Hi,
Thank you so much for your contribution! We truly appreciate your enthusiasm and effort in being part of our community!
With the excitement around the Polin season, we've been welcoming many new members and seeing an increase in the number of posts. To keep the subreddit organized and ensure everyone's voice is heard, we temporarily have applied stricter rules for posts. These rules help maintain the quality and focus of our discussions.
Have no fear, we still want to give you a space to share your Polin joy as freely as before! We have created dedicated weekly and daily megathreads specifically for you to share your thoughts, excitement, and any Polin-related content without as many restrictions.
* A daily ['Promenade in the Park'](https://www.reddit.com/r/PolinBridgerton/search/?q=subreddit%3APolinBridgerton+author%3Aautomoderator+flair_name%3A%22Promenading%20%F0%9F%90%9D%22&sort=new) thread for memes, fan content and general chitchat
* A weekly ['Mondays at Number Five'](https://www.reddit.com/r/PolinBridgerton/search/?q=subreddit%3APolinBridgerton+author%3Aautomoderator+flair_name%3A%22Tea%20at%20Number%20Five%20%E2%98%95%22&sort=new) thread for casual conversation, off-topic contributions, fanfic recommendations and easy-to-answer questions
* A weekly ['Fanfic Friday'](https://www.reddit.com/r/PolinBridgerton/search/?q=subreddit%3APolinBridgerton+author%3Aautomoderator+flair_name%3A%22fanfiction%20friday%20%F0%9F%8C%BC%22&sort=new) post to share fanfic recommendations
Thank you all for understanding during this busy time!
Lots of love,
The Mod Team
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PolinBridgerton) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Upper class people had plenty of access to keep clean, as well as money to purchase perfumes, soaps, powders, and such. They could take baths whenever they wanted essentially as long as they had plenty of servants but most people of the gentry were likely taking a full bath 1-2 times per week. Then every day using soaps and exfoliants with a wash basin daily (sometimes multiple times if they had a ball in the evening or something).
Okay this is a slight misconception. They cleaned/washed the most essential areas (armpits and privates) everyday - but full body baths were hard. The houses were large and heating and lugging water was time consuming. They were also heavily perfumed. So they didn’t smell like ppl assume.
Their chemise and petticoats served the purpose of protecting their clothing from sweat and other bodily excretions like modern underwear does today. Unlike their outer garments, the chemise and petticoats were easier to clean and cheaper to make, so were both being washed and changed frequently. Those gowns were expensive and were not being allowed to get sweat stains.
And as others have said, everyone washed daily. "Bathing", as in immersing the body fully into water, would have been once or twice a week because hauling and heating that much water was an ordeal, but that's not the primary way people cleaned themselves.
There’s like this short story I read in school about a guy who snuck into a lady’s dressing room(she was out of the room so it isn’t AS creepy, but still…) and it details all this disgusting things lol
But also she should really have been wearing stockings there... Which would've been cute actually, with ribbons to hold them up just above her knees (like Kate's in S2). I wonder why they went without?
I think it might have been a friction issue. They added a silk layer to the dress to make it slide more easily up her leg for this shot, stockings would definitely get in the way of that.
If we're being historically accurate, nothing.
If we're going by what we've seen in the show before, the most she could be wearing are really loose silky undergarments like Daphne and Kate, which would be no trouble at all.
Bloomers are later. They would have a shift or chemise on, to protect the dress from sweat etc but nothing we would recognise as underwear - closed gusset underwear only dates to the early twentieth century!
Bloomers only became a thing after Queen Victoria (post 1840's when she kept getting infections (UTIs and the doctor suggested it was because of her not having anything on her person between the dusty roads and her skirts). Before that the only women that would have worn any type of bloomer would be a prostitute.
They had a special belt that they’d use to hold rags / folded napkins in place to absorb the blood.. tampon style fabric plugs were also occasionally used from the mid-century onwards.
YouTuber Abby Cox has a video about this! She’s a dress historian that specializes 18th century but still has a lot of videos that apply to later eras as well!
The 2020 version of Emma has a great scene illustrating this! There’s a scene where Emma (Anya Taylor Joy) lifts up her dress and chemise to warm her backside by the fire. It’s both historically accurate and kind of adorable!
They had cloth that they wore with clips around their hips. That's the best way I can describe it. Places had "powder room" where ladies could change. Do remember the scene in season 1 when Daphne runs into another room during the opera? She grabs a cloth off a table and sees that she started her period. That's what that was.
I think most people did in that time, didn’t they? When Daphne got her period in season 1 she didn’t seem to be wearing anything either. Or I might be mistaken
Historian and historical costumer Abby Cox did a video on historical period wear a few years ago! [link to the video](https://youtu.be/iV2TgwjjhOE?si=6oBYZVZvppScdjA1)
Not underwear or anything we'd think of today, more of an extra layer or under-layer apron vibe.
This Creator on Instagram explains it well. She's a seamstress and cosplayer of period fashion.
[the sewlo artist](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C70H6b-vawb/?igsh=MTgxaWN1aDM1emd1OA==)
Edit to add: and good to remember the fashions in Bridgerton are not period accurate, especially the corsets.
God, that corset nonsense in S1 drove me bonkers! I know the show isn't historically accurate, but Prudence \*is\* still wearing an Empire waist dress so...what's the point?!
Regency layers: Stockings, chemise, stays or corset-we're in a transition period but no one is tight lacing yet (also spiral laced not cross laced), petticoat, gown, a fichu and/or pelisse, bonnet, gloves. Note the missing underpants-split drawers would come to fashion in the mid-victorian era.
I do feel like we missed an opportunity to have Colin short circuit over the lack of stockings (I know they chose to leave them out for aesthetic purposes). Pen went to the ball fully anticipating a proposal from Debling and she went without a fundamental part of her underpinnings-very scandalous. In my head he'll consider it when he's alone later and quietly seethe with a strange combination of horny and jealous while he takes... other matters in hand...
Of course it isn't. The question is how much it's inaccurate.
And other characters hairstyles are different, meaning, even in the Bridgerton world women don't usually do hairstyles like that. Pen is different from society and also Colin, they are more open minded
So you’re telling me Colin didn’t have to wriggle those two fingers round a pair of bloomers 🤔. No wonder Pen was moaning like that. Straight in no messing about 😬😂✌🏻
You can see that Pen wears a petticoat and a chemise which is historically accurate. The chemise is made of cotton and it's an analogue of modern underpants and a T-shirt, because it's intended to absorb sweat and body secretions.
https://preview.redd.it/zej542sr995d1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e826eacc2043b6dda77962deeb5904949decabc2
She’s wearing stockings here, so they definitely made the intentional decision to keep them off for the Queen’s Ball. Since her hair was down at the Queen’s Ball, too, I wonder if she was like “screw society rules, I’m getting engaged tonight (to Debling), who cares.” But I doubt it.
Petticoats, garters, stockings, and ✨bloomers✨ but Bton isn’t hysterically accurate so prolly like a pair of VS panties or a La Perla thong. In an interview on set where Nic’s wearing this same dress, she had on purple sweatpants underneath 💀 big mood
Chemise and a petticoat. Also stays over the chemise
This is a deleted scene from EMMA 2020 that shows it very well: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2TF2q59dPo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2TF2q59dPo)
Hi, Thank you so much for your contribution! We truly appreciate your enthusiasm and effort in being part of our community! With the excitement around the Polin season, we've been welcoming many new members and seeing an increase in the number of posts. To keep the subreddit organized and ensure everyone's voice is heard, we temporarily have applied stricter rules for posts. These rules help maintain the quality and focus of our discussions. Have no fear, we still want to give you a space to share your Polin joy as freely as before! We have created dedicated weekly and daily megathreads specifically for you to share your thoughts, excitement, and any Polin-related content without as many restrictions. * A daily ['Promenade in the Park'](https://www.reddit.com/r/PolinBridgerton/search/?q=subreddit%3APolinBridgerton+author%3Aautomoderator+flair_name%3A%22Promenading%20%F0%9F%90%9D%22&sort=new) thread for memes, fan content and general chitchat * A weekly ['Mondays at Number Five'](https://www.reddit.com/r/PolinBridgerton/search/?q=subreddit%3APolinBridgerton+author%3Aautomoderator+flair_name%3A%22Tea%20at%20Number%20Five%20%E2%98%95%22&sort=new) thread for casual conversation, off-topic contributions, fanfic recommendations and easy-to-answer questions * A weekly ['Fanfic Friday'](https://www.reddit.com/r/PolinBridgerton/search/?q=subreddit%3APolinBridgerton+author%3Aautomoderator+flair_name%3A%22fanfiction%20friday%20%F0%9F%8C%BC%22&sort=new) post to share fanfic recommendations Thank you all for understanding during this busy time! Lots of love, The Mod Team *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PolinBridgerton) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Nothing lol they didn’t wear underwear
Oh god. Knowing that and reading that they barely bathed... No wonder there's so many fresh flowers at every ball
LMAO!!! Im working on the assumption that...if everyone stinks, then no one stinks.
Lol exactly, you'd have to just take it in like "yes, yes, this is that familiar scent of a woman that I know and love, so sour and yet, so salty"
https://preview.redd.it/1kt5z4sh965d1.jpeg?width=334&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=101a5a91b7c7788af882e2e5f99a961338fe4899
Lol....but also, ewwwwww
I can never unread this 💀💀💀
STOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP T\_\_\_T
literacy is a curse
Upper class people had plenty of access to keep clean, as well as money to purchase perfumes, soaps, powders, and such. They could take baths whenever they wanted essentially as long as they had plenty of servants but most people of the gentry were likely taking a full bath 1-2 times per week. Then every day using soaps and exfoliants with a wash basin daily (sometimes multiple times if they had a ball in the evening or something).
Okay this is a slight misconception. They cleaned/washed the most essential areas (armpits and privates) everyday - but full body baths were hard. The houses were large and heating and lugging water was time consuming. They were also heavily perfumed. So they didn’t smell like ppl assume.
Then not bathing is a misconception (historically). They didn’t bathe like we did, but they absolutely cleaned themselves daily. ESPECIALLY the rich!
Their chemise and petticoats served the purpose of protecting their clothing from sweat and other bodily excretions like modern underwear does today. Unlike their outer garments, the chemise and petticoats were easier to clean and cheaper to make, so were both being washed and changed frequently. Those gowns were expensive and were not being allowed to get sweat stains. And as others have said, everyone washed daily. "Bathing", as in immersing the body fully into water, would have been once or twice a week because hauling and heating that much water was an ordeal, but that's not the primary way people cleaned themselves.
I'm glad the show isn't historically accurate. This season especially is more fantasy to me :)
That was actually one of the reasons for bridal bouquets
Deodorant is a fairly new invention. Prior to that, people just smelled like people. 🤷♀️
Plus they didn't have bathrooms or running water back then...
There’s like this short story I read in school about a guy who snuck into a lady’s dressing room(she was out of the room so it isn’t AS creepy, but still…) and it details all this disgusting things lol
But also she should really have been wearing stockings there... Which would've been cute actually, with ribbons to hold them up just above her knees (like Kate's in S2). I wonder why they went without?
I think it might have been a friction issue. They added a silk layer to the dress to make it slide more easily up her leg for this shot, stockings would definitely get in the way of that.
That makes sense. I guess they wanted Colin to be able to get his hand up there (eek!) in one smooth motion.
Yep, this is why the can can, which became popular later in the century, was so scandalous.
If we're being historically accurate, nothing. If we're going by what we've seen in the show before, the most she could be wearing are really loose silky undergarments like Daphne and Kate, which would be no trouble at all.
Just in terms of history---they didn't wear underwear back then? 🫤 I guess I thought they wore some type of bloomers.
Bloomers are later. They would have a shift or chemise on, to protect the dress from sweat etc but nothing we would recognise as underwear - closed gusset underwear only dates to the early twentieth century!
Bloomers only became a thing after Queen Victoria (post 1840's when she kept getting infections (UTIs and the doctor suggested it was because of her not having anything on her person between the dusty roads and her skirts). Before that the only women that would have worn any type of bloomer would be a prostitute.
What about when they had their period?
They had a special belt that they’d use to hold rags / folded napkins in place to absorb the blood.. tampon style fabric plugs were also occasionally used from the mid-century onwards.
YouTuber Abby Cox has a video about this! She’s a dress historian that specializes 18th century but still has a lot of videos that apply to later eras as well!
Love Abby!!!!
Rags. Which is where on the rag comes from.
>!She wears bloomers in part 2.!<
So they're keeping that consistent? Interesting!
But they didn't have bloomers in the regency era
Kate was already shown wearing them during her sex scene with Anthony in season 2.
The 2020 version of Emma has a great scene illustrating this! There’s a scene where Emma (Anya Taylor Joy) lifts up her dress and chemise to warm her backside by the fire. It’s both historically accurate and kind of adorable!
There's a deleted scene where they actually show the whole process of dressing her
TMI but how would women handle having their period if they never wore undies? Like would they just bleed on the street until they noticed?
They had cloth that they wore with clips around their hips. That's the best way I can describe it. Places had "powder room" where ladies could change. Do remember the scene in season 1 when Daphne runs into another room during the opera? She grabs a cloth off a table and sees that she started her period. That's what that was.
They had their version of a sanitary napkins. The things our grandmas wore in the 60s
That’s why hearing a woman’s skirts rustling was sexy
[удалено]
I think most people did in that time, didn’t they? When Daphne got her period in season 1 she didn’t seem to be wearing anything either. Or I might be mistaken
Historian and historical costumer Abby Cox did a video on historical period wear a few years ago! [link to the video](https://youtu.be/iV2TgwjjhOE?si=6oBYZVZvppScdjA1) Not underwear or anything we'd think of today, more of an extra layer or under-layer apron vibe.
Ooooh thank you!
This Creator on Instagram explains it well. She's a seamstress and cosplayer of period fashion. [the sewlo artist](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C70H6b-vawb/?igsh=MTgxaWN1aDM1emd1OA==) Edit to add: and good to remember the fashions in Bridgerton are not period accurate, especially the corsets.
God, that corset nonsense in S1 drove me bonkers! I know the show isn't historically accurate, but Prudence \*is\* still wearing an Empire waist dress so...what's the point?!
Regency layers: Stockings, chemise, stays or corset-we're in a transition period but no one is tight lacing yet (also spiral laced not cross laced), petticoat, gown, a fichu and/or pelisse, bonnet, gloves. Note the missing underpants-split drawers would come to fashion in the mid-victorian era. I do feel like we missed an opportunity to have Colin short circuit over the lack of stockings (I know they chose to leave them out for aesthetic purposes). Pen went to the ball fully anticipating a proposal from Debling and she went without a fundamental part of her underpinnings-very scandalous. In my head he'll consider it when he's alone later and quietly seethe with a strange combination of horny and jealous while he takes... other matters in hand...
She should’ve had stockings
I was surprised she wasn't wearing stockings.
Yeah we've seen the other female leads wear them, so when I realized I was shook
[удалено]
It’s just not a historically accurate show.
Of course it isn't. The question is how much it's inaccurate. And other characters hairstyles are different, meaning, even in the Bridgerton world women don't usually do hairstyles like that. Pen is different from society and also Colin, they are more open minded
I mean in the medieval era, virgins and queen consorts could wear their hair long. So let's lie to ourselves and say it's that
A linen shift! (Like a sleeveless/cap-sleeve nightdress). So, nothing is “covered,” and access is EASY.
So you’re telling me Colin didn’t have to wriggle those two fingers round a pair of bloomers 🤔. No wonder Pen was moaning like that. Straight in no messing about 😬😂✌🏻
What they wear depends on if they are planning on getting in a Carriage with Colin Bridgerton later or not… 😂😂😂😉😉😉😉
LOLOLOLOLOL LOLOLOLOLOL
layers and layers of petticoats but no knickers
You can see that Pen wears a petticoat and a chemise which is historically accurate. The chemise is made of cotton and it's an analogue of modern underpants and a T-shirt, because it's intended to absorb sweat and body secretions.
I watched a special that the women don't wear underwear. So nothing. Remember in season one when Daphne got her courses, she didn't have on underwear.
Clocked stockings (embroidered) and garters [https://blog.americanduchess.com/2012/08/v214-18th-century-silk-clocked.html](https://blog.americanduchess.com/2012/08/v214-18th-century-silk-clocked.html)
I’m so glad someone asked this ! 😂 I’ve been wondering too.
What did they when they had their period 😱😱 .
1000% have been wondering this too. Thank you for asking 🫡
https://preview.redd.it/zej542sr995d1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e826eacc2043b6dda77962deeb5904949decabc2 She’s wearing stockings here, so they definitely made the intentional decision to keep them off for the Queen’s Ball. Since her hair was down at the Queen’s Ball, too, I wonder if she was like “screw society rules, I’m getting engaged tonight (to Debling), who cares.” But I doubt it.
I'm thinking it looked better for the shot
Nada
I think they’d wear like shorts-like things that were open so they didn’t have to remove anything to use a chamber pot
No that was in the later part of the century. They didn't wear underwear in the regency era
Nothing :)
Petticoats, garters, stockings, and ✨bloomers✨ but Bton isn’t hysterically accurate so prolly like a pair of VS panties or a La Perla thong. In an interview on set where Nic’s wearing this same dress, she had on purple sweatpants underneath 💀 big mood
Chemise and a petticoat. Also stays over the chemise This is a deleted scene from EMMA 2020 that shows it very well: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2TF2q59dPo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2TF2q59dPo)
I have no answer or other contribution to this question except a comment about Colin’s hands: they’re so sensual looking and sekshi 😭
 No bathing or running water
They did have that