Editing Loincloth (section)

== History and types ==
[[File:Nezahualpiltzintli.jpg|thumb|A form of loincloth worn with a cape by [[Nezahualpilli]], {{circa|1500}}]]

Loincloths are worn in societies where no other clothing is needed or wanted. Loincloths are commonly used as an [[undergarment]] or [[swimsuit]] by [[wrestlers]] and by farmers in [[paddy field]]s in both [[Sri Lanka]] and [[India]], where it is called Kovanam in Tamil, {{Transliteration|si|ambudaya}} in Sinhala and [[kaupinam]] 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 fibre|bast]], [[leather]], or cloth, passed between the legs and covering the genitals. Despite its functional simplicity, the loincloth comes in many different forms.

The styles in which breechcloths and loincloths can be arranged are myriad. Both the [[Borneo|Bornean]] ''sirat'' and the Indian ''[[dhoti]]'' have fabric pass between the legs to support a man's genitals.

[[Image:Aztec5figure9.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Aztecs]] wore loincloths with or without other garments.]]

A similar style of loincloth was also characteristic of ancient [[Mesoamerica]]. 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.<ref group=Note>Local names: [[Nahuatl]] {{lang|nah|maxtlatl}}, [[Mayan languages|Mayan]] {{lang|myn|ex}}.</ref>

In Pre-Columbian [[South America]], ancient [[Andean civilizations|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.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} The same garment,{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} mostly in plain [[cotton]] but whose aprons are now, like T-shirts, sometimes decorated with logos, is known in Japan as {{Transliteration|ja|etchu [[fundoshi]]}}.

Some of the culturally diverse [[Indigenous peoples in Brazil|Amazonian indigenous]] still wear an ancestral type of loincloth.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

Until World War II, Japanese men wore a loincloth known as a {{Transliteration|ja|[[fundoshi]]}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Arita |first=Eriko |date=2009-05-10 |title=Fundoshi: undercover revolution |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2009/05/10/style/undercover-revolution/ |website=The Japan Times}}</ref> The {{Transliteration|ja|fundoshi}} is a {{convert|35|cm||adj=mid|-wide}} piece of fabric (cotton or [[silk]]) passed between the thighs and secured to cover the genitals.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}