The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-11
FOR THE LADIES.
Hoop skirts Again In Fashion.

The shops in New York are again dis
playing hoop skirts, and report good
sale for them. At one time the hoop
skirt manufactures were numerous, and
a large capital was engaged in the busi-
ness. Since the hoop skirt went out Of
fashion the factories have nearly all dis
appeared, and the capital has gone into
other enterprises. A hoop skirt manu-
facturer said to reporter
"I recollect the time when we en-
ployed 1,200 hands, and our product
was 10000 skirts day. That was dur
ing the war, but about 1868 the hoop
skirt went out of fashion and the trade
died out. There was transient revival
in 1870, but it disappeared, and from
then until now the hoop skirt trade has
been a very small part of our business.
We have always continued the manu-
facture to some extent, getting orders
every now and then, mostly from the
South and West. Some ladies have
never given up the use of the hoop
skirt at all; but they have been old
fashioned people who liked it because of
its comfort Now, however, it is in fshion
again. The demand has sprang up so
suddenly that it is impossible to meet
it. For the last six months there has
been an increasing demand, and in the
last few weeks, in addition to the local
demand, we have been constantly re-
ceiving orders by telegraph from Phila-
delphia, Pittsburg, and other cities,
and are sold ahead Of production all the
time. The trouble is that the old ope-
ratives have gone into other pursuits,
and it is impossible to get hands enough.
At present we are turning out about 100
dozen day"
Chow do you account for the
changeP'
"Well, you know when fashion runs
to extremes there is likely to be a vio-
lent reaction. Hoop skirts were driven
out of fashion because the style was
pushed to such an extreme. Hoops got
to be four or five yards around in the
style known as 'tilters.' A lady could
hardly get into church pew When
she sat down her dress ballooned and
took up the whole side Of street car.
The newspapers ell got to making fun
of the fashion, and there was reaction
against hoop skirts. Another thing that
had to do with it, suppose, was the
hard times. 1t took a great deal of
fabric to cover those big skeleton tents,
and there was a saving in adopting mar
row skirts. Now, tight dresses have
been pushed to an extreme, and reac-
ton toward fuller dresses and the hoop
is natural"
elbow does the new style compare
with the old?" asked the reporter.
"Look at that |" said MIR. Bradley,
pointing to hoop skirt hanging from
the ceiling. It was a great circular
wire cage yards around. "Now look
at this !" and he held up slim, grace
full skirt, with hoops secured by broad
tapes, and running about half way up.
"The old hoops ran up 10 $50 inches in
circumference. The present style runs
from ffty-fve to sixty-fve inches. Now,
if the modistes do not push the style
to excess, and will keep the hoop skirt
down to two yards in circumference, it
will remain in use."
Has there been much change in
the manufacture of hoop skirts ?"
"All the change in the world. It was
in 1857 that hoop skirts first came into
use. I remember the first articles OF
the kind which were imported from
Europe. They were cumbrous affairs,
the hoops made of bamboo, cane OF
rattan. Iron was considered too heavy
a material. Steel hoops were intro
duced by American makers. 1t was 8
long process to get the right quality ol
steel. If made too hard the steel would
snap, and if too soft the hoop would
bend in wear and lose its shape. Now
the steel is so we'll tempered that the
hoop skirt retains its shape and at the
same time conforms to changes OF atti
tude in the wearer like a woven fabric
The weight of a skirt like that nov
coming into fashion is less than one
fourth of that of the old style of skirt
and the new skirt will wear four times
as long as the old"