Nineteenth Century Fashion: New Fashion for the Great Exhibition

 In July 1851 it was reported that young ladies in Harrogate had been seen in Bloomer costume. Later that summer a lady and her daughter were spotted in London dressed in baggy trousers and waistcoats. They were surrounded by a mob and when they could stand the derision of the mob no longer they escaped in a cab. Such attire began to appear in several cities in the United Kingdom. In each instance the women wore variations on an outfit consisting of a belted knee length tunic and pantaloons gathered at the ankle known as “Bloomer” costume. The name was derived from the American journalist named Amelia Bloomer although it would be several more years before the words would be applied to the clothing itself.

The outfits were welcomed by some as a more practical alternative to full skirts that could trip the wearer up or be dragged along in the mud and the whalebone corsets that were tight and frequently uncomfortable. For all its pragmatism the style of dress provoked outrage and this was not what Amelia Bloomer expected. The original call to a more practical form of clothing had appeared in the Lily. The Lily  was a New York Newspaper that was run by Amelia Bloomer and devoted to the interests of women. The idea was to develop a form of clothing that would be more suitable for women carrying children or lighted candles.

During the summer of 1851 supporters and satirists grappled with the effects of allowing women to wear trousers in public. A play appeared, a farce entitled “Bloomerism or the follies of the day” by John Henry Nightingale -this appealed to some people including Charles Dickens whilst comic songs such as Henry Abraham’s “I want to be a Bloomer” was enjoyed by others. Those opposed to the new style of dress regarded the attire as a type of cross dressing. An article in The Times referred to it as “aggression.. most daringly manifested” and a form of social disorder. Many cartoons were published in which women were depicted as bossing their husbands around.

The Bloomer attire would be regarded as provocatively eccentric for many more years to come. In 1876 the New York Times reported a “curious nervous disorder peculiar to women” of which the most visible symptom was “an abnormal and unconquerable thirst for trousers”. Further problems developed because Bloomers were regarded as an import from North America and whilst it was acceptable for a woman to wear fashions from Paris, innovative clothing from New York was considered more dubious.. Gradually the controversy assuaged and trousers became a more acceptable form of clothing for women. In just one hundred and seventy years trousers for women have changed from being revolutionary and controversial garments into clothing that most women have in their wardrobes. Can you think of other household items have undergone such a radical shift in their use?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Oxford Movement and The Gorham Judgment of 1850

  The Privy Council, a secular Court, announced a decision on the case of the Reverend George Gorham in 1850. The Anglican B ishop of Exeter Henry Phillpotts had refused to allow him to become vicar of St. Peter's in Bramford Speke, Devon because of Gorham's theology of Baptism, which Philpotts regarded as not conform ing to the doctrine of the Church of England. Reverend Gorham held that Baptism was not sacramentally effective and that an adult decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour was necessary. Bishop Phillpotts, however, was a High Church Anglican who could not accept what he regarded as a denial of Article XXVII of the Thirty-Nine Articles: Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christians are discerned from other that be not christened, but is also a sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and o...
Read more

The Gothic Revival in the nineteenth century: Early work by A.W.N. Pugin

  As a young man Augustus Pugin converted to Roman Catholicism and in 1836 published “Contrasts” in which he compares architecture and interior furnishings in Protestant and Roman Catholic settings. One of his drawings illustrates “a faithful picture of Protestant desecration and neglect” and features a defaced altar screen, below which stands an altar table that Pugin describes as a “cheap and ugly table”. In contrast a sketch of an altar and associated furnishings in a Roman Catholic setting is described as “more suited to a fashionable boudoir that to an altar for sacrifice.” Pugin’s aim was to recapture the Gothic style in the buildings and furnishings he designed. An early commission was Scarisbrick Hall, close to Ormskirk in Lancashire. Charles Scarisbrick initially wanted a garden seat and chimney piece, but the young and enthusiastic Pugin set about trying to rebuild the entire property. Pugin produced for Scarisbrick a number of rooms central to the house: the Great...
Read more

A.W.N. Pugin “Improving the taste of young England”

Image
  On September 1 st 1846 the opening of St. Giles’ Church Cheadle took place after five years of building and interior design work by Pugin. The Earl of Shrewsbury whose money had largely funded the project was delighted. He thought it would “improve the taste of young England” and could often be found showing people around. George Gilbert Scott was impressed and the Earl of Shrewsbury commented about his reaction “ the stencilling absolutely made the water run down both sides of his mouth”. St. Giles Church was designed by Pugin to be entirely English in style and was symmetrical. This style no longer reflected his thinking at the time but it was an example of what became known as “Puginism”. The Church cost over thirty thousand pounds and was a full blown work of high romantic art. In it Pugin’s own religious and aesthetic ideals were equally fulfilled. Many notable guests attended the consecration including John Henry Newman, a recent convert from the Anglican to the Rom...
Read more