Telegram-herald., 1890-02-14
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AA2 A&4F ~ Lgsa NAa~E - peas LN~--14
Fh4t she IasFS5 2ceo D.
Ths fol .1vlrr lst5er from Mrs Amelis
Bloomer. whasa n4ras became World
f4no4s years 40 in conneetion ~lro
~Ast s2s known as E1e b-oouer CO.
tlls. Is printed in tae Ladies Home
jo-Enzl aad las = keen degree ~ tn-
te-est in that Ghs Mrs Bleouer denies
ths eredis ct Introducing tie costume in
America Ills letter. recently written
Is uou pro1-csd II print for tle hFst
time
f CoUscu BLCrFs, L. ~ Daer Ssr.
I hardly kas2 h3w 20 write about the
''e,ssl4lae" associated With ny uAlne.
BuE va not itS inventor or originator,
3 as = 50 generally believed
Ia March. 1881. Elizabeth Saith MI
Ter, daughter OF Hon. 0errirt Saith. u
Peserboro, \. y, visited her cousin,
. Elizabeth Ca1y Stanton. a. Seneca Falls,
\ f-. which MAS then my home. and
~he-e l has publishing tAe Lily, snl
where Mrs. Stanton alsO resided AI-s-
Miller came % rs IN short skirt a-.t
full Turkish trousers, a style OF dress
she hsd been wearing some two months
rr7e matter OF w0man's dress having
/ beer iust previously discussed in tha
Eny, Mrs. Millers appearance led Mrs
Stanton 70 AZ once adopt the style, and
ye-y soon followed. Mrs. Stanton intro
ducing IL 70 the Seneca Falls public two
or three days in advance Of me. In the
next number of my paper following my
adoption o. the dress april. ls5Il 1
wrote an article announcing 20 my read
ers hat had donned the style 70 which
their attention had been called In preyi-
Gus numbers.
Tae New York Tribune noticed my
article, and made Ii known u rs thou
sands OF readers that / had donned a
short skirt and trousers. and from this
IL went from paper 70 paper throughout
this country and countries abroad. |
found myself noticed and pictured in
many papers at homo and abroad. ! was
praised and censured, glorifed and ridi-
culed, until stood in amazement az tho
furor l had Wrought by my pen while
sitting quietly in my little Office at
home attending TO my duties.
Suffice it that IL was the press at
large tnat got up all the excitement and
that named the dress. never called it
the "Bloomer Costume" With me il
was always the short dress and trousers.
IL consisted of skirt shortened TO a
few inches below the knees and the
substitution of trousers made Of the
same material as the dress. In other
respects, the dress was the same as
worn by all women. At the outset the
trousers were full and baggy, but we
improved upon them by making them
narrower and gathered at the ankle,
and finally by making entirely plain
and straight, falling to the shoe like
the trousers Of men.
To some extent, think the style was
adopted abroad, but not largely, or, for
that matter, at home. There were in
dividuals here and there who gladly
threw of the burden of heavy skirts
and adopted Che short ones, but soon
both press and people turned upon it
their ridDule and censure, and women
had not the strength of principle to
Withstand the criticism, and so returned
10 heir dragging skirts. For myself, l
Tore the short dress and no other, at
homo and everywhere, for six or
sevon years, long after Mrs. Stan
ton, Lucy Stone and others had aban-
doned 1t. Lucy Stone wore the dress
several years, travelled and lectured in
IL, and was married in it, | think. None
Of Us ever lectured on the dress ques-
ton, or in any way introduced it into
our lectures. We only wore it because
we found IL comfortable, convenient,
'safe and tidy-with no thought of intro
ducing fashion, but with the wish that
every woman would throw off the bur
den Of clothes that was dragging her
life out.
This dress question has been Of second
ary Importance with me, and it is not
for that I wish 20 be remembered. As
you will see from what I have written
above, wrong impression prevails in
regard TO my part in that matter. |
was not its originator. ! adopted the
style and made IL known 20 the public
The press did the rest.
am not lecturing 20 all these last
few years a throat difficulty and ny
seventy years have compelled me % re
tire from active participation in works
for tho Advancement Of woman.