#hoop skirts

[zoesrepository]

Elise Jean @welldressedhistorian

[paulgadzikowski]

That's not a dress, it's a restraining order

it’s hilarious to me when people call historical fashions that men hated oppressive

like in BuzzFeed’s Women Wear Hoop Skirts For A Day While Being Exaggeratedly Bad At Doing Everything In Them video, one woman comments that she’s being “oppressed by the patriarchy.” if you’ve read anything Victorian man ever said about hoop skirts, you know that’s pretty much the exact opposite of the truth

thing is, hoop skirts evolved as liberating garment for women. before them, to achieve roughly conical skirt fullness, they had to wear many layers of petticoats (some stiffened with horsehair braid or other kinds of cord). the cage crinoline made their outfits instantly lighter and easier to move in

it also enabled skirts to get waaaaay bigger. and, as you see in the late 1860s, 1870s, and mid-late 1880s, to take on even less natural shapes. we jokingly call bustles fake butts, but trust me- nobody saw them that way. it was just skirts doing weird, exciting Skirt Things that women had tons of fun with

men, obviously, loathed the whole affair

(1864)

(1850s. gods, if only crinolines were huge enough to keep men from getting too close)

(no date given, but also, this is 100% impossible)

(also undated, but the ruffles make me think 1850s)

it was also something that women of all social classes- maids and society ladies, enslaved women and free women of color -all wore at one point or another. interesting bit of unexpected equalization there

and when bustles came in, guess what? men hated those, too

(1880s)

(probably also 1880s? the ladies are being compared to beetles and snails. in case that was unclear)

(1870s, I think? the bustle itself looks early 1870s but the tight fit of the actual gown looks later)

hoops and bustles weren’t tools of the patriarchy. they were items 1 and 2 on the 19th century’s “Fashion Trends Women Love That Men Hate” lists, with bonus built-in personal space enforcement

[vintagefashionplates]

(via Doba korzetů a honzíků - EMMA RIEDOVÁ)

[icterid-rubus]

I wanted to make some kilt hose for the Highland Games but could only manage a single ho 😔

Guess I could hop.

[pop-idle-ultimate]

hide away hide away from me...

-

[lani4tum]

How HE felt

Edward Munch

Consolation, 1894

Vampire II (Vampyr II), 1895

[pastlivesfinery]

Les Modes Parisiennes, 1865 🤍

[bridalport]

https://bridalport.com/products/white-petticoat-for-costumes-and-bridal-gowns

[ariaovon]

Ladylike.

[alex51324]

Oh, yeah, Victorians loved making fun of those crazy, crazy hoop skirts.  Here are a few more examples, courtesy of VictorianWeb.

A classic, “women and their big skirts, amirite?” gag:

The caption reads, 

[The problem with wide skirts]. Punch (9 July 1859): 21.

Chair Proprietor “Would you please to pay for the Cheers, Mum?”

Lady “How much?”

Chair Proprietor “Well, Mum — How many might you be a sittin' on?”

This one makes fun of the spread of the fashion down the social ladder, showing a domestic servant wearing one:

Domestic: — “Bother Missus’! She wears it herself, and I don’ see why I shouldn’t.”

Big Skirts were even funny enough to provide subject matter for full-page, multi-panel comic drawings:

Example 1

Example 2

Click the images to embiggen.  Go here for more Victorian clothing comics.  

Re: dramatically changing 19th century dress silhouettes, thinkin about the time a whaler finally came home from a 4 year voyage and was just like ‘WHAT IS GOING ON’ when reencountering hoop skirts.

[myartdumpster]

Pretty please let her be in Junior year

[zoesrepository]

@maria.purpur

[klingerfashionarchive]

season 7 episode 9

[fabric-whore]

AAAAAAAAAAAA

OMG I HAVE IT I HAVE A 1850S DAY DRESS

I have so much of the beaded trim and am trying to use it

The skirt swags r wonky but it's fiiinneee, they float freely so I can just fix em

I'm gonna add some hooks and eyes.to keep the skirt and bodice correctly aligned

Also the neckline is God awful but u can't see it under the collar :D

Lowkey been working on it since July but I took like a 2 month break cuz the sleeves were being mean

[a-more-poofy-world]

Here we see a young woman being fitted in her new dress at the tailor. Her dress is definitely the latest fashion during this era as indicated by its very large 7ft diameter! With a dress like that she will definitely be the talk of the neighborhood!!!!

It's interesting to note the dress that the tailor is wearing. Though it's hard to see behind the massive skirt she is working on, she is wearing a skirt that is only 3 ft wide! How strange you you may think, skirts that small have been out of fashion for more than 100 years! Most women would be humiliated to be seen in a skirt that small. However this is a special circumstance. This is a work outfit that she wears only because it would be nearly impossible to hem such a large dress while wearing an equally large skirt herself!

Skirts that small would only be worn in situations like this and she would change into a more properly sized skirt as soon as she Is finished with the adjustments. In fact she will probably be back in a dress not much smaller than her clients before she leaves the store with her new dress!

[pale-ski]

humanized msm monsters and a clear version if u guys wanna color it urselves :) but if u use it tag me pls or tell me cuz sometimes my tags dont work