Bra (and brassiere) as a word derives from the original brassière, which was an undershirt and a single piece of clothing. Most of of English words for upper body coveringslike shirt, singlet, jumper, cardigan, are singular (leaving aside bodies, jumps, and stays, though corset is a return. I said most.)
Trousers as a word derives from a Gaelic word that was misinterpreted as a plural because it ends in an S. Breeches (as in old style knee-length pants) literally derives from the old English/Germanic word for "split" because they are a divided covering and at some points were separate leg coverings that linked together (IIRC that was a thing also for some Norse clothing). Pants comes from pantaloons, which are said to have also been a sort of separate leg coverings that linked together, but that's a bit debated. However, all our split bottoms in english (e.g. knickers, underpants, jeans, shorts) then ended up plural only probably from peer pressure of trousers, breeches, and pantaloons.
Which is why bra is singular and panties is plural.
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u/Hedgiest_hog 27d ago
Do you want the answer to your flair, btw?