The underwear you’re wearing right now (I hope) is a garment that tells much more than just providing essential functionality.
Few garments tell a richer story than the slip shorts, history, function, and culture all woven together.
From Forbidden Venetian Braghesse to Modern Slip Shorts: The Scandalous True Story
From the 16th century Venice, “braghesse” referred to wide, gathered shorts, usually knee-length, worn by Venetian courtesans. Eventually these early forms of women’s underwear were tolerated long before undergarments became acceptable in the wardrobe of a “respectable” woman.
There was a time (and it lasted quite a while) when the mere idea of a woman wearing trousers was considered as scandalous as getting drunk in church.
However, braghesse, these shorts, were long tolerated (if not imposed) on Venetian courtesans of the 16th century.
In the 16th century, Catherine de’ Medici, a central figure at the French court, introduced the use of breeches among her ladies-in-waiting, resembling structured underwear, to allow greater freedom of movement.
Even though they did not immediately become part of everyday fashion, they opened the door for the acceptability of women’s trousers in practical and aristocratic contexts.
For centuries, in fact, the idea of wearing something under the skirt was considered improper for a respectable woman (eventually they wore nothing under the long chemises).
However only between the late 18th and early 19th centuries did underpants become a stable part of women’s wardrobes: Such innovations were wide and long pants, open at the crotch, worn under layers of clothing.
These garments were called “mutandoni” or “calzoncini” and were meant for decorum, not seduction.
The 19th century and the evolution into the “grandmother’s drawers.”
In Victorian England, the use of women’s underpants (previously considered improper) spread among respectable women. Moreover Queen Victoria, an icon of bourgeois decorum, wore them and contributed to their social acceptability. Along with chemises, petticoats, and corsets, therefore these undergarments became essential underwear of the time.
But English women did not compromise on style: under crinolines, hand-sewn lace, ribbons, and embroidery moved. As a result, seduction remained, but it shifted from the visible to the tactile.
The idea that underwear should be functional but also refined, that it should serve but also please, was born during these years. Eventually it quickly caught on.
At the end of the 19th century, something changed. In Paris, cancan dancers (like Jane Avril or La Goulue) lifted their skirts and stirred controversy by revealing their embroidered culottes.
Indeed it was a theatrical gesture, certainly, but also a declaration. For this reason the idea that underwear could have a visual identity begins there.
Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, underwear became lighter. Therefore drawers were shortened, corsets softened. With the 1914 patent for the bra by Mary Phelps Jacob, a new era began: one where lingerie no longer just shaped the body, but also identity.
The miniskirt cuts its way into history: and it’s above the knee
In the span of one season, everything changed. As a result underwear, previously invisible, now had to also protect against accidental glances. Therefore panties became tighter, tights replaced gartered stockings, lines slimmed down. Fashion revealed legs, and the body was free to move.
As a result in the 1970s and 1980s, two trends alternated: on the one hand, comfort, with the spread of cotton briefs, wireless bras, and bralettes; on the other, chic exhibitionism (Madonna on stage with Gaultier’s bustier, supermodels in lingerie on the runway).
Lingerie emancipated itself: no longer just function, but a declaration.
And today?
The slip shorts history is rooted in utility, but has evolved into style.
Today, women’s lingerie is a field of technical and narrative experimentation. Shaping garments sculpt without constriction, in addition fibers are light, breathable, sustainable. And slip shorts become the modern equivalent of the Venetian braghesse: crafted to protect against wind, chafing, and gazes.
Rose & Leoni is an Italian brand that promotes this modern garment, inspired by the original use of intimate apparel: functional, discreet, intelligent.
Its Levantina slip shorts are neither underwear nor outerwear. These under layers are worn over the underwear, like a slip turned into shorts. An elegant response to a practical need. An item that reflects, without mimicking, the Italian tradition of beautiful utility.
For further inspiration on Venetian craftsmanship and textile history, you can explore the Palazzo Mocenigo Museum in Venice, home to a fascinating collection of fabrics, costumes and even a perfume study centre.
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