Long underwear
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Long underwear, also called long johns or thermal underwear, is underwear with long legs and long sleeves that is normally worn during cold weather. It is commonly worn by people under their clothes in colder climates. In the United States, it is usually made from a cotton or cotton-
polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...
-blend fabric with a waffle weave texture, although some varieties are also made from flannel, particularly the union suit, while many newer varieties are made from polyester, such as the Capilene trade name. European manufacturers use wool blends or even 100% wool, usually
Merino The Merino is a list of sheep breeds, breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monop ...
or other high-quality
wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
. Some models might include a thin layer of
polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...
to transport moisture away from the skin. Wool, in addition to being fire retardant, provides highly effective insulation and will keep its insulating properties even when wet, unlike cotton. The type known as "thermal underwear" is made from two-ply fabric of either a wool layer and an artificial fibre, only wool or – again mostly in the U.S. – two layers of only artificial fibres, which uses trapped body heat to insulate against cold air.


Etymology of ''long johns''

The manufacturing foundations of long johns may lie in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, England, at John Smedley's Lea Mills, located in Matlock. The company has a 225-year heritage and is said to have created the garment, reputedly named after the late-19th-century
heavyweight boxer Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...
John L. Sullivan; the company still produces long johns. In 2004, Michael Quinion, a British etymologist and writer, postulated that the ''john'' in the item of apparel may be a reference to Sullivan, who wore a similar-looking garment in the ring. This explanation, however, is uncertain and the term's origin is ultimately unknown. It has also been posed that the term is an approximation of the French , which translates to 'long legs.'


History of long johns

Long johns were first introduced into England in the 17th century, but did not become popular as sleepwear until the 18th century. It was first used as loungewear but later became popular in
Truro, Nova Scotia Truro (Scottish Gaelic: ''TrĂ¹ru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River (Nova Scotia), Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth ...
. In 1898, Myles and his brother John had developed a product called Stanfield's Unshrinkable Underwear for their garment manufacturing company. He and his brother started with non-shrinking cotton underwear and applied for a patent for long johns on December 7, 1915. From 1914 to mid-1918, the item of underwear most purchased by various military forces was a garment known as a union suit; it is a one-piece form of underwear covering body and legs and was the prototype of the Chinese (), the top part, and (), the bottom part. After 1918, countries returned to producing for civilians. Demand declined following the spread of central heating and more frequent baths or showers.


Long underwear in other countries


China

In China, people use separate words to refer to the two parts of long underwear, and the terms vary across the country. In the northern part, people refer to the top as and the bottom as . People living south of the
Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
and north of the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
refer to the top as and the bottom as . People living south of the Yangtze River call the top and the bottom . In the early 2010s, a myth spread through Chinese social media that long underwear was part of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
's conspiracy to prevent Chinese military powers from invading Soviet soil in the far east. The myth suggested that the Soviet Union believes that long underwear reduces Chinese soldiers' adaptability in cold climates based on the since-debunked theory of
Lysenkoism Lysenkoism ( ; ) was a political campaign led by the Soviet biologist Trofim Lysenko against genetics and science-based agriculture in the mid-20th century, rejecting natural selection in favour of a form of Lamarckism, as well as expanding upon ...
popular in the mid-20th century.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long Underwear 17th-century fashion 18th-century fashion 19th-century fashion Undergarments Winter clothes