In the 16th century, drawers became a common term for both men’s and women’s underpants. Made of linen, the items were no-frills and looked more or less interchangeable (this being well before Victoria ever had a secret; decorative lace trim started appearing on the garments only in the middle of the 19th century).
Most likely, underwear earned this distinctly unsexy epithet because it describes the way that people put on their unmentionables — drawing them up and over the lower part of the body
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