Sportsmania and American Men’s Undergarments: 1880–1930

Abstract

In the late nineteenth century men’s interest in smart dress combined with an addiction to sports engendered stylish men’s undergarments that combined functionality, sensuality, and color. I traced the evolving style of men’s underwear as a result of their unprecedented participation in social sports and their desire to be fashionably undressed. The muscular body and its association with masculinity was valued by both men and women and has continued to be valued into the twenty-first century. I have examined men’s underwear from the collections of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Costume Institute, New York as well as Munsingwear online collections. Other sources I studied included fashion publications, trade journals, retail store catalogues and advertisements.