Introduction

The 19th century was a period of many social reforms in education, in democracy, in
slavery, and of course, it was the era that ushered in the womens rights movements. Among
the many reform movements of the nineteenth century was a movement to reform women's
style of dress. In this lecture, Im going to

a. speak briefly about social ideas around dress and fashion before the 19th century
b. talk about how mass consumption made it possible for everyone to access new
fashions
c. about how dress became a signifier of status [almost a form of social control]
d. changing womens fashions in the 19th century
e. attempts to transform womens dress the dress reform movement

Dress pre 19th century

In this weeks reading by Diane Crane, Crane suggests that

Changes in clothing and in the discourses surrounding clothing indicate shifts in social
relationships and tensions between different social groups that present themselves in
different ways in public space.

Crane charts the changes in clothing as they related to social changes over the centuries, and
how these changes were related to changes in status, social class and identity.

In the Middle ages, she suggests, clothes in Europe began to look much more like the
clothing we wear today shapeless gowns were replaced by more tailored fitted garments.
Changes were generally dictated by royalty and the aristocracy. However, in some countries
sumptuary laws specified the types of materials and ornaments or accessories that could be
worn by members of different social classes e.g. purple could only be worn by royalty, as
was silk, ermine etc. because of their high costs. So the clothing one wore acted as a marker
of social class.

Until mass manufacturing of the 9th century, clothes were extremely valuable possessions.
Very few of the poor could afford new clothing and many had to make do with clothing that
had been passed down from sisters, mothers, aunts etc. I know this through a survey of

wills
Clothing behaviour what one wore very much dictated an individuals social status in preindustrial society. Clothing revealed social class, gender and often ones occupation, religion
and regional origin also.
As western Europe began to industrialise, the effect of social stratification on clothing
behaviour was transformed. Clothing now expressed gender and class stratification rather
than any other identity. For instance, clothes for specific occupations disappeared, to be
replaced by clothing for specific organisations e.g. uniforms. Moreover, clothing came to
firmly demarcate social difference class and gender. The working classes had few clothes
but as industrialisation progressed and clothing became more widely available, the middle
classes had access to clothing in abundance in textures, styles, fabrics, materials. The new
middle classes often used clothing/fashion as visible symbols of their wealth.

By the late 19th century, as clothing became cheaper due to mass production. Clothing was
the first mass consumer item, and middle and working classes alike began to expend large
proportions of their income on clothing. Some costume historians suggest that in this period,
clothing became democratised a great social leveller as more people could afford to buy
ready-made clothes, and as people of all classes adopted the same clothing and styles.
Though this argument has more relevance for the USA, since that country was and continues
to be regarded as a classless society.
Fashion during this period then appeared to be one mode through which an individual might
enhance his/her social position. However, fashion was only one aspect of clothing and we
can see this in the ways in which clothing came to be used as a form of social control,
through the imposition of uniforms and dress codes e.g. the prison uniform, the naval
uniform
During the early to mid-nineteenth century the social order was being challenged and a new
philosophy was emerging, imbued with ideals of liberty, personal freedom, and legal reform.
Black slavery was being criticised and challenged, and was abolished, and working class
men demanded that the right to vote be given to them and not just to a few thousand landed
gentry. It was in this climate that women like Barbara Leigh Smith began to think that
women, too, deserved to be emancipated from their enslaved status.

Fitting in rather uncomfortably, even hypocritically, with this state of affairs was the concept
of woman as a goddess placed on a pedestal and worshipped. This contradiction has been
described admirably by R.J. Cruikshank.
"The Victorians, who tackled many big problems successfully, made a fearful hash of the
problem of woman. Their moral dualism, their besetting weakness of dreaming of one thing
and doing another, might be amusing in architecture or painting, but it involved endless
cruelty towards flesh and blood. Woman in the abstract was as radiant as an angel, as dainty
as a fairy - she was a picture on the wall, a statue in a temple, a being whose physical
processes were an inscrutable mystery. She was wrapped by the Victorians in folds on folds,
and layers on layers of clothes, as though she were a Hindu idol. She was hidden in the

mysteries of petticoats; her natural lines were hidden behind a barricade of hoops and stays;
her dress throughout the century emphasised her divorce from reality. She was a daughter of
the gods divinely fair and most divinely tall; she was queen rose of the rose-bud garden of
girls; she was Helen, Beatrice, the Blessed Damozel, the Lady of Shalott. A romanticism as
feverish as that could only bring unhappiness to its objects."
Women's clothing symbolised their constricted lives. Tight lacing into corsets and
cumbersome multiple layers of skirts which dragged on the ground impeded women's
freedom of movement. Between 1856 and 1878, among the wealthy, the cage crinoline was
popular as it replaced the many layers of petticoats, but it was cumbersome and humiliating.
Sitting down, the cage rode up embarrassingly at the front. The skirts were so wide that many
women died engulfed in flames after the material caught fire from an open grate or candle.
In 1851 Elizabeth Miller designed a rational costume in the U.S. which was publicized by
Amelia Bloomer. It consisted of a jacket and knee-length skirt worn over Turkish-style
trousers. It was regarded as immodest and unfeminine and was greeted with horror and
disdain, despite its obvious utility. A presentation was given in Hastings, with the speaker
Miss Atkins dressed in one of the "Bloomer" outfits.

f. The fashionable long skirts made with yards of heavy material, tight corsets used to
create an hourglass shape, and high-heeled shoes were all blamed for poor health in
women. In the 1850s the first wave of the dress reform movement began among
members of the women's suffrage movement. Some of these women adopted a
costume that came to be known as the "Bloomer" or "Turkish" costume. It consisted
of a short, loosely draped dress over very loose pantaloons. The use of the dress was
not very widespread and eventually died out, as even the reformers returned to their
old styles of dressing.
Dress reform again found a voice in the 1870s and 1880s with activists such as Frances
Willard, the president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Willard spoke out
against the physical and moral damage done by wearing fashionable corsets, heavy skirts,
and evening gowns that showed off the bust and arms.
Reading #1: Advice to Young Ladies
The following is an excerpt from Timothy Shay Arthur's book Advice to Young Ladies.
To dress with neatness, taste, and propriety, is the duty of every young lady; and she should
give just as much thought and attention to the subject as will enable her to do it, and no more.
Unless she do give to it both thought and attention however, she will not be able to dress
with taste and propriety. Occasionally we meet with instances where young ladies affect, or
really feel indifference in regard to dress. Every thing like ornament is eschewed as beneath
the dignity of an intelligent being. The higher colors never appear in any of their garments,
and ribbons are used with a degree of caution that is quite amusing. All this might be
tolerated if good taste accompanied their simplicity of attire; but, unfortunately, a want of
good taste is, in most cases, the primary cause of the indifference they manifest. But, as there
exists in woman a natural fondness for dress, the opposite extreme to this is the one into
which young girls most frequently run, unless they are guided and controlled, as is usually
the case, by the sounder and purer taste of a mother, an elder sister, or some judicious friend.

In order to keep herself from running into this extreme, a young lady should guard against
the common fault of dressing for the purpose of attracting attention. If she have a fondness
for gay colors, let her use them, but not to excess; on the contrary, if her taste lead her to
select those more subdued and less attractive, let her taste be her guide. In regard to
ornaments, they are proper to be used, and, when worn by a person of good taste in their
selection and arrangement, add very much to a woman's appearance.
An idea prevails very generally, among some persons, that all attention to dress, or the
following of the fashions, as they usually term it, is a useless waste of money and time, and
an actual injury to the moral state of the person who thus pays a regard to dress. There is no
doubt that following the fashions to an excess, and thinking about little else than dress, is just
as great an evil as it is here alleged to be. But it is one thing to do this, and another thing to
have such a regard for external order, beauty, and propriety, as shall make our appearance
pleasing to our friends, and our presence welcome in circles of taste and refinement. If we
dress with a singularity because of a weak prejudice against the prevailing fashions, or
outrage all true taste by incongruities of attire, our presence cannot be pleasing to our friends,
nor welcome in refined and intelligent circles.
The true standard of dress for a young lady is that which happens to prevail in the present;
but in adopting it, she should carefully avoid its extremes. If it trenches upon modesty, or
endangers her health, let her so far not follow it. These extremes she can easily avoid, and yet
not appear singular.
Arthur, Timothy Shay [1848], Advice to Young Ladies (Boston: Phillips and Sampson)
Permission: Northern Illinois University 93-95. Available online at Lincoln/Net.
Reading #2: Dress and Vice
The following is part of a series of lectures given by Woman's Christian Temperance Union
President Frances Willard. Willard advocated changes in dress on a more modest scale than
the Bloomer costume worn by women in the reform movements of the 1850s.
If young women knew what young men think and say of them when they pass along the
street in pyramidal hats which are but cages of dead birds; dresses displaying the bandaged,
hour-glass waist, the camel's hump, the mopping skirt, with front so strapped as to display
the lower limbs in most unseemly fashion; with arms akimbo and so pinched that a sausage
is their only parallel; and this fashionable effigy upborne upon the same hideous slant-heeled
pedestals that the demi-monde of Paris wear; if even these young women could hear the
remarks of the young men as they pass by, they would never again appear in such a hideous
guise. Contrast with such an image a young lady quietly dressed in plaited waist, plain skirt
of some soft goods, falling to the ankle, low heeled walking shoes, pretty collar with a bit of
ribbon, and neat cuffs at the wrist, neat round hat, hair in a simple knot, clear skin, and cheek
touched with the bloom of youth and purity! No young man having one spark of sense or
manliness could look upon the first figure without secret contempt, or upon the last without
sincere respect. One would "lead him a life," the other would found him a home. In one his
heart might safely trust, the other would be apt to marry him in haste for his money and leave
him to repent the squandering thereof at leisure
Our duty in the case is immediate, and may well be all-engrossing when we consider
manhood's point of view in addition to our own. The following ingenuous letter which I

recently received from a young man at the East, is commended to the candid reflection of all
women, especially those who, like its author, are in the morning of life:
DEAR LADY: It may seem presumptuous for an unknown and ignorant laddie like me to
address you, but I have applied to several others for help and found none. I take the Witness,
Pioneer and Laws of Life, and have seen some of your protests against that great crime so
many women commit, viz: lacing. In this community we have a lodge of Good Templars
which has held weekly meetings for eighteen years, and girls who are members of the order
and take part in the exercises stand on a platform, and with blood filled with impurities from
imperfect circulation and faces covered with pimples caused by lacing, urge the boys not to
poison their blood with alcohol, and ridicule the red nose of the toper. We have also a
Society of Christian Endeavor, and young women with breath and usefulness shortened onehalf by corsets, attend the prayer-meetings of the society and say they are trying to serve the
Lord, and pray that they may be enabled to do His will in all things. The boys of this place
are a strong, healthy, tough and wiry set; but oh, the girls! Pale, pinched faces, and languid
steps; forms created in God's own image cruelly deformed and distorted into hideous
monstrosities to make men shudder and angels weep; unfit for wives because incapable of
becoming the mothers of healthy children. What young man of sense wants to marry a
dressmaker's lay-figure, or a bundle of aches and pains wrapped up in fancy dry goods? One
of my friends a fine young man with no poison habits did marry one of them. Five
short years have passed away and where is his family? Two little graves in the village
cemetery and a wife who is a physical wreck, may tell the story. Now can you not write a
leaflet that will bring to bear upon this subject physiology, theology and common sense and
which can be scattered broadcast among the young women of the country, especially those of
the W.C.T.U.? Think of this. It is the Master's work. He bids me write to you. Yours truly,
JOHN ------.
The young man from Vermont is right. Criticisms upon the habits of our brothers come with
poor grace from those whose own sins against God's laws written in their members fill as
many graveyards as do the tobacco and alcohol habits. For myself, I saw this early in my
temperance apostleship and discarded corsets and high heeled shoes two pets of my
benighted youth, adopted a more hygienic way of living in nearly all regards, and am
slowly moving onward toward a better understanding of Christianity applied to the toilet, the
table and all the daily conduct of life.
Willard, Frances. "Dress and Vice." Available online on Illinois During the Gilded Age.
Reading #3: Gerrit Smith to Elizabeth Cady Stanton
The following is an excerpt from a letter from Gerrit Smith to his cousin, Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, after she and many others began abandoning the Bloomer costume, and returning to
their old style of dress.
Were women to throw off the dress, which, in the eye of chivalry and gallantry, is so well
adapted to womanly gracefulness and womanly helplessness, and to put on a dress that
would leave her free to work her own way through the world, I see not but that chivalry and
gallantry would nearly or quite die out. No longer would she present herself to man, now in
the bewitching character of a plaything, a doll, an idol, and now in the degraded character of
his servant. But he would confess her transmutation into his equal; and, therefore, all
occasion for the display of chivalry and gallantry toward her on the one hand, and tyranny on

the other, would have passed away. Only let woman attire her person fitly for the whole
battle of life--that great and often rough battle, which she is as much bound to fight as man
is, and the common sense expressed in the change will put to flight all the nonsensical
fancies about her superiority to man, and all the nonsensical fancies about her inferiority to
him. No more will then be heard of her being made of a finer material than man is made of;
and, on the contrary, no more will then be heard of her being but the complement of man,
and of its taking both a man and a woman (the woman, of course, but a small part of it) to
make up a unit. No more will it then be said that there is sex in mind--an original sexual
difference in intellect. What a pity that so many of our noblest women make this foolish
admission! It is made by the great majority of the women who plead the cause of woman.
I am amazed that the intelligent women engaged in the "Woman's Rights Movement," see
not the relation between their dress and the oppressive evils which they are striving to throw
off. I am amazed that they do not see that their dress is indispensable to keep in countenance
the policy and purposes out of which those evils grow. I hazard nothing in saying, that the
relation between the dress and degradation of an American woman, is as vital as between the
cramped foot and degradation of a Chinese woman; as vital as between the uses of the inmate
of the harem and the apparel and training provided for her. Moreover, I hazard nothing in
saying, that an American woman will never have made her most effectual, nor, indeed, any
serviceable protest against the treatment of her sex in China, or by the lords of the harem, so
long as she consents to have her own person clothed in ways so repugnant to reason and
religion, and grateful only to a vitiated taste, be it in her own or in the other sex
Letter from Gerrit Smith to Elizabeth C. Stanton, 1 December 1855, in History of
Woman Suffrage, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage,
eds. (New York: Fowler and Wells, 1881), appendix to chapter XIII, pp. 836-39.
Available online at http://womhist.binghamton.edu/dress/doc25.htm.
Guided Reading Questions
Directions: Answer the following in 1-3 complete sentences.
1.How does Frances Willard compare the fashionably dressed woman with the young lady
dressed simply and modestly? How does she say young men will view each?

2. What problems does 'John' see with women's fashions as pertains to their health? Their
efforts in various reform and purity movements?

3. How does 'John' view fashionably dressed women in terms of their desirability as wives?
What example does he give?

4. How does Timothy Shay Arthur compare women who follow the fashions, with those who
choose to dress very simply?

5. How does Arthur answer the arguments that following the fashions leads to immorality?
Does he feel that any caution should be taken with regard to dress?

6. According to Gerrit Smith, if women were to abandon fashionable dress, how would their
social standing in relation to men be changed?

7. What role does Smith believe the dress plays in women's social standing? What other
customs does he compare women's dress to?

(Courtesy of the Water-Cure Journal, October 1851)

"We should indeed be a free people. Freed from the petty tyranny which now rules us
with a rod of iron, we should become strong and vigorous in body and mind, and
independent and courageous in thought and action."
(Amelia Bloomer, in The Lily, June 1851)
During the Spring of 1851 a woman by the name of Elizabeth Smith Miller began
experimenting with a new design of women's clothing she described as "Turkish
trousers to the ankle, with a skirt reaching some four inches below the knee" to
replace the swaddling long skirts she wore daily. The reformed style was undoubtedly
more comfortable and liberating than her previous dresses that weighed her down
with nearly 35 yards of fabric and over 10 pounds of petticoats at her waist. Along
with the corset worn by women of the era, the conventional style of women's dress
caused, "distorted spines, compressed lungs, enlarged livers, and displacement of the
whole abdominal viscera . . . a weary soul in a weary frame" (The Lily, June 1851).
Soon after shortening her skirts and donning Turkish Trousers, Miller visited her
cousin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in Seneca Falls, New York and introduced the reform

dress to her. Stanton copied her cousin's designs, and the two women then decided to
inform another friend, Amelia Jenks Bloomer, of their new style of dress. Bloomer,
intrigued with the healthier form of clothing, adapted the style to her own tastes. As
editor and publisher of The Lily, A Ladies Journal, Devoted to Temperance and
Literature, Bloomer wrote an article in the next issue advocating the benefits of
Miller's "Freedom Dress" or "Rational Dress."
It did not take long before the popular press and society began to take hold of this
reform dress and rename it the "Bloomer Costume" or "Bloomers," after the woman
who first publicized the style. Reform dress was soon viewed as a "ridiculous and
indecent dress" fit only for women "of an abandoned class, or of those of vulgar
women whose inordinate love of notoriety is apt to display itself in ways that induce
their exclusion from respectable society" (International Monthly, November 1851).
Society feared a Dress Reform Movement would cloud the social standards that
governed feminine and masculine norms. Society was concerned that dress reform for
women was only the beginning - that if the reform was successful, social distinctions
would vastly change. Would male and female roles be reversed? Would men become
subordinate and start wearing long skirts? In the minds of people today, such reactions
may seem absurd, but during the mid-nineteenth century, the fears were all too real.
This was an era in which social laws regarding women reflected statements such as:
"It is an equivocal compliment to woman that man should treat her like a doll he is in
constant fear of breaking" (J.D. Milne).
Despite the negative reactions held by society, the Dress Reform Movement spread
and became associated with the struggle for women's emancipation. Elizabeth Cady
Stanton argued that: "Woman will never hold her true position, until, by a firm muscle
and a steady nerve, she can maintain the RIGHTS she claims . . . but she cannot make
the first move . . . until she casts away her swaddling clothes" (The Sibyl, February
1857). Thus, in the eyes of several female dress reformers, a reform in women's dress
was one of the first steps towards women's liberation.
The next few pages attempt to provide a variety of images seen in both the popular
press and reality in regards to the ninteenth century Dress Reform Movement. It is
also important to note that not every woman wore shortened skirts and trousers for the
same reasons, and not all women wore the same style of reform dress. The variety is
remarkable, and that is why I created this web site - to provide a link to the history
and progress of the nineteenth century Dress Reform Movement. Because I focus
almost exclusively on images throughout these pages, please check out my References
and Links page for more historical documentation. Enjoy, and please feel free to
email me at Bloomerite@hotmail.com with any comments or suggestions you may
have.

(Courtesy of Graham's Illustrated Magazine, August 1858)

Some historians argue that Western society was fascinated with Middle
Eastern styles of clothing throughout the early nineteenth century,
especially the pantaloons, which became known as "Turkish trousers."
Magazine illustrations, such as the one above, depicted Eastern women
wearing their traditional pantaloons, and may have been the model for
many women trying to design trousers for their rational dress.

(Courtesy of Catherine Smith, co-author of Women in Pants, Harry N. Abrams, Inc.,

Publishers)

Here is a carte-de-visite image of two women wearing "Turkish

trousers," c. 1860-70.

(Courtesy of the Oneida Community Mansion House, and Courtesy of Catherine

Smith, co-author of Women in Pants, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, respectively)

In the early ninteenth century, some religious affiliations and utopian

societies (including the Oneida Community and New Harmony)
advocated a "simple dress" for their female members that would
promote better health and freedom. The young women pictured above
don the characteristic dress that many women of the Oneida
Community in New York wore.

(Courtesy of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin)

Some of the most typical wearers of the rational dress were neither
feminists nor members of a particular religious community. Instead,
they wore the dress for practical and health reasons. It was much easier
for women to complete tasks or work while clothed in trousers rather
than long skirts. Pioneer women, such as the one pictured above, who
travelled West to create new lives for themselves and their families
found reform dress to be a necessity.

(Courtesy of Water-Cure Journal, January 1852)

Gaining popularity in the early nineteenth century, hydropathic

therapy consisted of applying cold water to various parts of the body
via showers, baths, or compresses. These precursors to modern day spas
promoted healthy living, and the isolated locations of the spas made
them perfect environments for women experimenting with dress
reform. Anyone interested in hydropathy would have had easy access to
information on the rational dress by simply reading the Water-Cure
Journal or visiting one of the spas.

(Courtesy of Bloomers 4 U)

"Is being born a woman so criminal an offense that we must be

doomed to everlasting bondage?" (Elizabeth Cady Stanton)
"We did not suppose, until recently, that such a little insignificant
woman as ourself, could frighten men so easily." (Amelia Bloomer, Lily,
March 1851, Vol. 3, No. 3, pg. 21)
"Let men be compelled to wear our dress for a while, and we should
soon hear them advocating a change, as loudly as they now condemn
it." (Amelia Bloomer, Lily, March 1851, Vol. 3, No. 3, pg. 21)
"To breathe, or not to breathe; that's the question
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fashion,

Or to bear the scoffs and ridicule of those
Who despise the Bloomer dresses.
In agony,
No more? -- and, by a dress to say we end
The side-ache, and the thousand self-made aches,
Which those are heir to, who, for mere fashion,
Will dress so waspish."
(Water Cure Journal, June 1853)
"Her miserable style of dress is a consequence of her present
vassalage not its cause. Woman must become ennobled, in the quality of
her being. When she is so, . . . she will be able, unquestioned, to dictate
the style of her dress." (Lucy Stone, Sibyl, July 1857, Vol. 2, No. 1, pg.
198)
The 'Bloomer' dress's the dress for me-I own I love it dearly;
And every season, light and free,
I'll wear it all so cheerily.
'Tis good for work, 'tis good for play,
'Tis good to walk the street, sir,
It gives us comfort, grace, and speed,
For it fetters not our feet, sir,
Oh, what a harassed life they lead
Who follow after fashions;
She is a vain and fickle thing,
And gives no satisfaction."
(Sibyl, 1 June 1858)
"We had enough of Bloomers here of late. They serve at the bars of
public houses, dressed in pants, straw hats, and ostrich feathers; also in
the cigar and coffee shops -- the sign-board being, 'A genuine Bloomer
serves constantly here.'" (Letter to the editor of Godey's, from a
correspondent in London, 1850s)

A few reasons why dress reformers advocated a change in

women's conventional dress:

"Everything [woman] wears has some object external to herself. The

comfort and convenience of the woman is never considered; from the
bonnet-string to the papershoe, she is the hopeless martyr to the
inventions of some Parisian imp of fashion. Her tight waist and long
trailing skirts deprive her of all freedom of breath and motion. No
wonder man prescribes her sphere. She needs his help at every turn."
(Elizabeth Cady Stanton)
"Heavy skirts, bustles, long waists . . . oppressed and displaced
important organs . . . [corsets] attacked the very citadel of life. Both of
them are semi-suicidal in their tendency." (Rachel Gleason of Forest
City Water Cure, New York, Lily, March 1851, Vol. 3, No. 3, pg. 17)

These two images depict examples of some "external objects" worn by women of the
mid-nineteenth century, which dress reformers sought to eliminate as social norms.
The first is a sketch of a corset style, c. 1851. The second is a cartoon mocking the

size of cage crinolines worn by women.

(Courtesy of Faber & Faber and Cupid and Crinolines, 1858, respectively)

"Every other disability under which women suffered, were but offshoots growing out of her dependent condition, and this must
necessarily exist until she could by her own efforts prove her to be selfreliant and self-supporting, which she could never do with her present
style of dress." (L.H., Sibyl, June 1857, Vol. 1, No. 24, pg. 187)

The two photographs above illustrate the typical style of dress worn by women in the
mid and late 1850s, the decade in which the "Bloomer Costume" was first publicized.
(Courtesy of Who wore what?, by Juanita Leisch and the Webmaster's collection,
respectively)

(Courtesy of Yankee Notions, September 1852)

As mentioned previously, society feared that if the Dress Reform

Movement was successful, women's roles would drastically shift and
possibly reverse, causing women to take over conventional male roles.
The cartoon above suggests such an outcome. The original cartoon has
the caption: "Man in his Natural Position, and Woman where she ought
to be."

(Courtesy of the Kean Archives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

The above image comes from the cover of a booklet of sheet music,
"Camilla, or Bloomer Polka." Songs, such as this, often depicted dress
reform in a sarcastic manner as a fashion craze.

(Courtesy of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, July 1851)

Several magazines of the mid-nineteenth century provided illustrations

and even patterns for various styles of the "Bloomer Costume."
However, few of the illustrations reflected what dress reformers
actually wore. For instance, the image above shows a woman with an
extremely small waist size that could only be achieved by wearing a
corset-- an undergarment that dress reformers sought to eliminate from
their wardrobes. Similarly, the woman's skirt seems so full that
multiple petticoats must be worn to achieve such an appearance-another aspect of conventional women's dress that many reformers
despised.

(Courtesy of the Webmaster's collection)

Here is another illustration from a mid-nineteenth century magazine,

Peterson's Magazine, January 1852.

(Courtesy of the Webmaster's collection)

This is the cover of a CD booklet for the musical, "Bloomer Girl,"

which received popularity in 1944 when it appeared on broadway. The
musical traces the progress of the Dress Reform Movement through the
eyes of the protagonist, Evelina Applegate, a woman living during the
midst of the American Civil War.

Reform in mid-nineteenth-century America could take many forms. One of the most
controversial dealt with dress. In mid-century, a woman of means wore five or six
petticoats under her dress. Her skirt was long so that writers of ettiquette books like
Emily Thornwell's The Lady's Guide to Perfect Gentility had to provide instructions
of how to lift it in a a graceful and decorour way when climbing stairs or walking on a
muddy street. A woman of the time often wore a corset since it was considered
fashionable to have a "wasp" waist. Day dresses had long sleeves and high necks.
Evening dresses were typically sleeveless and cut low in the bodice. Corsets not only
cinched in the waist but also pushed up the breasts. French-heeled" shoes -- the heels
were typically three or more inches high -- completed an evening costume.
No one ever accused women's clothes of being comfortable or practical. And many
sought change. Some, like Thornwell, campaigned against the corset on the grounds
that it imperiled women's health. This also was her reason, morality aside, for
criticizing low-cut evening gowns. Others lamented the impossibility of keeping their
skirts clean. The popular writer Fanny Fern once quipped that women should be paid
by New York City for sweeping its streets every time they took a walk. Still others
saw in women's dress the implements as well as the symbols of their subjection to
men. Despite all of this dissatisfaction, dress reform was a dangerous topic. In a
culture as intent upon distinguishing masculine from feminine as the United States in
the nineteenth century, any change in a woman's appearance was sure to provoke
ridicule. Indeed Paulina Wright Davis, who was determined to build the broadest
possible coalition in support of woman's rights, effectively banned discussion of dress
from the first national Woman's Rights Convention held in 1850 in Worcester,
Massachusetts. "We think the subject an all important one," she wrote in the
Proceedings, but "there is neither time nor room to treat it fitly now; no doubt future
Conventions will devote to it the thorough consideration which it merits." Despite this
silence, opponents like James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New York Herald, lost no
opportunity to charge that woman's rights activists sought to wear the "pantaloons"
[pants]. The most famous dress reform of the day was the "bloomer." We have
brought together here a variety of materials dealing with its creation and reception.
Woman's Rights was, at the outset, very clearly an American, in fact, a New England,
reform. And Punch, the British humor magazine, highlighted this in its satiric portrait
of "Woman's Emancipation." Its imaginary Bostonian, Theodosia Eudoxia Bang, was,
in the slang of the day, a Blue Stocking, an educated female. Blue Stockings were
considered inherently comical. Bang was supposedly "Principal of the Homeopathic
and Collegiate Thomsonian Institute." Homeopathy was an alternative form of
medicine, rapidly growing in popularity in mid-century, based on administering
extremely small doses of drugs which, taken in large amounts, would produce in a
healthy individual the symptoms the patients was experiencing. "Thomsonian" is a
reference to George Thomson, a popular writer of lurid novels, including Venus in
Boston which contains a description of lesbian sex.]

"Woman's Emancipation (Being A Letter Addressed to Mr.

Punch, With A Drawing, By A Strong-Minded American
Woman)," Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 3 (August
1851), p. 424 (reprinted from Punch)
P. 424: It is quite easy to realize the considerable difficulty

Summer fashions: Turkish Costume" Harper's New Monthly

Magazine, vol. 3 (July 1851), p.288
P. 288: There appears to be a
decided and growing tendency
on the part of our
countrywomen, to wear the
trowsers. If properly done, we
certainly can not object. . . .It is
conceded by all that the dresses
of prevailing immoderate
length, sweeping the ground at
every step, are among the
silliest foibles of Fashion;
expensive, inconvenient, and
untidy. Recently, in several
places, practical reformers, as
bold as Joan of Arc, have
discarded the trailing skirts,
and adopted the far more
convenient, equally chaste, and
more elegant dresses of
Oriental women. Some ridicule
them; others sneer
contemptuously or laugh
incredulously, and others
commend them for their taste
and courage. We are disposed
to be placed in the latter
category; and to show our good
will, we present, above, a
sketch of Oriental Costume, as
a model for our reformers.
What can be more elegant and
graceful, particularly for young
ladies?

It was against this backdrop of fashion which restricted movement, caused

deformation, illness and sometimes death, that the dress reform movement began. In
America, the dress reform movement was inextricably linked with suffragettes, and
those fighting for equal rights for women. In 1851, Elizabeth Cady Stanton visited
Amelia Bloomer, who was then the editor of a temperance magazine, The Lily.
Stanton wore a costume of Turkish trousers over which a short skirt, or long tunic top,
was worn. Not only was the outfit modest, it also allowed for greater freedom of
movement (Figure 1). Amelia Bloomer was immediately taken with the costume,
adopted it herself, and promoted it in her magazine. The New York Tribune noted the
story, and labeled the costume "Bloomer." This outfit was not received very well by
the general public. Women dressed in the Bloomer costume were often

unceremoniously ejected from lecture halls or churches. Even walking down the street
had its hazards, as they would be harassed by men and children alike.
To comprehend why this outfit could cause such a commotion, one has to understand
that until recent times, a woman could be arrested and imprisoned for "impersonating
a man"; that is, wearing mens clothing. For example, it was a punishable offense in
the Middle Ages; after the Civil War, one woman who had dressed as a man and
served in the Union Army, was later given a special permit by the government
allowing her to wear mens clothes. In the 1930s, in Paris, Marlene Dietrich was
accosted by police for wearing mens trousers while walking along the Seine. Many
perceived that those wearing the Bloomer outfit bordered on "impersonating a man."
On a visit to Great Britain to promote the outfit, the women dressed in the Bloomer
costume were harassed in the street. Their lack of popularity in Great Britain was
further ensured when a ball in which all women in attendance were supposed to wear
the bloomer outfit, was crashed by a large party of prostitutes, and resulted in an orgy
of sorts. The costume never really caught on in America due to its linkage with the
suffragette movement - rights for women were considered by many to be the
beginning of the downfall of society, and therefore, so was this outfit. In 1857, even
Amelia Bloomer discarded her namesake costume for the crinoline.
The dress reformers of the 1870s concentrated on reforming the undergarments, rather
than trying to change the fashion of the outer dress. The bustle was not considered
hazardous, so it was allowed to be an acceptable part of reform dress. Reformers
urged replacing the corset with a "waist," a short-sleeved, high-necked garment which
supported the upper body. It also had buttons on its lower edges, so that one might
button ones petticoats to it, thereby using the shoulder to support the weight of the
skirts. These outfits allowed greater freedom of movement, and were called
"Emancipation Waists."
This new reform in undergarments did not solve all the problems associated with
fashion. By the 1890s, crinolines were gone, but skirts were still so long that they
dragged on the ground, collecting all sorts of rubbish (tobacco, cigarette butts,
toothpicks, orange peelings, etc.). In a rainstorm, such long skirts became almost
impossible to manage. Yet by the 1890s, it had became acceptable for women to be
healthy, even athletic. The long, dragging skirts were impractical for such activities as
ice-skating or bicycling - a new craze among women with the invention of the "safety
bicycle" (more like the modern bicycles, with both wheels the same size). Shorter
skirts were deemed acceptable for ice skating or roller skating. A variety of fashions
arose for bicycling, from a divided mid-calf length skirt, to wider versions of mens
knickerbockers (See figures 2 and 3). More and more middle-class women were also
entering the workforce, as secretaries, stenographers, telephone operators, librarians,
sales clerks, managers, and in other office positions, and so required a dress which
would allow them to perform their job adequately, and required sober (not frivolous)
attire. They could not afford to be hampered by corsets, or to get tangled up in their
skirts. Tailor made dresses, consisting of a jacket, a high-necked blouse, and a skirt
were introduced in the 1890s, and became popular with working women - they
allowed freedom of motion. Gradually, various styles of reform dress became
accepted, because fashion was not followed as closely, and people had become used
to seeing women in bicycling costumes, or other athletic outfits.

An Ill-Hoop" dramatized the misadventures of a young woman trying to take a ride on

a trolley.

First she had to somehow wedge

her skirt through the too narrow
door.
Then she had to navigate the too narrow aisle.

Next came the challenge of sitting Who can blame her if the whole adventure
leaves her somewhat morose?
between two fellow passengers.

The Corset Controversy and Feminine Identity in the Late

Victorian Era

An 1881 Punch Cartoon on the Corset Debate

Throughout the 19th Century, feminists, doctors, fashion critics, and the public in
general spent countless hours arguing over the proper circumference of a woman's
waist in newspapers, medical journals, and fashion magazines. Although the debate
might sound rather trivial to the casual reader of Victorian history, in actuality it was a
deadly serious ideological struggle over woman's proper social role, and her ability to
create viable alternatives to the Victorian feminine ideal.

The three main challengers of fashionable dress:

Rational Dress Advocates who declared fashionable clothing to be unhealthy and
immodest, and argued for loose, plain garments.
Aesthetic Dress Advocates, who eschewed fashionable dress as restrictive physically
and mentally, and favored loose, flowing dresses in sumptuous fabrics and rich colors.
Tightlacing Advocates, who admired the unusually small (less than 20 inches)
corseted waist, and promoted it as physically invigorating for women and irresistibly
attractive to men.

Interestingly, despite the amount of discussion on the subject, it was for the most part
an intangible problem. That is, the vast majority of women during the time period
wore conventional clothes, corseting themselves in perhaps two or three inches at
most, a practice no more confining than many modern-day foundation garments.

Given the reality of women's fashion, then, it's not surprising that the outcome of the
debate was the almost total victory of conventional clothing, and that the power and
alternate roles the radical clothing represented were channeled into the more socially
acceptable alternative of shopping.

Rational Dress
Origin: The Rational or Reform Dress movement had its roots in the United States,
where the most famous symbol of the movement, the Bloomer Costume, was invented
in 1850. Bloomers were conceived by Libby Smith, cousin of noted feminist
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who modeled them on the comfortable outfits worn by
women recuperating in Swiss sanitariums.

Amelia Bloomer in the Bloomer Costume, 1850s. Her feminist magazine The
Lily was the first to publicize the costume, which ever after bore her name.
Ironically, Bloomer herself didn't care for the costume, and only wore it to
support her friend Libby Smith, the actual inventor of bloomers.
Philosophy: Rational Dress advocates felt that freeing women from their heavy,
unwieldy costumes would make them more successful wives and mothers, as it would
strengthen their health and allow them to accomplish household tasks more easily.
Many feminists also saw the plain, loose clothing as less sexually provocative and
more on a par with men's clothing, thus promoting moral and physical equality
between the sexes.
Why it failed: When the Bloomer Costume reached Great Britain in 1851 its wearers
were depicted as masculine, immodest harridans attempting to overstep the
boundaries of their gender by wearing trousers. The resulting ridicule in the popular
press was so acute that even though the Reform Dress Movement continued into the
latter half of the 19th Century, its followers had learned their lesson: subsequent

clothing styles endorsed were simply looser, plainer versions of conventional

fashions.

Punch Cartoon, 1851

In Their Own Words:
"Men cannot respect us, or accord us due consideration so long as we behave so
foolishly in the matter of our garmenture. . . .If men were to skip about in this style
from absurdity to absurdity, dotting themselves over in the shape of hideous humps,
first in one place, then another, what should we think of them?"
--Editorial, Rational Dress Society Gazette, 1889
"The effect of singularity in attire is to incur social martyrdom out of all proportion to
the [physical] relief gained. It is vain to be comfortably and modestly attired if one is
to be made the subject of observation and ridicule."
--Editorial, Rational Dress Society Gazette, 1888

Tightlacing
Origin: The controversy over how tightly corsets should be laced was around since
the invention of the corset. In the 19th Century, the debate almost disappeared during
the Romantic Period, but re-emerged in the 1820s as fashion slowly fazed out the
high-waisted gowns of the previous three decades and returned to the hourglass
silhouette. The debate reappeared periodically throughout the remainder of the
century, but grew particularly virulent in the late 1860s and early 1870s, fomented by

the unusually constrictive prevailing fashions as well as simmering social tension over
women's rights.

Actress Polaire, tightlace enthusiast, 1890

Philosophy: Tightlacing advocates felt that reports of the damage done to women's
health were greatly exaggerated, and was the work of old-fashioned, misogynistic
doctors. They argued that tightlacing actually improved women's health by increasing
circulation and improving posture. They also felt that a woman with a tiny waist
would have a vast advantage in the marriage market, as men could not resist its
beauty. Tightlacing critics, many of them feminists, felt just the opposite. They
exclaimed over its unhealthiness and immodesty, and horror stories of young girls
cutting their livers in two or dying of asphyxiation were legion but apocryphal. The
more aesthetically-minded critics also thought that women stuffed into too-tiny
corsets looked ugly and out of proportion.

Two copies of the same 1890s fashion postcard of actress Ada Blanche. The
one on the right has been doctored by a tightlace enthusiast.
Why it failed: Women's fashions changed radically after the turn of the 19th Century.
The subsequent death of the corset signaled the end of the debate, which was slowly
but surely replaced by the debate over dieting that obsessed the 20th Century.
Tightlacing survives today as a bondage fetish but not much else.
In Their Own Words:
"If all that was said against the corset is true, how is it so many ladies live to an
advanced age? A friend of mind has lately died at the age of eighty-six, who has
frequently told me anecdotes of how in her young days she was laced cruelly tight,
and at the age of seventeen had a waist fifteen inches."
--Letter from "Constance" to the Queen [Fashion Magazine], 1868
"In many cases, the cripple, the idiot, the inebriate, the profligate, would find that they
owed their suffering and their sorrows to the folly of their mothers. Tight-laced
women bequeath to their children an imperfect vitality, which often leads to vicious
ways."
--Editorial, Rational Dress Society's Gazette, 1889