, 1888-04-21
THE "eLooMERu COSTUME.
Mrs. Bloomer Declares That She Is Not
the Inventor of It-Its History.

Mrs. Bloomer Declares That She Is Not
the Inventor of Tits History.
81 nav tried often to correct that i'm
preston, " said Mrs. d. c.. Boomer re
Gently to a reporter. 81 did not invent
the 'Bloomer' costume, nor was / the first
one to wear it. I am quite willing that
the correction should be made, for l do
not wish to be remembered only as the
woman who invented a new style of
dress.
81 did not even nam it. Mrs. Eliza
beth Miller, a daughter of Gerritt Smith,
was the first lady who wore it. She came
dressed in one of those costumes from
Peterboro, n. Y, to Seneca Falls, where
/ was living, and where Mrs. Elizabeth
Cady Stanton lived. Where Mrs. Miller
got the idea I do not know, but she is en-
titled to what credit there is for putting
the dress into circulation, as it were, and
1t should be named for her il for anybody.
It's hardly fair to Mrs. Miller to take the
credit from her. A few days after Mrs.
Miller's appearance in short skirt and
trousers, Mrs. Stanton had a similar cos
tune made, and she wore it. Then 1
adopted the style. Mrs. Stanton did not
wear hers n great ~while-possibly not
more than two years; but ] wore nil as
long as the public talked about it and me.
/ did not name the dress. The press did
that. wore the costume for six years
for two years in Council Bluffs-and, If l
had not retired to private life might be
wearing 1t yet. 1t is u very comfortable
and sensible dress.
"Some time, possibly a month, before
Mrs. Miller made her appearance in
Seneca Falls in the costume, a writer,
whose identity / never did discover, advo-
Gated in the columns of one of the papers
of Seneca Falls a reform in woman's
dress. 1 was editing a paper there at that
as-- a-I A-@1r 49, Nhn IN N Tin
pant way, and treated the subject rather
playfully and facetiously. The unknown
writer of the other paper answered me,
and l answered again. So when Mrs
Miller came in the short skirt and trousers,
and after Mrs. Stanton and myself had
adopted the garb, the papers of the
try round about tried to make fun of us,
and called us 'Bloomerites' and Bloom
ers,' and so on. Hence the name, l sup
pose. Lucy Stone wore the dress for a
while, but gave it up because she thought
it attracted attention away from the sub
jects-temperance and woman's rights
upon which she was lecturing. l wore
my costume and lectured in 1t in all my
tour of the cities of the north and west,
and l was the first to make such a lectur-
ing tour in those cities. l was the first
woman who wore the costume in public
in Chicago.
"Of course, wherever 1 went the dress
attracted a great deal of attention. 1t
was a curiosity, and a great many people
came to the lectures as much to see it as
to hear what a woman had to say.
Women lecturers were quite a curiosity,
too, in those days. / used to notice that
after 1 had finished my talk, whether on
women's rights or on temperance, a great
many people, women especially, would
remain and come upon the platform, os-
tensibly to see me, but really to inspect
the dress"
Mrs. Bloomer showed the reporter a cut
representing herself in her younger days,
attired in one of her noted costumes. A
short skirt reaching to the knees, baggy,
very baggy trousers gathered and frilled
at the ankle; a straight brimmed sailor
hat, set well back upon the head, made
up the attire from a masculine point of
view. Female observation might have
disclosed that the skirt and waist were of
one piece, and that the sleeves of the waist
were full and slashed, and gathered and
frilled Mt the wrists. Close scrutiny and n
reversal of the picture might possibly have
led to the discovery that "a hustle was not
part of the attire. This point, however,
can be left to those ladies who have been
accustomed to calisthenic exercises and
surf bathing.-Omaha Herald.