Contributing

What did they wear in the 1880s?

What did they wear in the 1880s?

Throughout the 1880s, day bodices and dresses featured high, narrow shoulders descending into impossibly tight sleeves, a departure from the low, sloping shoulders of the past few decades. Collars were tall and fitted, sometimes boned for shaping (Fig. 5).

What was dress reform?

Dress reform called for emancipation from the “dictates of fashion”, expressed a desire to “cover the limbs as well as the torso adequately,” and promoted “rational dress”. Dress reformers were also influential in persuading women to adopt simplified garments for athletic activities such as bicycling or swimming.

Why did dresses have bustles?

Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. Heavy fabric tended to pull the back of a skirt down and flatten it. As a result a woman’s petticoated skirt would lose its shape during everyday wear (from merely sitting down or moving about).

What did the reformers do to change dress?

Solutions promoted by the dress reformers included trousers, reform underwear, and artistic dress. The reformers had a lasting impression on dress as trousers were adopted by sports enthusiasts and became part of the archetypal gymnasium suit worn at colleges and high schools.

What was reforming fashion, 1850-1914, about?

Reforming Fashion, 1850-1914 is about the women’s dress reform movement of the late 19th and early 20th century.

What was Womens fashion like in the 1880s?

The extreme restriction placed on women’s bodies through the princess-line corsetry, large bustles, and profuse trim prompted criticism from both artistic and health reformers (Shrimpton 22). The 1880s featured two distinct silhouettes in women’s fashions. The first was marked by the “princess line” and had begun earlier, around 1876.

What did the reformers do for Women’s Health?

A growing number of people including feminists, health advocates, physicians, artists, and educators began to believe that women’s clothing, particularly fashionable dress, was harmful to women’s health. Solutions promoted by the dress reformers included trousers, reform underwear, and artistic dress.