Underwear
Algie T. Howell, a member of Virginia's House of Delegates, proposed levying a $50 fine for wearing pants that allowed one's underwear to show. The bill failed to pass.
Source: Washington Post, 7/31/2005

Arthur Kneibler (1935)
Kneibler, an executive at a Kenosha, Wisc. underwear company, got the idea for men's briefs after seeing a picture of a man wearing a short swimming suit on the Riviera in 1934. Kniebler adapted the bathing suit, adding a new material called elastic to the waistband, and on May 29, 1935, Kniebler's invention recieved Patent No. 21,999. A 1935 magazine ad touted the the brief's "scientific suspension" and "restful buoyancy."
Source: Chicago Tribune, 1/22/1985

7
According to the NPD Group, American women bought 894 million pairs of underwear in 2003, while men bought 601 million. The average French person buys only three pairs of underwear a year.
Source: Agence France Presse, 12/7/2003