Basic Information

Dress reform played an important role in challenging gender norms and societal expectations for women, most notably those belonging to the middle and upper-classes, beginning in the middle of the nineteenth-century. The struggle for dress reform lasted into the twentieth-century. Traditional women’s clothing consisted of constricting corsets, tight-fitting long sleeves, long and wide hooped skirts, and tight-fitting, narrow shoes. Women’s clothing limited movement and the activities they could engage in. Women also faced health consequences as the result of their clothing. The women’s movement, the health reform movement and the dress reform movement sought to reform dress for women’s health and well-being.

Background Information

Beginning in the 1820’s, concerns over women’s health and dress became increasingly important in social reform circles. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Catherine Beecher, and other social reformers argued that dress reform was necessary to address the “curvature of the spine, displacement of the internal organs, weakening of the diaphragm, ‘palpitations of the heart,’ and consumption” that women faced as the result of wearing corsets. Dr. William Alcott, an educational reformer and physician, warned that corsets did not allow for the full expansion of the lungs which in turn caused them to weaken. Alcott was also concerned that tightly laced corsets led to poor circulation and shortness of breath (Wayne and Banner, 2015, p. 46).

The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention is considered to mark the beginning of the women’s movement. The convention was held at Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York and was attended by many influential women’s rights leaders. One of the most important documents adopted by this convention was the “Declaration of Sentiments.” This document embodied the spirit of the Declaration of Independence, listing a series of grievances which included the oppression and mistreatment of women in matters of government, church, and society. The declaration cited man’s treatment of woman as intended to “destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life” (Wagner, 2019, p.77). Leaders of the women’s rights movement would argue that woman’s dress reinforced her submissive role, inhibited her ability to perform basic daily tasks, and led to her self-doubt.

John Humphrey Noyes founded the Oneida Community in upstate New York in 1848 and oversaw the religiously based community for the next 33 years. The community challenged many of societies gender norms and advocated for women’s property rights, marriage rights, labor rights and health. Noyes and his followers believed comfortable, nonrestrictive styles of dress were a key component in promoting women’s health and wellness (Oneida Community Mansion House). Advocates of dress reform also included members of the water-cure movement. Water-cure practitioners, or hydropaths, supported dress reform as necessary for women’s health. Hydropaths and members of the Oneida Community believed that good health was attained through vigorous exercise and outdoor activity, and that reform dress was necessary to allow for such movement (Kesselman, 1991, p. 497).

The Movement

John Humphrey Noyes published his endorsement, as well as the Oneida Community’s official adoption, of reform dress in the January 1849 Annual Report of the Oneida Association (Origin of Short Dress, 1856). An 1851 article published by a sister in The Free Church Circular described how she and two other Oneida women first came up with a “simple and convenient” pattern for the reform dress, writing the act took place “in the upper room of an Indian log house which we think of now as the cradle of the community, rich in memories, that the writer assisted the clandestine preparation of two short dresses” (Origin of Short Dress, 1856). This shortened dress was worn over a pair of pants, was loose and comfortable, and allowed for movement (Kesselman, 1991, p. 497). Of course, Indigenous women in the upstate area may also have influenced this new and more comfortable style. Lucretia Mott, having stayed with the Seneca community at Cattaraugus, saw that the women in the tribe wore “a loose fitting dress with ‘leggings” (Wagner, 2019, p. 62).

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was introduced to reform dress by her cousin Elizabeth Smith Miller in 1851. Miller was the first among the members of the women’s rights movement to adopt and wear the reform dress publicly and full time. It is believed that Miller was either introduced to the reform dress by Oneida women or members of the water-cure movement. Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, and many other members of the women’s movement also embraced the new style. Stanton insisted women’s conventional clothing was a “badge of degradation” and wrote in a letter to Lucretia Mott that “woman can never develop in her present drapery” (Kesselman, 1991, p. 498)   Stanton also stated the reform dress made her feel “like a captive set free by this ball and chain” (Kesselman, 1991, p. 497).

In 1851, Amelia Bloomer, whose name became synonymous with the reform dress, began advocating the new style in her newspaper, The Lily. She also published a woodcutting of herself in her dress reform outfit (Kesselman, 1991, p. 498). Although Bloomer refused to take credit as the originator of the style, the term “bloomers” stuck. In an article for the Home Journal, Bloomer gave credit to Elizabeth Smith Miller for introducing the reform dress to the women’s movement ( “Origin of Short Dress,” 1856). Bloomer continued to advocate for dress reform in The Lily over the next few years, but by 1852 the women faced severe public backlash (Kesselman, 1991, p. 500).

Stanton and members of the women’s movement were shocked at the negative response they received in donning the reform dress. Many women were publicly antagonized and persecuted over their adoption of a more “masculine” style of dress. According to Stanton, women in reform dress were stared at, criticized, and “followed by crowds of boys in the street” (Kesselman, 1991, p. 500). The women’s movement had clearly struck a nerve among those who wished to preserve gender roles. Dress reform challenged social norms by blurring the lines between masculine and feminine dress. Feminist dress reformers were met with derision and contempt. Not wanting anything deemed unpopular to undermine the support of suffrage, Stanton abandoned her reform dress and other members of the women’s rights movement followed suit. Many, including Stanton’s cousin Garrit Smith, admonished the women’s rights leaders for relinquishing their newfound freedoms only to return to their restrictive and oppressive clothing (Kesselman, 1991, p. 503).

In addition to social bullying, cities across the country began implementing “cross-dressing” laws. The criminalization of cross-dressing, or appearing in public “in a dress not belonging to his or her sex,” led to harsh punishments for those wearing the reform dress. Cross-dressing laws allowed for the policing of and enforcement of gendered dress by linking cross-dressing to the larger offense of indecency (Sears, 2015, p. 42). Though reform dress was abandoned by women’s rights organizers such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton, and Amelia Bloomer due to the concerns over the respectability of suffragists and the suffrage movement, the fight for dress reform continued to be fought by members of the health reform and water-cure movements.

The costume of women should be suited to her wants and necessities. It should conduce at once to her health, comfort, and usefulness; and, while it should not fail also to conduce to her personal adornment, it should make that end of secondary importance.

~ Amelia Bloomer (Life and Writings of Amelia Bloomer, 1895, p. 81).

Analysis and Conclusion

Dress reform in the mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth-century challenged society’s gender norms and expectations of women.  Many people found dress reform offensive which led to harsh punishments against the women who wore reform style clothing. Bullying tactics led many in the women’s movement to abandon the “masculine” attire, however, women in the health reform movement continued to fight for dress reform. The struggle for women’s equality and freedom of dress continued into the twentieth-century and despite many obstacles the efforts and goals of dress reform prevailed.

References

Bloomer, D.C. (1895). Life and Writings of Amelia Bloomer. Universal Digital Library. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/lifeandwritingso028876mbp/page/n7.

Kesselman, A. (1991). “The ‘Freedom Suit’: Feminism and Dress Reform in the United States, 1848-1875.” Gender and Society, 5(4), 495-510. Retrieved from https://www-jstor-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/stable/190097?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Oneida Community Mansion House: A National Historic Landmark. (n.d.). Our History. Retrieved from http://www.oneidacommunity.org/history/our-history.

“Origin of the Short Dress Costume.” (August 28, 1856). Circular (1851-1870). Brooklyn, NY. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/docview/137672017/pageviewPDF/A5AD0DF42DA048C2PQ/1?accountid=14784.

Sears, C. (2015). Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law, and Fascination in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco. Durham: Duke University Press.

The American Ladies’ New Costume. (1851). The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. Retrieved December 9, 2019 from Digital Public Library of America. https://dp.la/item/d47eb4f71fccff965cbef8084d030ea5?q=bloomers&after=1850&before=1870&page=1&subject=%22Bloomers%22%7C%22Women–Clothing%20%26%20dress%22.

Wagner, S. R. (Ed.).\ (2019). The Women’s Suffrage Movement. Penguin Classics.

Wayne, T. K. and Lois Banner. (2015). Women’s rights in the United States: A comprehensive encyclopedia of issues, events and people. “Gender reform.” Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, LLC. P46-48. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/lib/washington/reader.action?docID=1899755.