Women's Styles Early Victorian Era (1837-1860)
Dresses
Petticoats
In the early 1930s, skirts of women's dresses were bell shaped, but as time progressed the became more dome-shaped and required many layers of petticoats (a slip that went under the outermost dress) to hold them out in that shape. Usually, at least 6 petticoats were worn. However, this was uncomfortable as it restricted the movement of women and also was very warm, especially in the summer. Imagine when you were a little kid and you put on all of your clothes to play outside in the winter. It's a bit hard to move around with all of the extra weight. Years later, several people came up with new ideas to replace the petticoats.
Rational Dress Reform
To lighten the load of themselves, some women came up with alternatives. On of them was Mrs. Amelia Bloomer and her idea of Rational Dress Reform. She claimed that in order to help the equality of men and women, and also to allow women more freedom, that American women should wear "trousers" such as the ones that Asian or Native American women wore. Mrs. Bloomer started to wear this style, and although it definitely made life easier for those who wore it, it was never very popular until after her death. They were then called "bloomers" which is what we call them today. They were like trousers except puffier and they went all the way down to the ankle. Many women believed it was much easier to do things such as ride a normal bicycle while wearing bloomers.
Lady Harberton of England suggested a more popular style, but only to the priveleged. It was like a skirt but split down the center for easier movement, along with bloomers underneath. However, this caused a few cycling accidents when one of the tails of the skirt got caught in the spokes.
Crinoline Cage Frame
"Crinoline" was a tern originally used for the horsehair fabric in older petticoats. It came from the French words crin, meaning horse, and lin, meaning hair. Later, the term was used for the cages or hoops that supported a dress in place of petticoats. As stated before, the usual woman wore about six petticoats, which could be about 14 pounds of extra weight. In 1856, W.S Thomson patented the Crinoline Cage which could hold the dress like the petticoats had, but without the extra weight and layers. It became widely accepted by women in both England and America within all classes. It was made of metal and gave women more freedom in the movement of their legs, and although it was a bit clumsy and could knock things over, it was a huge hit.
Engageantes
Since dresses were so huge and bell-shaped, the sleeves were also cvery large and hard a lot of room. This allowed women to wear engageantes, which were detachable sleeves that went under the dress sleeves.
Hats and Shoes
Bonnets and straw hats were popular.
Victorian shoes were comparable to Cowboy Boots.