LOL: Machen on French Underwear

J. Gresham Machen served during World War I in France with the YMCA war efforts to support the troops. In one of his letters back home, he recounted how he recently escaped a German insurgence that had overtaken his previous post. He and companions had to retreat hastily, with no time to pack up any personal effects at all - everything was left behind. He had made his way back to Paris, and while there he wrote:

I have been directed to wait here in Paris till tomorrow when instructions may be given me. Naturally clothes are almost my first concern. The prices are something terrific - for instance I paid 185 francs plus a war tax for a pair of high boots. But I should not mind if I could only get the things that I desire. French underwear is cut in the queerest way imaginable, and the American variety cannot be found. But this morning I am at least fairly clean. I even had a bath! (Ned B. Stonehouse, J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir, 270).

When I first read the above, I laughed out loud.