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Despite their state of decay, the knickers bear more than a passing resemblance to the string bikini briefs popular today, while the bra has the fitted cups and delicate straps of its modern-day counterparts.

While it was known that medieval men wore undergarments like modern-day shorts, it was thought that their womenfolk simply wore a smock or chemise, and that knickers didn’t make an appearance until the late 18th century.

Bras were thought to be an even more modern invention, not appearing until around 100 years ago.

However, Hilary Davidson, fashion curator at the Museum of London, said the discovery ‘totally rewrites’ fashion history, adding: ‘Nothing like this has ever come up before.’

She believes it is ‘entirely probable’ that something similar was worn by Britain’s medieval women.

She said: ‘These finds are a very exciting insight into the way people dressed in the Middle Ages.

The undergarments were among almost 3,000 fragments of clothing and other detritus found in Lengberg Castle in East Tyrol during recent renovations.

It is thought that they were buried when the building was extended in 1480 and that the exceptionally dry conditions stopped the fragile garments from disintegrating over the centuries.

(Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

虽然根据现代标准，这些小而暴露的内衣很难让人眼前一亮，但它足以令历史学家惊讶。

这些带有花边的亚麻内衣使之前人们认为的内衣存在年代提早了数百年。

这些内衣是15世纪的产物，人们在奥地利一座古堡的地下室里发现了它们。

尽管有些腐烂，但发掘出的女性内裤和如今流行的捆带式比基尼泳装裤非常相似，而胸罩也和现代类似，有合身的罩杯和精致的肩带。

此前人们认为，在中世纪欧洲，男性所穿的内衣近似于现代款式，而女性则穿罩衫或宽松的衣服，女性的半短内裤是18世纪后期的产物。

而胸罩则被认为是更接近现代的产物，直到大约100年前才出现。

伦敦博物馆的时装馆长希拉里-戴维森表示，这次发现“完全改写了”时装史，补充说：“以前从没有过类似发现。”

她相信英国中世纪的女性“完全有可能”穿类似的内衣。

她说：“这些发现真让人兴奋，让我们了解到了中世纪人们的穿衣方式。”