Loincloth
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A loincloth is a one-piece garment, either wrapped around itself or kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and the intergluteal cleft though not always covering the entirety of the buttocks.
Sketch of a loincloth
A form of loincloth worn with a cape by Nezahualpilli, c. 1500
The Aztecs wore loincloths with or without other garments.
Australian Aboriginal dance group wearing loincloths made from modern materials on stage at the Nambassa festival
Subligaculum
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A subligaculum was a kind of underwear worn by ancient Romans. It could come either in the form of a pair of shorts, or in the form of a simple loincloth wrapped around the lower body. It could be wor
Loincloth
…European men around 2000 BCE wore leather breechcloths, as can be seen from the clothing of Ötzi. Ancient Romans wore a type of loincloth known as a subligaculum. The use of breechcloths took on common use by the Metis and Acadians and are mentioned as early as the 1650s. In the 1740s and 1750s they were issued…
Female athletes wearing a bikini-like combination of a subligaculum and a very strophium (breast-cloth) (Sicily, c. 300 AD)
A statuette of a Hoplomachus (pl. hoplomachi) gladiator in ancient Rome, armed to resemble a Greek Hoplite (soldier with heavy armor and helmet, a round shield, a spear and a sword) wearing a bronze helmet, a manica on his right arm, loincloth (subligaculum).
Detail of Gladiator mosaic showing a Thraex and a Murmillo gladiator fighting, each wearing distinct armor and Subligaculum loincloth.