The properly attired lady is never seen in public without
bonnet and gloves.
Cartoon in "Punch", mocking crinoline
(18 sept. 1858)
Caricature of a lover of fashion
(1848)
La fausse poitrine - La croupe de
caoutchouc - Le faux ventre
LA VIE PARISIENNE
Etudes sur la toilette - VIIme Série: Les Postiches (1881)
History & Research
The late 1830s to the
mid 1840s were the era of the poke bonnet, with various movements towards a round versus
an oval opening. The waistline of this decade dropped steadily from the Empire waist
common in the Regency era preceding the Victorian period. Skirts became more voluminous
while the waist gradually reemerged from its hiding place to assume its paramount position
of interest that it kept throughout the Victorian era. Clothing was romantic, with puffs
and frills.
The late 1840s to mid-1850s saw the increase in the width of the skirt, with a concurrent increase in the
number of petticoats to support the bulk of the skirt. Skirts were made of a length of
fabric, gauged or gathered onto the waistband. It was not till the later 1850s that gored
skirts began appearing, along with the cage crinoline, or hoop skirt. The general
silhouette is that of a "dome".
The crinoline era, or
'hoop skirt' era, reached its heyday from the late 1850s to the late 1860s. Skirts were
supported by the cage crinoline, which was so uniquitous that factory owners posted signs
abjuring their hired (female) workers from wearing the crin petticoats to work, as they
took up too much room. Although the fashion magazines showed huge skirts, most women
actually wore much less voluminous skirts in their day-to-day lives. As with all fashion,
the trend-setters wore the fashions depicted in the magazines, while the lesser
fashionable lights contrived as best they could according to finances and circumstance.
The crinoline-supported skirts initially were completely round in circumference, but as
the 60s developed, the bulk of the skirt was moved gradually to the rear, culminating in
an oval-shaped skirt.
This movement foreshadowed the first bustle period of the early 1870s. In 1869, the first bustled skirt
was shown, with what had been the bulk of a simple oval skirt tucked and gathered into a
mass which began at the wearer's waist and tumbled from their to her ankles. The outcry
against this look, as usual, was fierce, with critcs decrying the new fashions as causing
the fairer sex to appear 'not unlike a camel, with a hump and all'.
The bustled skirts were supported underneath by a special contraption, the bustle.
Bustles were made from everything from net wire to rubberized inflatable pillows. The
craze became so great that the lower classes, in an effort to mimic their mistresses,
attempted any number of efforts at a bustle, including one enterprising maid who wore two
feather dusters pinned under her skirt!
The bustle skirt receeded by the mid to late 70s, as the hips emerged as the new
fashion focus, arising from their swaddlings like Venus from the froth. Tightlacing was
never so asiduously practised as during the 1870s, and many were the outcries by the
various rational dress societies speaking out against the evils of tightlacing. As with
all fshion woes, of course, the facts of side-effects of tightlacing had no bearing on the
average wearer's fashion decisions, and corsets, corset designs, and corsetieres continued
to evolve apace.
As the hips emerged from their curtains, the cuirasse bodice and the tied-back skirt
became the fashion interest. The cuirasse bodice was worn skin-tight down over the hips,
and was described as being not unlike a second corset in its fit. The tied-back skirts
were equally uncomfortable, as while the wearers sought to create a trim line from corsage
to ankle, the excess fabric was all thrown to the rear and 'tied back' with strings inside
the skirt. The wearer was rendered virtually unable to walk with anything other than a
mincing gait, and many a waggish rhyme was written about the fashionable fair who fell
while skating and could not stand because her skirt would not permit her to do so.
The second bustle era
began in the mid-80s and trailed off early on in the 90s. The second bustle era was
notable for a thinner, narrower bustle emerging from atop the fanny. The skirts usually
were some form of double or triple skirt, with tabliers and other forms of drapery swagged
about the hips and dropping into a train. Trains were worn everywhere, from house to
street.
The Roaring nineties were ushered in by an increased focus on the hips as the focus of sexual
attraction. Excess fabric was skimmed away, and all the bulk of the skirts were thrown to
the rear in large plaits. Tightlacing was ferociously practised in pursuit of the
waspwaist. As the female half of the race became more physically active, more fitted
clothing was required to meet her needs. Tailor made suits appeared with wide skirts that
narrowed to a tight-laced waspwaist. Sleeves of this era began fairly slim, but then
enlarged to balance the ballooning "bell" skirt.
The late 1830s to the
mid 1840s were the era of the poke bonnet, with various movements towards a round versus
an oval opening. The waistline of this decade dropped steadily from the Empire waist
common in the Regency era preceding the Victorian period. Skirts became more voluminous
while the waist gradually reemerged from its hiding place to assume its paramount position
of interest that it kept throughout the Victorian era. Clothing was romantic, with puffs
and frills.
the skirt, with a concurrent increase in the
number of petticoats to support the bulk of the skirt. Skirts were made of a length of
fabric, gauged or gathered onto the waistband. It was not till the later 1850s that gored
skirts began appearing, along with the cage crinoline, or hoop skirt. The general
silhouette is that of a "dome".
The crinoline era, or
'hoop skirt' era, reached its heyday from the late 1850s to the late 1860s. Skirts were
supported by the cage crinoline, which was so uniquitous that factory owners posted signs
abjuring their hired (female) workers from wearing the crin petticoats to work, as they
took up too much room. Although the fashion magazines showed huge skirts, most women
actually wore much less voluminous skirts in their day-to-day lives. As with all fashion,
the trend-setters wore the fashions depicted in the magazines, while the lesser
fashionable lights contrived as best they could according to finances and circumstance.
early 1870s. In 1869, the first bustled skirt
was shown, with what had been the bulk of a simple oval skirt tucked and gathered into a
mass which began at the wearer's waist and tumbled from their to her ankles. The outcry
against this look, as usual, was fierce, with critcs decrying the new fashions as causing
the fairer sex to appear 'not unlike a camel, with a hump and all'.
The second bustle era
began in the mid-80s and trailed off early on in the 90s. The second bustle era was
notable for a thinner, narrower bustle emerging from atop the fanny. The skirts usually
were some form of double or triple skirt, with tabliers and other forms of drapery swagged
about the hips and dropping into a train. Trains were worn everywhere, from house to
street.
as the focus of sexual
attraction. Excess fabric was skimmed away, and all the bulk of the skirts were thrown to
the rear in large plaits. Tightlacing was ferociously practised in pursuit of the
waspwaist. As the female half of the race became more physically active, more fitted
clothing was required to meet her needs. Tailor made suits appeared with wide skirts that
narrowed to a tight-laced waspwaist. Sleeves of this era began fairly slim, but then
enlarged to balance the ballooning "bell" skirt.
