Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1899-08-30
AMELIA BLOOMER'S SUIT
Celebrated Costume Worn for the
First Time az Years Ago.

Just forty-eight years ago today. on
July % 1851. Mrs. Amelia Blcomer
first wore her NOW celebrated costume
;ait a bali at Lowell. Mass. The storm
of wit and ridicuIe that followed drove
the b,oomeIs out of existence within a
few months after its invention. only 10
be revived again forty years later in
modified form by the adv5GJ5 of the
bicycle and athletics among women.
and TO be hailed as one, Of the most
suitable and useful o. Temale dresses
The handsome young woman who as
tonished The guests at the Lowell bali
with her bold innovation was the edf-
tor Of a Journal called the Lily pub
IiS'hed at SenecI Fails. New York
She was a woman of ideas. evid!eLtly
much in advance of her time Her
magazine was devoted to temperance
and the enfract.h-$Cment of women
and had 3tair5d in TWO years the cir
cuIatiCn of 4O0G-:l very handsome
business fOi, that Gay. Mrs Bl0Omer
for n011l4s before Lowell BAH had aJl-
VCCAted Il change in WOman'S dress for
outdoor wear She took tlla T.ctu-
rescue dress of the Polish women as i
model and wrote:
We would have Il skirt reach down
to nearly halfway betweela the ankle
AID the knee. and not made quite 80
full Is IS the present fashion. Under
i.pafh this skirt trousers moderately
fun. coming down TO tie ankle mot in
stepl and there gathered with an elias
tic baicd. The Sl4oos or slippers should
SI1it the occasion. For winter or Wet
mo
full. but come down into a boot which
should raise three or four inches al
least above the ankle. This boot
should te gracefully S.cped at TIE upper
edge anil tlrmnesl with fur or fanci-
fully embroidered. according to tlre
tastes of tine wearer. In defense of
the costume Mrs. BIOon1eT asks in her
magazine: IF delic2cy requires that
the skirt should be long. why do our
ladies a dozen times 4 day commit the
indiaIiCacy Of raising tiLeir dresses to
i}leveIt their dragging n the mud Of
the StT6at>:''
Although Mrs. Bloo1er had advO-
Gated the dress fer months. neither she
nor any other woman veDtuI1ed TO wear
it until finally the inventor herself APP
Feared at the bali IN cCla50n4spiIming
town. The fragnlerlIry accounts that
have coma Down of the event indicate
that the sensation created shook All
New ENGLAND Pat the boomer COS
tJ.1lle Is 1t was immediately called. |
spread. and papers in dozens OF places
noted that WCm6il WelGing blComefs
were seen On the streets. The fashion |
of the day hasteLal 10 print
cuts of the new aII1 startling style. |
Boomers crossed The ocean anil aD-
pealed in London. An -An.eric3-,' lady |
dressed in black satin Jacket, skirt and |
trousers Iectured in L0LIOn and urged /
the universal adoption of the dress by |
her sex. In. less than six months |
boomers had become an issue in social
life but the force of public opinion |
was against it, A storm of riGicule
was raised on both sides of the Allan
tic BloOmer wOnem were pictured i'll
ludrfcrous connections in The American
Illus trated papers and in Punch. Thu
brightest writer's Of the Guy found the
dress fruitful topic for their peLS.
and in the ponder0us columns of the
serious publications IL WAS denounced
rs .Scan5lalotlS. In some towns OF th3s
cou-3try The authorities issued orders to
arrest women wearing the costume
the chief obj elton TO which today
would probably l'e that it was hide
ousIy ugly. In other places women In
boomers had missiles thrown at them.
The fight was 100 strong. and also,
probably. the dr=ss was 100 unbecom-
rg and n Il short time boomers had
Eislpr cared from the pubic view.
Mrs. Bl3omer, however, for years
udnt give up the attempt to make the
Irass popular she sold her magazine.
moved 10 Council Bluffs, Iowa, and
went on The lectulfIas platform. aal
yocati.ir boomers and temperance
She took PAR; in advocating the Iowa
State suffrage association, and WAS at
me time its president In 1870 she
fe.:veietL before The members of the
r1itol-al legislature of Nebraska. an
sIoquer- argument in favor Of confer
ing the ballot on women. She lectured
III QIooereI's all over the west, and oc-
-lsionlIIy in this east. but without
much result. The athletic 2ill WAS. NOT
porn until thirty years later.-'Chicago
.Eter-OceaD.