I See London, I See France…Undergarments

What is the first thing you put to get dressed? Hopefully your answer was some type of undergarment (if it wasn’t then I don’t want to know), and underclothing was just as important to women in the Rococo period as it is to us. Undergarments in the 18^th Century played basically the same role as they do now- to set up a foundation for the outer clothing, to provide a hygienic barrier between clothing and the skin, and to create a silhouette for the outfit. During this time, undergarments also were used as soft protection for the wearer, and we’ll get into why that was needed a little later, because trust me, protection was a must. The universal undergarment for women (and men, surprisingly) was called a “Shift”, or “Chemise”.  These were usually made out of linen, because it was durable, absorbent, washable, and fairly cheap. Shifts for women were typically knee-length and had three quarter or elbow length sleeves. The neckline was wide, but both the sleeves and neck sometimes had drawstrings that could be adjusted and gathered up to the desired fit. This is only layer one in our adventure of getting dressed, so read on