I was throwing away a couple of old books that had been in our basement for I don\u2019t know how long, and as I flipped through one of them \u2014 it contained article from, I think, an old Readers Digest, but I\u2019m not sure. Anyhow, it was a quiz about articles of clothing and where they came from or how they got their name. I thought it might be interesting to list a few of the item here \u2014 and I\u2019ve even included the answer\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCK
a. The first were woven from fine Egyptian linen called \u201csax.\u201d
b. The Latin Word \u201csocks,\u201d a shoe made of thin leather.
c. Named for Sir Williams Roxbury, who first wore them in public.
The ancient Greeks wore them first; they were made of a light leather and called \u201csykhos.\u201d Roman soldiers used them as boot liners and wore them to Britain, where the name \u201csocks\u201d was clipped to \u201csocks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SHOE
a. From the practice of hurling footwear at undesirable critters while \u201cshoo!\u201d
b. The Anglo-Saxon \u201csceo,\u201d pluralized to \u201cschwas,\u201d meaning \u201cto cover.\u201d
c. It was popularized by Japanese leather merchant Shu\u2019 Ze.
Egyptian sandals of woven papyrus were the first footwear, worn as early as 2000 B.C. Greeks fashioned fitted footwear from leather by 600 B.C., followed by the Romans who added rights and lefts around 200 B.C. But out word for shoe comes from the Anglo-Saxons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GLOVE
a. From the Anglo- Saxon \u201cfolm,\u201d meaning the palm of the hand.
b. The oldest pair came from King Tut\u2019s Gluvril Chamber.
c. Named after Sir Galveston, a knight of the Round Table.
Men have been wearing gloves for 10,000 years. Women didn\u2019t get in on the fun until 1550, when France\u2019s Catherine de Medici stunned the fashion world with her hers \u2014 lavishly embroidered and richly jeweled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TUXEDO
a. It made its debut at a country club in Tuxedo Park, N.Y.
b. Its resemblance to Aptenodytes tuxidos, the tuxedo penguin.
c. Mark Twain, who ridiculed formalwear as \u201ctailored & tucksied.\u201d
Heir to the tobacco fortune, Pierre Lorillard IV, a blue blood New Yorker set the fashion world on its ear in 1886. His family commissioned and wore the first of the future prom rentals to the Autumn Ball at his exclusive country club in the village of Tuxedo Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STETSON
a. In prairie pidgin, to \u201cstet\u201d means to \u201cstay,\u201d and this hat \u201cstay\u2019s on.\u201d
b. Alteration of \u201cState Son,\u201d honoring Texams who died at the Alamo.
c. Named for its creator, Philadelphia haberdasher John Stetson.
John Stetson worked in his family\u2019s Philadelphia hat business as a boy. He traveled out west in the 1860s to improve his health. When he returned to Philly, he started making hats that were suited to the needs of the Western cowboys. The hats soon became the most popular\u00a0 cowboy headgear in the west. Buffalo Bill, General George Custer, Annie Oakley, and Calamity Jane all wore them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TROUSERS
a. Leather garments first seen on Nordic fishermen, on River Trow.
b. After French Prelate Henri Trouseut, who wore them under his robe.
c. The Gaelic \u201ctrews\u201d for \u201cleg covers.\u201d
I guess anyone can wear the pants in your family, but only men can wear trousers \u2014 when women wear them, they\u2019re \u201cslacks (from Latin, \u201cmaxus,\u201d for \u201cloose.\u201d) Answer is \u201cc\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UMBRELLA
a. It was patterned after the Alaskan \u201cumbriak,\u201d a round canoe.
b. From the Latin \u201cumbra,\u201d which means \u201cshade.\u201d
c. For Londoner Ed Umber\u2019s, its inventor.
In London in the 1750s, a British merchant named John Hanway, popularized th umbrella. Before that, anything more than a casual attempt to avoid the rain was considered unmanly \u2014 the umbrella was for women to escape the sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PAJAMAS
a. Their Central American town of origin, Pajama (near Panama.)
b. The Farsi \u201cpau\u201d for \u201cleg,\u201d and \u201cjam\u201d meaning \u201cgarment\u201d because they started out as pants.
c. It was developed and marketed by flannel baron Sanjib Pajima.
From late in the 16th century, both men and women wore nightgowns (really.) Two hundred years later, as women\u2019s nightgowns got flimsier , men\u2019s got shorter, and turned into nightshirts. The loose pants called \u201cpajamas\u201d were worn on the bottom. The two didn\u2019t match, of course. But eventually they did, and \u2014 they became the pajamas that we know today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the next time you\u2019re going through your closet, you\u2019ll know where some of this stuff came from \u2014 historically, at least.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was throwing away a couple of old books that had been in our basement for I don\u2019t know how long, and as I flipped through one of them \u2014 it contained article from, I think, an old Readers Digest, … Continue reading