Everyone has seen historical dresses. Corsets, hoop skirts, petticoats – we know them, few of us love them, but how well do we really understand them? A modern woman, surrounded by high-waisted slacks, ripped 3″ shorts, and crop tops, is not aware of how historical dress affected a woman of that time. What may seem restrictive now may have been incredibly freeing to ladies centuries ago. Let’s take a gander at some of the most memorable and misunderstood dresses of the ages!
- Corsets
The absolute classic, corsets date all the way back to Ancient Greece, but only became popular in the Victorian era, specifically 1838. Historically, the ideal was that you could place your hands on a woman’s waist and your fingers would touch. This, predictably, screws up your ribs and internal organs, as it shapes them like a mold. It’s also entirely possible that the corset was the cause of all the women of the time fainting. This has since been treated like women get faint when particularly shocked, but constricting your lungs for eight hours at a punishingly thin circumference doesn’t sound particularly good for the circulation to me.
The corset does have some benefits to it, though. The introduction of it allowed for more freedom of movement, though you wouldn’t guess it. The corset’s strength enabled lighter tops and more flexible sleeves, finally allowing women to raise their arms above their head in full dress. There are even benefits now! Unlike the modern bra – and I can speak from experience here – they provide fantastic support without causing long-term back pain. As the support is drawn from the entire spine, rather than pulling up from the shoulders, it simultaneously encourages good posture and reduces the stress of the weight. I tend to wear mine as a pick-me-up on days when I need a little sunshine in my life, but not for very long.
- Crinoline
Crinoline is perhaps known best for the hoop skirt, which is particularly well-known in America as being associated with Southern Belles of the 1850s. However, the hoop skirt changed over many years, and the spring hoop is likely what they were wearing. It was so popular that every woman who could get their hands on it was wearing it, all the way from Spanish royalty to American factory girls. Contrary to the petticoat, crinoline is light, easily maneuvered, and allows for wide skirts without being overbearing. A modern woman who puts on a crinoline once and never again is, of course, going to feel very restricted. But for women who once had to suffer under pounds and pounds of skirts? It was magical.
As a bonus, its wide skirts allowed women to enforce personal boundaries in a time when they were granted so few. Many cartoons drawn at the time depict women with enormous skirts men had to tiptoe around, some exaggerated to be as large as the room they were in. Clearly, suitors were not in love with the supposedly oppressive crinoline. While women found it freeing to have so much control over their skirt and airy movement compared to the weighty, hot petticoats, men found it limiting and often gaudy.
- Bustles
For those unaware, a bustle is a hump-like shape intended to add padding to the back of a skirt, though it can be worn in the front as well. Many folks now think it looks like a fake butt, and they’re not all that wrong, though the variety of bustles would take some by surprise. My own dress comes with a very subtle bustle, which acts more like decorative frills than any actual substance. They came into fashion in the 1870s, generally replacing the uniform hoop skirt, and were not as popular as you might assume.
Contrary to the modern inclination, men of the time were not fans of the bustle. Cartoons at the time liken women who wore them to centaurs, which was for the more exaggerated, shelf-like shape. Smaller bustles were depicted as snails and beetles, which, objectively, is not a flattering image. Yet again, a dress looked back upon with disgust has hidden depth! Bustles, unlike the corset and crinoline, do not have genuine benefits, they were simply something women enjoyed wearing. They allowed for more control over the shape of a skirt; rather than a traditional gown-like shape, they introduced variety, and more modest women could wear them in the front to prevent the “fake butt” look (those who have read the Laura Ingalls Wilder series might remember she recounts doing this).
In our modern day, we tend to forget the clothes that shocked the world. How many of us know that the first instance of women wearing shorts in public shocked a man so much he crashed his car? The flapper movement, the miniskirt, the first pants made for women, these are fairly well-known. But far too few of us know of the time before then, when corsets were freeing and hoop skirts a revelation. I would argue we need to remember this time, as well, to never forget the strides we have made. Besides, it helps to know what to look for when designing your Renaissance Faire outfit!