To the modern eye, Victorian underwear can appear over-fussy and even comical, but in drafty British houses without central heating or double-glazing, there was good reason for ensuring that warm undergarments were donned before other clothing.
Nuneaton Advertiser 30th November 1872
"The real secret of healthy warmth and freedom is warm, light and close under-clothing. In armour of close fitting merinoes or flannels, from neck to ankles and wrists, worsted stockings and cork soles in sound boots, the man or woman may go, like a knight of old, into the thick of the fight, secure that the slugs and arrows of the wind and sleet will never pierce him."
Women's Drawers, date unknown. Wikimedia Commons.