15 Things You Didn't Know About What You're Wearing

• What bra maker designed the spacesuits for the moon landing?
What country wouldn’t let its military wear socks until 2007?
Here are 15 crazy facts you probably didn’t know about your clothes.
15 – The Bikini is Named After Nuclear Testing • French engineer Louis Réard named his
creation after Bikini Atoll, where the United States did a large portion of its testing
on the atomic bomb.
• His reasoning for that was literally a pun.
He wanted it to be an equally big explosion in the fashion industry.
• Incidentally, the bikini was banned in Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Australia shortly
after its invention, and the Vatican labelled it a sin.
14 – Mark Twain Invented the Bra Strap • Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen
name Mark Twain, is credited with the invention of an adjustable elastic strap to hold up
loose-fitting clothing.
• It’s filed as “improvement in adjustable and detachable straps for garments.”
Originally he intended it to be used for a variety of clothing types, including vests
and “pantaloons.”
• But take one look at this patent, and it’s hard to see anything but a bra strap
here.
13 – South Korea Had an Actual Fashion Police for Skirts
• South Korea, now famous for scantily-clad girl groups, once had a skirt-measuring Fashion
Police.
• In the 1970s, their job was to go around and literally measure the skirts of girls
walking around on the street to make sure they were long enough.
• If their skirts were too short, women could be fined or jailed.
12 – White Was a Terrible Wedding Color • Before 1840, getting married in a white
wedding dress would have been unspeakable.
• Britain’s Queen Victoria was the first to associate the color white with weddings
– when she married her cousin in a dress she designed herself.
• Before that, white clothing was for mourning – it was something you would wear at a funeral,
not a wedding.
11 – Jeans are Named for Italian Sailors • Jean was actually the name given to a
type of cotton corduroy cloth worn in the 1800s.
• They are named for Genoa, Italy the city the that cloth originates from.
• Eventually, a Russian immigrant named Jacob W. Davis figured out that jean cloth
could be used to make really strong pants, and pitched the idea to a German immigrant
named Levi Strauss.
And now we have jeans.
10 – Platform Shoes Date Back to the 15th Century
• A type of platform shoe called Chopines date back to Venice as early as the 1400s.
• They were a popular choice for courtesans to protect their shoes and dresses from dirt
and mud.
9 – Catwoman Invented a Precursor to Spanx • Spanx are sort of like the modern version
of a girdle, in that it squeezes you into a shape that fits your clothes a little better.
• And Julie Newmar, the original actress for Catwoman in the 1960’s Batman series,
is listed as the patent holder for one of the first forms of pantyhose to accentuate
curves.
• The patent name is “Pantyhose with shaping band for cheeky derriere relief.”
We may never know if the pun was intended.
8 – Disney Mascots Had to Share Underwear Until 2001
• At most jobs, bringing your own, clean underwear from home is a given.
But at Disney World, Mickey Mouse and the gang had to work from a shared pool of community
undergarments.
• It wasn’t until 2001, after two months of negotiation with the Teamsters union, that
mascot workers earned the right to be assigned individual underwear sets that they could
take home and wash themselves.
• Some of the workers complained about the underwear being stained and smelly.
Also, there was apparently an outbreak of pubic lice and scabies.
7 – Lunar Landing Spacesuits Were Developed by a Girdle Manufacturer
• The iconic spacesuits that helped Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely set foot
on the moon were developed by Playtex.
• The 21-layer suits were hand-sown and developed by seamstresses that were used to
making girdles, bras and panties.
• There were two other companies – both major defence contractors – who submitted
designs for consideration.
One suit was too big to fit in the space capsule, while the other had a helmet that exploded
during trials.
6 – High Heels Were for Men Before Women • High heels were originally invented as
military footwear.
• Persian cavalrymen used the heels to grip their stirrups, giving them a more stable
position when they stood to fire their bows.
• In the late 1500s, heels became a stylish status symbol among European nobility – particularly
those who were sensitive about their height.
5 – Pink is for Boys, Blue is for Girls • The trend of pink being for girls and
blue being for boys is actually only a couple generations old.
• Actually, the reverse was true until the 1940s.
Pink was considered the “stronger” color, while blue was “dainty,” and children’s
clothing was colored accordingly.
4 – Lacoste’s Crocodile is the First Designer Logo
• French clothing company Lacoste was founded in 1933, and quickly became known for its
signature crocodile logo.
• That logo became synonymous with the company, and still represents the company today.
• That croc is now considered the world’s first logo for a designer label, with companies
like Ralph Lauren, American Eagle, and Tommy Bahama later following suit with animal-based
logos of their own.
3 – Russia and Socks • Socks have been a pretty common clothing
item for a while, but not for the Russian Military.
• Until 2007, the Russian Military would simply wrap cloth around their feet before
slipping into their boots.
After 2007, they were permitted to use the technological marvel that is the sock.
• Of course, it wasn’t until 2013 that socks were actually made standard-issue.
2 – Polo Shirts Were Invented for Tennis • Polo shirts were certainly popularized
by polo players, who used the button-down design to keep their shirts from flying up
while they played.
• But the original design of the shirts was meant for tennis players.
It was French tennis pro René Lacoste who designed the polo shirt to make it easier
for him to play.
• And yes, that’s the same Lacoste as the one we just mentioned with the crocodile.
1 – YKK Zippers • Ever looked at your zipper and seen the
letters YKK?
Ever wondered why?
• It stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikaisha, or basically “Yoshida Company Limited”
in English.
YKK is a famed Japanese company that has complete control over every aspect of its zipper-making
process.
• YKK smelts its own brass, spins its own thread, manufactures its own machines, and
even makes its own boxes.
Because they handle everything in-house, they have unparalleled quality control, and that
has given them the reputation of the world’s most reliable zipper supplier.

15 Things You Didn't Know About What You're Wearing

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