Paris Fashions Americanized
“Godey’s Paris Fashions Americanized,” Godey’s Lady’s Book, July 1848. Handcolored engraving. New-York Historical Society Library, TX1.G58, vol. 37.
Tintype of two young women in Lowell, Massachusetts
“Tintype of two young women in Lowell, Massachusetts,” ca. 1870. Center for Lowell History, University of Massachusetts Lowell Libraries.
Chrisman Sisters
“Chrisman Sisters, Women Homesteaders,” 1886. History Nebraska.
Bloomer Costume
N. Currier (firm), “Bloomer Costume,” Lithograph, 1851. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington D.C., 907119.
Background
In the mid-1800s, the daily lives of American women were defined by their social class. Working- and lower-class women were increasingly encouraged to work outside the home in factories to support their families. In the middle and upper classes, men made enough money that their wives did not need to work outside the home for wages. These women were expected to dedicate their lives to tending their homes and families. New clothing fashions evolved to meet the needs of these different classes.
About the Document
These four images demonstrate how fashion evolved to meet the needs of women of different social classes in the 1800s. The first image is a fashion plate from Godey’s Lady’s Book, a popular women’s magazine that was published from 1830 to 1878. It depicts the latest fashions for middle- and upper-class women in 1848. Middle- and upper-class women were expected to dress in clothing that signaled that they did not need to do manual labor. These fashions were considered the ideal to which all women should strive.
Of course, not all women in the U.S. were wealthy enough to wear impractical clothing. The second and third images show how fashions were adapted for women who worked in factories and on farms. The fabrics are cheaper, the designs are less intricate, and the skirts are slimmer so that the women wearing them were better able to walk and work.
Fashions also evolved in response to new ideas about women’s rights. In 1848, a convention of women in Seneca Falls, NY, declared that women should be granted equal rights in the U.S. Activist Amelia Jenks Bloomer believed that long, full skirts were keeping women from being as active as they could be. She designed an outfit with a short skirt over long pants that made it easier for women to walk. The outfit, which was named “bloomers” after Amelia, became a popular way for women’s rights activists to signal their beliefs without saying a word. But bloomers never caught on with the larger public.
Vocabulary
Discussion Questions
- Why were different styles of clothing needed for different social classes?
- What do each of these outfits reveal about the lives of the women wearing them?
- What would it feel like to wear these outfits? Which would you prefer?
Suggested Activities
- APUSH Connection: 4.9 The Development of an American Culture
- Watch this video that demonstrates all the articles of clothing a middle-class woman wore on a daily basis in the 1800s. Then ask students to write whether they think Amelia Jenks Bloomer was correct in her assertion that women’s clothing was too constricting.
- Explore the far-reaching consequences of the 1800s fashion industry with the following resources, and then ask students to write a reflection paper about how these additional resources change their impression of the fashions.
- To learn more about the burgeoning women’s rights movement, see:
Themes
AMERICAN CULTURE
New-York Historical Society Curriculum Library Connections
To learn more about Amelia Jenks Bloomer, see Saving Washington: The New Republic and Early Reformers.
