Since I finished Touchstone, I’m working on a new thing that will probably/hopefully be a short story, set in a world that will one day have a novel there as well. My search history last night was full of fun historical trivia, so I thought I’d share.
First we have this video on women’s corsetry in the 1800-1900s, which admittedly was a bit of a side-track from what I actually wanted, but that’s okay.
Then, what I was ACTUALLY supposed to be researching, which was women’s underwear in the 1800s – highlights include the fact that until about 1800 there’s little evidence of any specific covering for the lower half (though I assume during menstruation there was something there? I need to research that…), then throughout the 1800s you mostly have open-crotch drawers/bloomers/pantaloons (because you can’t actually physically get under all your layers to hoik undies up and down, so open-crotch was the only practical solution and at least initially, drawers probably became a Thing for warmth rather than anything else – this also explains why can-can dancing was so risque), and then in the early 1900s you start to get something that actually looks like lower-half “underwear”, though it was still pretty loose for several decades. This video is more about the upper half garment but was also interesting and useful.
Then there was a brief deviation into the history of the name Frances, which as I suspected is very much tied to the existence of France, which means I went with a different name.
And finally, we have me wondering when western cultures stopped using urine to wash clothes, which, if you haven’t heard of that before, yes, it’s a whole thing.
So there we go! Last night’s research. I hope something here sparked your interest and curiosity; may it lead you down blessed rabbit-holes to come.
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