Bloomers 

Trousers

Controversial
Amelia Bloomer was way ahead of her time. The journalist and editor of the feminist magazine The Lily played an important role in the development of women's rights in America and was committed to the improvement of women's clothing. As early as 1850, she suggested wearing a knee-length crinoline gown over harem pants, inspired by a Renaissance image of a Turkish woman wearing a similar outfit. The pants – later called 'bloomers' – gained a lot of publicity, from admiration to ridicule, but were only worn in small circles. It wasn't until fifty years later, when women started cycling, that the trousers turned out to be ideal for covering the woman's leg. Over the years, fashion has become shorter and shorter: nowadays, 'bloomer shorts' refers to short pantaloons.

Image: late 19th to early 20th century. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

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