Bachelor's shirt

[jiho]

Hi all,
What kind of shirt was a «Bachelor's shirt» in the English 19th?

Thanks!

 

[Anglika]

So far as I am aware, a shirt that is worn by a bachelor.

Do you have more context?

 

[jiho]

So far as I am aware, a shirt that is worn by a bachelor.

Do you have more context?

Hi Anglika,

No, I am afraid I don't. it is just a mention in a list of objects shown at the Great Exhibition of London (1851), as follows:
«...a "bachelor's shirt of peculiar construction without buttons",...»
Medieval and post-medieval shirts already had no buttons, just a string to adjust them in the neck, so i cannot guess what is the peculiar thing with a buttonless shirt.
Unless it was an ancestor of the modern t-shirt...

Thanks

 

[Anglika]

I think your supposition that it is a forerunner of a T-shirt is not at all bad.

Since this reference is to an exhibit in the Great Exhibition, it is very likely to be an ingeniously designed [and probably patented] shirt that does not need studs or buttons to fasten it, and can be put on without the assistance of a man-servant. I suppose the only way to be sure of what it was like is to find a copy of the full catalogue to the Exhibition or search the Patent Office archive.

 

[jiho]

Well, that was the only thing I could think of.

Thank you so much, teacher!

 

[BobK]

I think your supposition that it is a forerunner of a T-shirt is not at all bad.

Since this reference is to an exhibit in the Great Exhibition, it is very likely to be an ingeniously designed [and probably patented] shirt that does not need studs or buttons to fasten it, and can be put on without the assistance of a man-servant. I suppose the only way to be sure of what it was like is to find a copy of the full catalogue to the Exhibition or search the Patent Office archive.

:up: Or maybe it was made of a material resistant to creasing (the assumption being that bachelors don't have irons, or if they do, they use them as door-stops). In my youth (a few years after the Great Exhibition, I'll have you know ;-)) there was a big fuss about 'Drip-Dry' shirts.

b

 

[jiho]

:up: Or maybe it was made of a material resistant to creasing (the assumption being that bachelors don't have irons, or if they do, they use them as door-stops). In my youth (a few years after the Great Exhibition, I'll have you know ;-)) there was a big fuss about 'Drip-Dry' shirts.

b

«Iron? Do you mean Iron Maiden?» said the bachelor...:lol::lol:

Not a bad point, I say, although not too obvious. I think it seems a rather complex interpretation of the text, but not necessarily bad.

Thanks Bobk