These are some funny and interesting facts about fashion that I have heard.
- Napoleon Bonaparte ordered for buttons to be attached to the jacket sleeves so as to prevent soldiers from wiping off their runny noses on their sleeves.
- The low-waist baggy pants originated in the prisons of Los Angeles, where inmates were not allowed to wear belts to hold their pants in place.– New York Mayor Fiorello Henry La Guardia invented the thong when he was scandalized to see the cities exotic bar dancers performing without an underwear. He immediately ordered to sew tiny panties or thongs for them.
- Elizabeth I loved hats so much that she made it compulsory for all females over the age of 7 to wear hats on Sundays and holidays. Anyone who refused to do so was stiffly fined.
- The Ancient Greeks exercised naked. In fact, this is where our word “gymnasium” comes from; γυμνός (gymnos) means naked in Ancient and Modern Greek.
- Initially, both men and women wore togas in Rome, but after the 2nd century BC, respectable women wore stolas and prostitutes were required to wear a toga.
- In 1907 a woman was arrested for wearing a fitted one piece swimsuit on a beach in Boston
- In 1999 two women died when electricity struck and their underwire bra acted as electricity conductors and transferred the current between them.
- The bikini was named after the island Bikini Atoll, where the US military was testing its bombs in World War 2. It was so named because its creator, Louis Réard, belived the revealing suit would create a shock like that of the atomic bomb.
- The skirt is the second oldest piece of clothing, outdated only by the loincloth.
- Sneakers came to us thanks to Keds, the first company to create this type of shoe, in 1917. Converse produced their first pair of sneakers later that year.
- The first pair of Doc Martens were created from old tires.
I never knew that the bikini was named after an island so I find that very interesting. However, I can totally understand how Louis Reard would have thought it would create a huge shock to society. However, what was the current swimwear style during the time that the bikini was released and how was the initial reception of it?
Hi, While the bikini was big in Europe during the 50’s it really did not become popular in the US till the 60’s. It replaced the one piece.