08/01/2025
Learning about Reform Dress--without perpetuating corset myths
Many of us who teach about ladies' clothing of the 1860's have a well-worn refrain that we repeat for the public at events to debunk popular corset myths: "Yes, ladies could breathe. Yes, they wore them when they were doing work. They were made to fit the wearer, etc." Hollywood, tv shows, and AI-generated fake history posts keep us busy.
I have noticed, however, that we can inadvertently jump on board the "myth wagon" when we're talking about reform dress. Just like with other topics that we study, it's important to look at the era of our primary sources, the authors and their goals, and other indicators so we can see how ideas were changing, and look for reasons why. Articles that use references that range from the 1850's to the 1890's as if that's all "the same era" should be examined carefully.
When Libby Miller first wore what would later be called Bloomers, it wasn't her corset that made her feel restricted--it was her long skirts. This was in 1851--and corsets didn't have an extreme figure-changing style. Since she was born in 1820, she had probably worn some kind of "support" since childhood--although the stays of the 1830's and 1840's are not designed for serious waist-reduction or shaping. What Libby wrote about her decision to try a new style was this:
"In the spring of 1851, while spending many hours at work in the garden, I became so thoroughly disgusted with the long skirt, that the dissatisfaction… suddenly ripened into the decision that this shackle should no longer be endured. The resolution was at once put into practice. Turkish trousers to the ankle with a skirt reaching some four inches below the knee, were substituted for the heavy, untidy and exasperating old garment. "
Interestingly, one article that includes Libby's quote contains this comment about dress reform: "By the mid-19th century, the health risks to women from wearing tight corsets and the desire for clothing that allowed more freedom of movement led to attempts to reform women’s dress. Not only were steel and whalebone corsets uncomfortable, but the many layers of petticoats which most women wore could weigh up to twelve pounds." The author does not differentiate between reformers from the late 1800s--when corsets began to include more of an s-curve and more waist-reduction for fashionable ladies--and early reformers. This excerpt also gives us a few clues that's the author is not familiar with everyday clothing of the 1800's. Corsets--which were not designed for extreme reduction in the middle of the century--used flexible steel boning to distribute the weight of those petticoats. Then--when cage hoops became readily available--ladies could get the same "p**f" with even less fabric weight. Her use of "steel and whalebone" evokes stiffness--but the steel used in the middle of the century in corsets was flexible--because it replaced the use of whalebone that was no longer available when the whaling industry faded. That "whalebone" was actually the baleen--a flexible material used in stays in the early part of the century.
By using sources that don't understand how 1850's and 1860's corsets were designed and worn when we are learning about Reform Dress, we can inadvertently re-introduce the corset myths that we work on debunking in our regular "clothing talks." Note that Libby didn't feel restricted by her corset. Maybe she wore one that was only lightly b***d. Or maybe she was just used to what she always wore. Since corsets didn't stop women from cleaning house, cooking over hearths and wood stoves, carrying children, and doing laundry, they are unlikely to restrict someone from doing some gardening--so long as it was made specifically for her shape, and she laced it correctly, and she was used to it. Those qualifiers don't always apply to us in modern times reenacting an era--but they did apply to the ladies that we are representing.
I do find it interesting that many of the earlier images I find for ladies in Reform Dress look like they have some sort of support worn with their bodice.
Lately, more and more living historians who are familiar with the layers of clothing for different eras are looking into the Reform Dress timeline. I am hopeful that will lead to new articles that we can share that reflect how changes in the fashion and events of each 19th century decade led to differences in what Reform Dress supporters believed.
