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Bustle Cages · A Glimpse into Vassar's Secret Closet · Vassar College Costume Collection Skip to main content

Bustle Cages

An exhibition of historic costume from the Vassar College Costume Collection, showcasing student work to preserve history and design from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. This was the culmination of the NEH-funded Historic Costume Preservation Workshop, for which students worked with the costumes all semester and participated in three formal workshops with costume history professionals.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
The exhibition went from May 21 - June 6, 2010 in the Palmer Gallery in Vassar's College Center.<br /><br />
<br /><br />

bustle cage of metal wire bands, 1871
VC1992158

An exhibition of historic costume from the Vassar College Costume Collection, showcasing student work to preserve history and design from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. This was the culmination of the NEH-funded Historic Costume Preservation Workshop, for which students worked with the costumes all semester and participated in three formal workshops with costume history professionals.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
The exhibition went from May 21 - June 6, 2010 in the Palmer Gallery in Vassar's College Center.<br /><br />
<br /><br />

bustle cage of covered coils, 1880-85
VC1992160

An exhibition of historic costume from the Vassar College Costume Collection, showcasing student work to preserve history and design from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. This was the culmination of the NEH-funded Historic Costume Preservation Workshop, for which students worked with the costumes all semester and participated in three formal workshops with costume history professionals.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
The exhibition went from May 21 - June 6, 2010 in the Palmer Gallery in Vassar's College Center.<br /><br />
<br /><br />

Small wire crescent shaped bustle cage, circa 1880
VC1992159

By the 1880's, the ideal feminine form had changed to a more slender, vertical shape, with the fullness of the skirt moved to the back and further elaborated by the hidden structures of bustle pads and cages such as 1992.158, 1992.159, and 1992.160. Legs were still completely hidden by a full length skirt wrapped and draped around the legs (unable to swing as the crinoline did). The following account of an early Vassar student reflects the extent to which modesty concerning one's legs was still an issue:

“The chairs on the platform were awfully high, my skirts were starched exceedingly stiff, and I had a terrible consciousness that I was displaying more than the tips of my slippers. I couldn’t make any change of position then so I didn't stir while the President made his opening prayer. Then came my show..."