Sexy, or itchy? Would you wear new-style woolly underwear?

NZ has decided woolly undergarments are the way to go - just right for modern living. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/28/new-zealand-wool-industry-fresh-image-fashion WARNING: there are pix of catwalk models in said garments

I dunno if I'd wear them. I'm enjoying my bamboo-cloth knickers (if that's not TMI), and I'd handle light merino cardigans or similar. But undies? Long-johns?

Sure. They've figured out how to make insanely comfortable. My wife used to think she was allergic to wool until I introduced her to merino. Now she wears it almost every day, 12 months a year.

You know, bike racing clothing used to be made of 100% wool, and I'm talking about summer wear.

Tom_Reingold said:
Sure. They've figured out how to make insanely comfortable. My wife used to think she was allergic to wool until I introduced her to merino. Now she wears it almost every day, 12 months a year.
You know, bike racing clothing used to be made of 100% wool, and I'm talking about summer wear.

I used to find wool extremely itchy and my skin would turn red.  I now have a merino wool blanket, and I love it.  

Not quite sure about underwear though...

I used to think  I was allergic too but then found it was the chemicals sometimes used in the processing...

I used Hanna Andersson diaper covers on my babies. They wrapped around cotton diapers and fastened with velcro. They were made of wool.

Pilchers? Is that what they're called? Seems to ring a bell... 

https://goo.gl/images/SUjpg6

I know, and love, superfine merino outerwear and baby wear.

I know that before we had better waterproof materials, swimsuits were often knitted from superfine wools - and stretched, and matted/felted from constant rubbing in active places. But I just keep thinking: overweight me in superfine wool on a very hot and sticky day, wearing jeans and a long-line tee at work... I'm washing those undies every day (of course!) hanging them on a line to dry (no dryer), they'll be out of shape in no time and v possibly I'll have heat rash from over-sweating?

I mean, bras & camis are silky...

You don't understand what this wool is like. In the winter, I wear a wool t-shirt under my dress shirt. One t-shirt can go a week or two between washings. It doesn't absorb swear or odor in the way cotton does. It can even be cooler than cotton on a hot day.

I've never heard the word pilcher used that way.

Aussies export superfine Merino wool to Italy where it's spun into glorious textiles, cut and sewn into outrageously expensive garments and sold back to us

Alternatively, we weave/knit our own textiles, design & manufacture our own fashion ranges and have devoted fashion fans awaiting the new ranges all over the world. My dad used to wholesale high-fashion ladies sportswear during the 60s made from it. 

But remember - you're not in the sub-tropics or tropics (neither is Melbourne where I grew up). A long-sleeved cotton knit is more than enough for winter. 

Yes, I actually knew a lot of merino comes from Australia. Now, is it true that the merino sheep is extinct?

Purebred merinos as original would probably refer to the sheep run in Lebanon and old Palestine by Berbers, pre-Middle Ages, so I really don’t know. Spain and then Portugal bred flocks that were highly prized and carried names we recognise today, with sheep being bought by famous breeders in Saxony, South Africa, here, your Vermont lines and also NZ. (I think the UK bought some and cross-bred with their own sheep, but that’s another story. ) The conditions in each country changed the animals’ characteristics, and also the fleece quality. So breeders would then purchase rams and ewes (more recently, just semen) from the flocks with qualities they wanted...meaning, they’re all cross-bred now. 

All called Merino, all with pedigree but perhaps a bit different to 600 years ago (bigger, more fleece, longer finer fibres etc).

https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/on-farm/breeding-merino-sheep-woodpark-poll-takes-scientific-nononsense-approach/news-story/342ec96cec673a84b714434d2b7bb719 Recent article on Riverland breeders, coping with drought and change