You can still "catch your death of cold" today: if, for whatever reason, you're stuck outside and wet, you'll get hypothermic much faster wearing a cotton sweater than a wool (or synthetic fleece) sweater. Cotton soaks up water and keeps it, robbing the fabric of any insulating qualities. Like Marjorie said, wool will still keep you warm. Sheep don't get hypothermic, after all.
Some historic content: before the advent of synthetic, lycra-based performance fabrics, bicycling jerseys were made of wool knit, probably for both its insulative qualities (when it's wet/cold) and breatheability (when it's hot). They may have managed odors better than modern synthetics, too. Not that I've investigated. Ick. Claudine ----- Original Message ---- > From: Marjorie Wilser <[email protected]> > To: Historical Costume <[email protected]> > Sent: Fri, January 15, 2010 12:07:34 AM > Subject: Re: [h-cost] 1920s Men's bathing suit pattern > > It wasn't the weight of the wool, it was its properties: wool is the only > fiber > that holds heat even while wet. In the 19th c, you really _could_ "catch your > death of cold," or so they believed. Up til the 1920s, most bathing suits > were > woolen. > > == Marjorie Wilser > > =:=:=:Three Toad Press:=:=:= > > "Learn to laugh at yourself and you will never lack for amusement." --MW > > http://3toad.blogspot.com/ > > > > > On Jan 14, 2010, at 10:29 PM, Sharon Collier wrote: > > > I have heard that , in water, clothes do not weigh any more than when dry. > > It is after you get out that you feel the weight of the water. Clothes do > > create drag, though. > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > > Behalf Of Lynn Downward > > Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 6:08 PM > > To: Historical Costume > > Subject: Re: [h-cost] 1920s Men's bathing suit pattern > > > > I've seen one too, in San Francisco. It was one that was rented at Sutro > > Baths, the large pool near Ocean Beach from the 1870s until the 1920s, I > > believe. There were several separate pools in the complex overlooking Seal > > Rock and men could rent a heavy swim suit for the day. I have no idea how > > they cleaned them. Yick. > > > > At any rate, the one I saw was heavy as AlbertCat said, heavy like a > > sweater. It weighed, dry, about the same as a heavy winter sweater. I can't > > imagine how heavy they were wet, but there are photographs of swarms of men > > in identical swimsuits on the edge of the pools. The one I saw also had the > > woven cotton underwear sewn into the bottom. > > LynnD > > > > On 1/14/10, [email protected] wrote: > >> > >> > >> > >> just a bit heavier than T-shirt fabric. > >> > >> > >> **************** > >> > >> > >> > >> The two real one piece tank top vintage bathing suits for men I found > >> at a flea market were knit but sweater weight (perhaps a bit denser, > >> tighter stitch than a sweater). They also had a woven cotton > >> underwear- like thing sewn into the bottom part. One was navy with a > >> wide white stripe running horizontally at chest level. The other was > > black. Both were wool. > >> > >> > >> Wool, y'know, will still keep one warm when wet. And sometime in the > >> 1870's I believe it was considered a healthy thing to break into a > >> sweat. Thus, a "sweater" was proper attire for tennis and the like. > >> These ideas linger into the 20th century. > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> h-costume mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > h-costume mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > > > _______________________________________________ > > h-costume mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
