Journal #16

Q: What are some of the reasons behind the dress reform movement of the late 19th century? What sort of clothing came out of the movement?

There were several reasons for dress reform. Some of these included First Wave Feminism, this focused on legal inequalities like a woman’s right to vote, temperance, women’s education, the suffrage movement, and moral purity. There was a move away from the impractical clothing and a move towards rational dress and covering the body. Luckily for women, there was a move away from corsets as well; both health and moral implications were cited as reasons against corsets. With the end of corsets came the sporting movement, women could not wear the enormous dresses and get on a bicycle and expect they would bust their stuff.

Thus far, I have talked mostly about women, so I will now discuss the changes of the men’s clothing. Men started to wear ditto suits (matching suits – coat, waitcoat, and trousers), which gave them a very block like shapes. They also started wearing underdraws which acted as sort of an undergarment. During this time, men’s clothing did not change very drastically in comparison to the women’s clothing.