Male Undergarment: Detail of a Sculpture from the Chapel of St Sebastian in Sesimbra's Municipal Museum, near Setúbal, a work by Master Diogo Pires-o-Velho (from Coimbra): 15th near Setúbal: 15th century AD

Although quite crudely sculpted in artistic terms, this detail is extremely informative about garments which have not survived and are rarely depicted. The brief, or loin-cloth, is of a single piece of cotton or other fine material, turned over and stitched down at the top to hold a twisted cord, to be tightened under the navel.