There is a bit of a hair to split in these statements. "Split" is an important word here. The 16th century Sicilian underwear are not split in the 19th century sense. They are fully attached at the crotch seam, not separate tubes attached at the waist.
The Met collection has been identified microscopically as "most likely linen"; a bast fibre. So far, Sicily seems to be more the anomaly in European cultures, underwear on women being more acceptable amongst the "proper" females, as opposed to the prostitutes. In Italy, underwear were used for horseback riding, I would hazard other cultures are similar - the notion of sticking to a leather seat seems pretty universally unattractive. The Pepys quote also mentions that he disdained her using underwear, because to him it was a sign of unfaithfulness. The other text quote by Fynes Morison is often taken out of context, the full quote actually explains who he is talking to - courtesans, during Festival season. Gender bending was a common costume during that season. Kathy Ermine, a lion rampant tail nowed gules charged on the shoulder with a rose Or barbed, seeded, slipped and leaved vert (Fieldless) On a rose Or barbed vert a lion's head erased gules. It’s never too late to be who you might have been. -George Eliot Tosach eólais imchomarc. - Questioning is the beginning of knowledge. http://www.sengoidelc.com/node/131 From: Lynn Roth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [h-cost] Split drawer's expert? To: Historical Costume <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 I'm neew to this list and have enjoyed learning a lot of different things. I do recreating the 1500's. I didn't realize that they had split drawers in the 16th cen. Do you have any historical evidence that they had them in the nobility class in the midto late 1500's, and what they were made of? I would appreciate any information. Lynn Sue Clemenger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Dunno about the 18th century, but there are rare surviving examples of them from the 16th century. I suspect that it was something that came and went, as a style. Get a sneak peak at messages with a handy reading pane with All new Yahoo! Mail: http://mrd.mail.yahoo.com/try_beta?.intl=ca _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
