straps are not supposed to 'support' you, that's the purpose of the actual bra, in a same way that corsets work - hugging your torso and supporting the girls that way. Many women, though, are clueless as well and think that the shoulder straps are supposed to carry the weight, hence they get nasty bruises on their shoulders from too tight shoulder straps, along with back aches.
 
noosers said:
A place which should be dry and if it´s up high enough pretty unmolested by vermin and rodents.
Click to expand...

:sad: What did I do?


'breast bands', lol, they are called bandeau bikini's and -bra's nowadays and they dont have shoulderstraps either
 
Devercia said:
Romans had bikinis.
Click to expand...
But not ones with "distinct cut cups" for breasts, that we know of. Rather just cloth tied around the breast/breast band.

Jhessail said:
Just FYI, the shoulder straps are not supposed to 'support' you, that's the purpose of the actual bra, in a same way that corsets work - hugging your torso and supporting the girls that way. Many women, though, are clueless as well and think that the shoulder straps are supposed to carry the weight, hence they get nasty bruises on their shoulders from too tight shoulder straps, along with back aches.
Click to expand...
That's completely new to me.
My ex-girlfriend would not remove the straps (which you can on some bras) because it would then be loose.
(Her cup size was also D 'something', relatively big).
 
The straps are just for fine tuning and ensuring that the bra stays in place even if you move around. The 'band' that goes around your torso/ribcage is, indeed, the actual support. The bigger the bust, the more important this becomes. Let her know, who knows, might get lucky  :razz:

Anyway, thanks for the OP, interesting find!
 
Adorno said:
But not ones with "distinct cut cups" for breasts, that we know of. Rather just cloth tied around the breast/breast band.
Click to expand...
Most likely they did (and have been around since the Egyptians at least). We don't have surviving examples however, so it's based entirely on artistic depiction.

Funny thing is that clothing, beyond style, doesn't actually change that much throughout recorded history. Which gender is wearing what on the other hand seems to flip every century.
 
interesting 4th century Roman mosaics
Villa Romana del Casale - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Romana_del_Casale

1280px-Casale_Bikini.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom