areferenceyouunderstand:

prokopetz:

chickadee-sun:

prokopetz:

riddlemeroxy:

dottily:

dottily:

dottily:

everytime u see a old photo of a snazzy 1920s dude in a suit remember what lurks beneath

okay why are you guys reblogging this and tagging it as reference do you plan on drawing 20s gangsters in their underwear i better see these 

I couldn’t help myself

To be fair, underwear that fully covers the body from neck to knees makes a lot of sense when you’re wearing a dry-clean-only suit as your everyday outfit; it prevents sweat from soiling the garment’s inner layer, and thus lets you go longer between launderings. The development of modern underwear tracks pretty much directly with the shift to washable daywear, which removes much of the need for such extensive protection.

The part that makes least sense is how it’s sleeveless and thus doesn’t protect suits from armpit sweat. Surely the armpit is one of the most important places to put this kind of undergarment? T-shirts were originally designed as an undergarment that does protect clothing from armpit sweat, but they weren’t popularized yet in the 20s.

Most union suits did indeed have full or partial sleeves; the ones pictured in the original post are more fashionable than functional, probably intended to be worn with eveningwear.

Wow this was informative