Ivory Cotton Twill "Equipose"
Corset/Underbodice with no bones, c. 1880-1884
Kent State University Museum
Reforming
Fashion, 1850-1914
Politics,
Health, and Art
REFORMING
FASHION -
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REFORM UNDERWEARMany of the objections to fashionable dress were in fact directly related to abuses caused by undergarments. Remember that the fashionable woman of the 1880s wore too much underwear; it restricted her and weighed her down. It could be too hot in the summer and not warm enough in the winter. (Even the cage crinoline, that mercifully reduced the number of petticoats, allowed air to blow around a woman’s legs). The corset was generally worn too tight. The many skirt layers created bulk at the waist and the weight of the clothing was unevenly distributed. If the excess bulk were removed, then a woman would not have to resort to tight-lacing which, according to many health experts, greatly damaged women’s internal organs and caused disease. One of the first reform undergarments to be promoted in America was the "emancipation union under flannel" patented in 1868. This union suit combined a knit flannel waist (shirt) and drawers in one. The combination, as the union suit was often called, was continuously improved by various knitwear companies and reformers in America. Susan Taylor Converse of Woburn, Massachusetts, designed an improved version in 1875 and named it the Emancipation Suit. A gathered section across the bodice freed the breasts from compression, and sets of buttons at the waist and hips helped suspend several layers of skirts. The Emancipation Suit also could have been purchased as two separate parts that buttoned together at the hips. The Emancipation Suit was endorsed by the New England Women’s Club, one of the earliest organizations to advocate undergarment reform. In 1873 their dress-reform committee, headed by Abba Goold Woolson, sponsored a series of lectures on the hazards of fashionable dress by four eminent female physicians. These lectures were later published in 1874 under the title, "Dress Reform." One of the best known reformers of underwear was the German-born Dr. Gustav Jaeger, who published a book on rational dress titled in 1880 "Die Normalkleidung" (Rational Clothing). Jaeger’s knit union suits were particularly popular with reformers in England after they were featured at the International Health Exhibition in 1884. This Kensington exhibition included a section on hygienic dress and featured noted architect and theatrical designer Edward Godwin as a speaker on dress reform. |
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Annie Jenness Miller Gown Form Reproduction, c. 1890
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DRESS SYSTEMSSeveral individuals devoted to reform devised whole systems of underclothing that included no corset at all. In the 1890s, one of America’s best known health reformers, Dr. J. H. Kellogg, developed a dress system at the Battle Creek Sanitarium which was "practical, healthful and artistic". Kellogg stated that "any young woman who has not permanently ruined her body by badly constructed apparel can in a short time learn to stand like the Venus Genetrix". His dress system attempted to minimize the weight on the hips and shoulders previously emphasized in fashion. Corsets and tight bodices were discarded. Through the sanitarium women could order patterns or 'garments made in the Dress Department'. The general plan for the dress system included designs for gowns and undergarments. For the latter, women could choose from the following selections to best suit their needs for warmth and comfort: the union suit, jersey tights (worn over the union suit for extra warmth), a combination suit (instead of chemise and drawers), the Dr. Lindsay divided skirt (knitted for warmth), the improved divided skirt (without visible divide), skirt waists (to be sewn or buttoned to skirts), the improved Freedom waist (with two rows of buttons for attaching the dress skirt and petticoat or drawers, or umbrella drawers (a yoked skirt, divided skirt, and ruffled drawers with yoke). |
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Red Knit Combination Suit, 20th Century
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Left: White Cotton Combination with Lace Trim, c. 1900 (on hanger)
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Annie Jenness Miller, a frequent lecturer, author, and publisher on the subject of physical culture and correct dress, also devised a dress system to replace the fashionable chemise and drawers, corset, corset cover, and petticoats. As illustrated in her journal, Dress, the Jenness Miller Magazine, this system was similar to Kellogg’s and included, leglettes and chemilettes, to replace petticoats, and a model bodice, to replace the corset.. The Jenness-Miller system also included a bosom support for stout women, a garment similar to a brassiere. Although not a separate undergarment, the gown form provided by both Kellogg and Jenness-Miller was essential as a foundation for the outer dress. The gown form cut in the princess style not only replaced the lining of a fashionable skirt, but was so arranged "that graceful drapery [could] be formed upon it, and the weight evenly supported" by the body. It also eliminated tie backs around the legs and had no band at the waist. Patterns for the both systems could be purchased from the publisher or from various dress reform outlets across the country. The new reform underwear systems of Kellogg, Jenness-Miller and others were meant to distribute the weight of clothing, eliminate the heavily boned corset, and reduce excessive bulk and weight. These undergarments could be worn without being readily noticed and were a great improvement over the more fashionable, but distorting undergarment.- Patricia A. Cunningham, PhD |
