Revealing scraps of lingerie

You may have been thinking that your own smalls have seen better days and maybe taken one too many cycles around the tumble drier but wait until you see what treasures have recently been uncovered in the vault of an Austrian castle! Despite their state of decay they strike a strong resemblance to the string bikini briefs and structured cups that form the basis of most women's lingerie drawers today.

These undergarments, dating back to the 15th Century have literally rocked the foundations of history; changing the beliefs on medieval clothing and proving women's lingerie existed hundreds of years earlier than previously thought. Up until now it had been believed that women wore smocks or chemises and that bikini briefs like those found did not make an appearance until late 18th Century and bras much later at just 100 years ago. Fashion curator Hilary Davidson from the Museum of London is staggered that such delicate garments have even survived the test of time and the discovery "totally rewrites" fashion history.

The undergarments which included four bras and two pairs of pants; two resembling the above and the others as merely 'shirts with bags', formed part of a haul of 3,000 artefacts unearthed in Lengberg Castle, East Tyrol during recent renovations. It is believed that they were buried when the building was extended in 1480 and remained in tact due to exceptionally dry conditions. The fact that radio carbonating tests have quashed all those sceptical leaves us only with the notion that a few scraps of lace was as much the rage 500 years ago as it is today.