Comments on: Hoops, Bloomers, and Common Sense

By: C. Darwin Sewell

C. Darwin Sewell — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:24:07 +0000

I have a daughter and a granddaughter who are seamstresses and specialize in Elizabethan costumes. I think many of the fashions of those days were very lovely. Some may have been uncomfortable for some of the ladies back then and some of the costumes my daughter makes do have tight bodices but that makes them more authintic. As she says, “If it doesn’t look authintic then it isn’t the real thing”. Patra and her daughter Elizabeth take pride in their work because every piece is a true replication of the times and each is a true work of art. Wearable that is.

By: jeff nilsson

jeff nilsson — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:26:57 +0000

I think fashion is a neglected part of social history. Whatever I read about historic styles gives me better sense of those lost times. But I still have a lot to learn. For example, there’s this description of an ideal bloomer outfit, which followed the last quoted paragraph above.

“Fancy a beautiful young woman, of a June evening, in a white sprigged muslin dress, coming just down to her knees, and finished off at its termination with a puff of pink ribbon and white lace. Her pantelettes are made of sprigged blonde lace, very full, Turkish style, are gathered up with a knot of rose ribbons at the knee, and from thence hang half-way down her lovely leg. The foot, encased in a bronze gaiter with brass heels, is exhibited to the human eye, together with the ankle, and eight inches above it. Her dress is made full in the waist, and as it approaches the white shoulders and neck, it is gathered in loose folds, with a band of pink ribbons, which terminates in a knot of the same on the breast. A strong of pearls is clasped about her fair throat, and the same gathers up her short sleeves. Add to this picture the health that so comfortable a dress, and so conducive to open-air exercise, would bring—that health expressed in the soft bloom of her cheeks, the kindly brightness of her eyes, and the crimson on her lips, that would make the roses feel they were no longer subjects of poetry—and men can hardly help melting before this vision of loveliness, unless they are men of stone.”

I need an interpreter.

By: Clearer Vision

Clearer Vision — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:08:58 +0000

I applaud this male writer’s efforts to highlight women’s historic fashion adventures. I especially enjoyed the point made in the previous Post article referenced that if the new fashion had been adopted by the “beautiful ladies” it might have caught on. I learned something today.

By: Ima Ryma

Ima Ryma — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:49:22 +0000

Ever since Eve and the fig leaf,
Women’s fashions have been a source
To cause the ladies lots of grief,
Mental and physical in course.
Especially below the belt
Has been the butt of ridicule,
Not caring how the women felt,
Critics said stuff that was quite cruel.
Hoops and bloomers were skirts that got
Jeered right off of the fashion scene,
With many a ribald cheap shot
Addressed by folks who were just mean.

So hoops and bloomers went to waste
With ons and offs of fashion taste.