How Underwear Got Under There: a Brief History

By Kathy Shaskan

Book Overview

I see London, I see France...here's a book about underpants Did you know that warriors at the time of Genghis Khan invented arrow-resistant silk underwear? Or that the recommended age to begin wearing a corset in the late 1800s was four years old? Or that King Tut had a particular fondness for underwear? He was buried with 145 pairs This lively text consists of ten chapters on various aspects of underwear, including the social and historical ramifications of different undergarments and their development for warmth, support, protection, cleanliness, and status. Regan Dunnick's clever illustrations and Kathy Shaskan's accessible text is giggle-worthy, page-turning, and well-researched. From boxers to bustles to briefs, from history to humor, from support to society, the story of underwear is the story of humanity itself.?Most highly recommended. ?Children's Literature?Certain to keep young readers in, so to speak, stitches. ?Kirkus ReviewsRead more

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0147514487
• ISBN13: 9780147514486
• Release Date: April 2015
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.3" x 5.1"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

Not Unmentionables Any More

This title covers a real need: the naked truth about underwear. Ten chapters in a tidy picture book even older kids will read cover topics like Protection, Warmth, Modesty, Cleanliness, Support, Shaping, Exaggeration, Status, Making a Statement and Future Undies. The text is a tightly woven fabric of truths about underwear ranging from such notables as Genghis Khan and his anti-arrow menswear, King Tut who was buried in 145 layers of undies and the primitive loincloth to the promised future of body sensors embedded in your Fruit of the Looms; this gets down to the foundations of corsets, bras, codpieces, crinoline petticoats, bloomers, and bustles. A huge amount of information wedged into this volume. The illustrations are lively and funny (as befits a Ringling Brothers artist. The book could only be made totally perfect by the addition of an index.

It's a zany, fun read

Kathy Shaskan's HOW UNDERWEAR GOT UNDER THERE: A BRIEF HISTORY is a whimsical story of how underwear has affected history, from King Tut who was buried with 145 pairs to how underwear has affected fashion and society alike. It's a zany, fun read which will attract leisure readers.