The Virtues of Underwear

”[A] rummage through the knicker drawer of history … loaded with memorable details and thought-provoking observations.” - Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times
”[A] rifle through the pants drawer of history … [Edwards] sets out to explore and evaluate the purpose, style and manufacture of underwear, as well as the attitudes various items have provoked.” - Financial Times
”[A] lively history … Edwards, who has written books about buttons, offal and darkness, is an excellent researcher.” - World of Interiors
“From frilly drawers to petticoats, big pants to thongs, our undergarments have changed a lot over the centuries. The Virtues of Underwear takes a look at the history of our most intimate items of clothing.” - Prima Magazine
“13 Beautiful Fashion Books to Make Any Fashionista Happy” - Vanity Fair Italia
“Edwards weaves a seamless tale of the social, visual, and economic dimensions of the hidden garments that literally underpin our lives … Drawing from fastidious research, Edwards braids innumerable insights into contextual narrative in an approachable yet non-linear manner. The result is a meandering yet engaging story that manages to maintain an entertaining grip on even the most TikTok-addled attention span… . A sweeping introduction into the world of underwear.” - Hyperallergic
“Collating popular culture, literary, psychological, medical, historical and humorous references and anecdotes, Nina Edwards skilfully weaves together informative and entertaining perspectives, histories, experiences and attitudes that tell the complex stories of underwear.” - Shaun Cole, Associate Professor in Fashion, University of Southampton, and author of Gay Men’s Style: Fashion, Dress and Sexuality in the 21st Century
“Weaving together examples from across the centuries and around the globe, Nina Edwards’s multi-faceted exploration of all things underwear is an engaging introduction to the historic, thematic, material and corporeal concerns surrounding our most intimate apparel.” - Elisabeth Gernerd, Lecturer in Design Cultures, De Montfort University, and author of The Modern Venus: Dress, Underwear and Accessories in the Late 18th-Century Atlantic World
“Nina Edwards has written that most difficult of things – a book that is both scholarly and enjoyable. Her study of underwear through the ages is an immensely readable appraisal of underwear’s role through history but also its significance to our most intimate, private lives.” - Eleri Lynn, a Trustee of the Royal School of Needlework and author of Underwear: Fashion in Detail

Nina Edwards is a freelance writer and actor living in London, UK, and the author of On the Button: The Significance of an Ordinary Item.

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