[Ads-l] Teddy (undergarment), Teddy Bear

Amy West medievalist at W-STS.COM
Thu Jan 28 13:01:12 UTC 2016


On 1/28/16 12:00 AM, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> Date:    Wed, 27 Jan 2016 13:40:38 +0000
> From:    Joel Berson<berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject: Re: Teddy (undergarment), Teddy Bear
>
> So "combinations" were items that are attached to each other?
Yep. Normally the chemise/shift/corset cover & drawers were separate. 
What you need to know is that the corset goes over the chemise/shift, 
and then the corset cover goes over that. Drawers were separate (and 
crotchless).

I *think* I've seen the term "combination" in Dr. Mary Edwards Walker's 
_Hit_, in her chapter on dress reform. I need to check: there she's 
talking about basically a union suit.
> Loss of arms and legs: perhaps not on the garment but on the bear, torn off by malicious, sadistic, sociopathic infants?
>
>
> Seriously, though, were teddy bears in their early days dressed only in (armless, legless) chemises ... er, sleeveless T-shirts?
I was in fact thinking of my 1960s era teddy bear last night: he has a 
tan torso and then brown legs & arms that attach to that. Is that what 
the "teddy bear combination" is echoing? The emphasis on just the torso?

---Amy West

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