Remember that “B.O.” was not a thing until just before 1920. If you started to whiff a bit, you excused yourself, went to the washroom, and washed. Also armpit inserts were a thing, to the point that dresses had pouches for them. They wicked up excess sweat and if they reached the point where they smelled bad … you put in a replacement and next time you’re in the washroom you washed them out.
All of this had solutions. Effective solutions. Ones that didn’t involve smearing toxic liquids, creams, etc. under the pits. But those solutions didn’t make money for rich folk so they had to go!
Now as for polyester … it doesn’t wick up as much water as say, yes, linen, or cotton, or a few other natural fibres does. (This would be why I don’t wear polyester except as trim and accessories.) But still, in the end, that’s just answered with “wash more often”.
The prevalence (and assumption of the necessity of) deodorant and antiperspirant (the latter being particularly nasty) is purely a marketing campaign devised by a greedy woman in the early 20th century that continues to this day.
More sweating just means more frequent washing.
Remember that “B.O.” was not a thing until just before 1920. If you started to whiff a bit, you excused yourself, went to the washroom, and washed. Also armpit inserts were a thing, to the point that dresses had pouches for them. They wicked up excess sweat and if they reached the point where they smelled bad … you put in a replacement and next time you’re in the washroom you washed them out.
All of this had solutions. Effective solutions. Ones that didn’t involve smearing toxic liquids, creams, etc. under the pits. But those solutions didn’t make money for rich folk so they had to go!
Now as for polyester … it doesn’t wick up as much water as say, yes, linen, or cotton, or a few other natural fibres does. (This would be why I don’t wear polyester except as trim and accessories.) But still, in the end, that’s just answered with “wash more often”.
The prevalence (and assumption of the necessity of) deodorant and antiperspirant (the latter being particularly nasty) is purely a marketing campaign devised by a greedy woman in the early 20th century that continues to this day.