Loincloth

A loincloth is a one-piece garment, sometimes kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and, at least partially, the .

Loincloths are being and have been worn in societies where no other clothing is needed or wanted, as an undergarment or swimsuit, by wrestlers and by farmers in paddy fields in both Sri Lanka and India, where it is called kaupinam or Kov(m)anam or langot.

The loincloth, or breechcloth, is a basic form of dress, often worn as the only garment. Men have worn a loincloth as a fundamental piece of clothing which covers their genitals, not the buttocks, in most societies which disapproved of genital nakedness throughout human history. The loincloth is in essence a piece of material, bark-bast, leather, or cloth, passed between the legs and covering the genitals. Despite its functional simplicity, the loincloth comes in many different forms.

A breechcloth, or breechclout, consists of a strip of material (bark, cloth, leather) passed between the thighs and secured by a belt. A loincloth is a long piece of cloth, passed between the thighs and wound around the waist.

Breechcloths and loincloths are garments of dignity among those who traditionally wear them. The styles in which breechcloths and loincloths can be arranged are myriad. Both the Bornean sirat and the Indian dhoti have fabric pass between the legs to support a man's genitals.

A similar style of loincloth was also characteristic of ancient Meso-America. The male inhabitants of the area of modern Mexico wore a wound loincloth of woven fabric. One end of the loincloth was held up, the remainder passed between the thighs, wound about the waist, and secured in back by tucking.

In Pre-Columbian South America, ancient Inca men wore a strip of cloth between their legs held up by strings or tape as a belt. The cloth was secured to the tapes at the back and the front portion hung in front as an apron, always well ornamented. The same garment, mostly in plain cotton but whose aprons are now, like T-shirts, sometimes decorated with logos, is known in Japan as etchu fundoshi.

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