Brown Wool and Velvet Bustle Dress

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Brown Wool and Velvet Bustle Dress
#VC1992008
 
circa 1885
wool, velvet, cotton lining, metal fasteners and boning
 
Women of many classes wore the bustle style and several Vassar student photo albums show them worn in many situations, including when playing sports such as tennis. Even women of the period doing domestic work would be embarrassed to be seen “flat in the back” and aprons had a horizontal band halfway down the thigh to pull up any short train or sweep while working. Although the emphasis was on the elaborate skirts, the bodice in the 1870’s began to be fitted very tightly like a corset and was referred to as a “cuirass,” a term originally used for armor breastplates. A 1876 article in Harper’s Magazine describes the Vassar students’ “erect carriage,” which the bustle silhouette emphasized. In 1884, the mother of Mary Poppenheim, VC1888, wrote to her that she should “avoid having anything to do with a party that savors of woman’s rights.” Nevertheless, Mary, who might well have been wearing an ensemble in the style of this garment, wrote to her sister Louisa that she envisioned herself “a second Susan B. Anthony.”