Fashions in 1854 Were Feminine, Uncomfortable
FEATHERS AND PARASOLS—The well dressed woman in Atchison and Topeka society wore hoop-skirted, low-necked ball gowns of sheer muslin and wool, taffeta, and lace in 1854 while her pioneer friends wore simple muslin dresses.
By LETTY LEMON
Thursday, March 25, 1954
Clothes make the woman—and in the 100 years of fashion dating from the 1850s, clothes have made the woman sometimes ridiculed, alternately mannish and feminine, and nearly always uncomfortable.
In the Kansas of 1854, the pioneer woman wore a sunbonnet, a muslin dress, used a shawl for a wrap, and perhaps had hanging in her closet one Sunday-go-to-meeting dress. But her compatriots in Atchison and Topela society dressed in hoop-skirted low-necked ball gowns of sheer muslin and wool, taffeta, and lace.
SECTION C
And the period became perhaps the most glorious in American fashion history. After the war, and the blossoming of American manufacturing caused by the industrial revolution, fabrics were plentiful and cheap. These, plus the sewing machine—as popular then as the automobile now—and paper patterns enabled the women of the time to sew beautiful and fancy gowns.
The Delineator magazine took the place of Godey's Ladies Book when it invented and distributed paper patterns. Married women wore bonets, replacing the cartwheel and straw flower-laden chapeaux of their single days.
Always ornate, these gowns were bedecked with French and Belgian laces, rose point, Alconon, Brusselset, Irish crochet, moire ribbon, jeweled buttons, jet, and beading. Victorian colors prevailed. There were rich dark browns, shades of wine and maroon, greens, purple, mauves, beiges, Persian blues, and plaid silks.
From 1845 to 1870, designated by historians as a separate period in fashion, the most important factor was the rise and decline of the crinoline. Skirts gained in importance and materials and discreetly covered ruffled and lacy pantaloons. Comfort succumbed to convention—frequent occurrence throughout the history of dress—and the number of petticoats worn was in direct ratio to the wearer's social importance.
As a reaction to the curled and frilly appearance made by the women of the time, Mrs. Amelia Bloomer campaigned in the 1850s for emancipated woman and emancipated fashion. The calf-length full trousers she promoted bore her name, and the press ridiculed "Mrs. Bloomer and her Bloomers." Although some interest was shown in her antics, Mrs. Bloomer's fashion was not widely adopted. A half-century later, bicycle girls and girl's gym classes were to use the then ill-fated idea.
But in the 1870s came the sewing machine, and though home weaving and spinning, predominant throughout the preceding period, continued, home sewing became the l a d y 's greatest endeavor.
Who doesn't remember the scene in "Gone with the Wind" when Scarlett O'Hara made a fine gown from her brocaded curtains, the only fine material she had at hand? The scent was typical of hardships great ladies underwent as a result of the shutdown of commerce during the Civil war. More often, the mistress of a famous plantation or city house wore the rough home spun wool material termed "Lindsey-Woolsey," heretofe worn by her slaves.
Edited by Sarah Joseph Hale, the first woman to undertake such a position. Godey's Ladies book established direct fashion sources in Paris, then the world's clothing center because of the influence of Empress Engenie. Napoleon's wife. The magazine led its contemporaries in printing full color fashion illustrations.
One of the most interesting aspects of the period was children's dress. Society's youngsters were truly little men and little women, as they wore costumes identical to those worn by their elders. Gainsborough's "Blue Boy" was not dolled in his Sunday best—those were its street and play clothes Kate Greenaway, the artist, ended this era of children's wear, and "Alice in Wonderland" ushered in the pinafore, still worn by today's little girls.
Up the river from New Orleans came Paris silks, laces, and brocades. Shipped from Kansas City, they were thus made available to the women of Kansas. Full-skirted, multi-tucked and ruffled Paris gowns were copied from pictures by women with modest incomes—and once again comfort was sacrificed, as their lines demanded tight corseting.
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
The 1920s brought a drastic fashion change—the flapper with clohe and boyish haircut and figure, and comfort. Everyone was mad about midly blouses, and the be-
For evening wear, a Pompadour was essential. Often, the coifure was padded with a "rat" and made to seem higher with plumes and tiaras. The hour-glass figure was essential. Necklines were dangerously low, sleeves were puffed, and long white kid gloves reached to the elbow.
Full-skirted party dresses in rich broacades and tafetales are most rem-
Earmarks of the period were bird-cage bustles, 30-gored skirts lined with taffeta, and all the tricks of the sewing trade on every dress. Sewing women "came in" to spend days making dresses, petticoats, corset covers, and chemises. The hourglass figure was at a premium, demanding lacing, boning, and corseting with stays.
Next in importance to the sewing machine was the advent of the tailored suit during 1870-1890 period. True, the suit was often furtrimmed with sweeping train and skirt to the floor, but the principle has remained and the importance of the suit can hardly be exaggerated
Charles Dana Gibson set the style in the 1890s with his famous "Gibson Girl." Enjoying an abating but still current revival, the Gibson girlMouse is the best remembered, with its high neck, starched, tucked, and ruffled front. Other essentials of the daytime costume were a bustled skirt, often with a long train, a V-shaped belt, and a sailor hat with veil.
ruffled, pantalooned bathing suits were cast aside in favor of one piece, tank suitish beach clothes.
Rolled hose, roughed knees, plucked eyebrows, dresses that looked like slips with waistline and hemline nearly meeting—all were trademarks of the flapper.
Then, Hollywood brought the slinky siren even to the Kansas towns. Long clinging black satin gowns were coveted by the plump and exhibited by the skinny. Dieting became the national pastime. Beaded chemise dresses were as popular, and wild velvets and satins, tiny pleating and tucking, bold colors and jewelry, and tiny, tight little hats were everywhere.
Today's fashion seems to borrow from every period. Pointed shoes are reminiscent of the early 1850s. Empire heels—the same. Cloche hats and narrow skirtlines borrow heavily from the 20s. Shirtwists are a product of the Gibson era.
But the '30s brought "the covered up looks," and shoulder pads guaranteed to make Mama look like a fullback. Pompadours came back; so did knee length hemlines. Sloppy Joe赛衣es were seen on every college campus, and pleats were lauded for feminine wear.
The "New Look" created by Christian Dior after World War II is a new, but familiar story. The furor over lowering hiemines was heard again as it has been countless times in the 100-year period discussed.
In 1929, down came the stock market and down came hemlines. Hair styles were changed as the ladies wore longer locks.
Rabbit coats and cigaret holders were as necessary as shoes and stockings, and anybody who was anybody had a kimono
RUFFLES AND BOWS—Comfort was sacrificed as women wore dresses which demanded tight corsetting. Skirts were full and the number of petticoats worn was in direct ratio to the wearer's social importance.
THE FLAPPER GIRL—The 1920's brought a drastic change in fashion as women appeared in cloche and boyish haircuts, short dresses, and knee-length hose.
insecrest of the 1870s. Today there is more femininity than masculinity—although little boy coats and mannish shirts are stylish—less ridicule
seems to be in evidence than in former periods, and for a while at least, comfort is the watchword in women's attire.