Dress and Hygiene in Early Modern England

This book examines the role of linen undergarments in concepts of propriety and health in early-modern England. Acknowledging the difficulties in researching the habits of cleanliness in the past, particularly the unreliability of personal testimony for reasons of bias and modesty, the study sets out a methodology for researching aspects of bodily hygiene, first delineating in full what the advice was in both conduct and medical literature. By incorporating not only dress, social and medical histories, but also evidence from surviving clothing, the book serves as an example of an interdisciplinary methodology and a potential model for other histories of other "unspoken" subjects.