Sentence:  Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. [...]  Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be <WSD>held up</WSD> in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To support or lift.