The Great Victorian Trouser Debate
As women seek relief from restrictive fashion, the Yakima Herald explores the radical movement to adopt 'bifurcated' garments.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The dress reform movement is gaining ground. The prevailing mode arbitrarily insists that all skirts shall sweep the pavement, but women are seeking relief. There are two factions: the radicals, who maintain that the present garments of womankind are hopelessly wrong and must be abolished, and the conservatives, headed by Mrs. Francis Parker of Chicago. The radicals suggest a divided skirt or 'trouserettes,' while Mrs. Parker argues that the beauty of the female form must be preserved, and that true grace is impossible without the appreciation of 'the line from the armpit to the ankle.'
“If the American woman does take it into her sweet hand to wear trousers of any sort she will do it with a womanly grace and charm that will invest their prosaic, bifurcated garments with the glory of a new fashion.”
This piece highlights the early feminist battles over bodily autonomy and the 'moral' panic surrounding what women should wear, a struggle that echoes modern critiques of fashion and gendered dress codes.
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