Corsets
and Crinolines:
From Fashion-Era http://www.fashion-era.com/1800_1845.htm
Corsets:
Both England
and America replaced the word 'Stays' with 'Corset'. During the
Regency period corset changed from the heavily boned 18th
Century corset to a more lighter, less boned garment that was
smoother in shape and the hips, thighs and bust gained a more
natural outline. By 1820 it was standard to wear corsets again.
By 1840 the corset had a new style made up of several pieces,
with gussets and used vertical rows of whalebone shaped to the
natural body shape. Because of the fashion to show more shoulder
and décolletage, the corset lost it's shoulder straps.
Assuming women in Australia might have still been wearing the
earlier corset I've added some images showing this more natural
style.
Crinolines:
During the
1820s the high waist dropped to its normal position and the
skirts widened with frills and flounces. In the 1830s a linen
material woven with horsehair called crinoline was first
used for cloth petticoats. The word crinoline comes from the
French for 'crin' and 'lin', meaning horsehair and
linen respectively. This version of a petticoat was the original
crinoline and later the name continued in use for the caged or
hooped underskirt frames.
The new skirt style which emerged in 1841 was achieved by a
method of gauging fabric into organ or cartridge pleats which
introduced yet more fullness. This was abandoned in 1846 for
flat pleating which gave even more width. After 1845 double
flounced skirts helped push the shape out, making the skirt look
even broader.
Cage
Crinoline or Artificial Crinoline of 1856: As
the decade progressed, more and more petticoats were added until
the skirts were very full. For decency as well as fashion a
minimum of six petticoats was considered essential. They became
very heavy and unbearable in summer heat. At
last in 1856 the cage crinoline petticoat or artificial
crinoline was introduced. With this support, ladies had to wear
just one petticoat to soften the cage ridges. Of course as gusts
of wind often blew the crinolines sideways, long drawers became
essential underwear.
W.S.
Thomson Patents Metal Cage Crinoline:
The American W. S. Thomson patented the metal cage crinoline in
the USA, France and Britain in 1856. Marketed in these three
countries it soon became a huge hit. The crinoline knew no class
differences and it was the first fashion to be adopted in
England and America by all classes, even if the quality of the
crinoline was doubtful the cheaper it got. Illustrations of
working women wearing cheaper versions of the cage show ugly
ridges of steel bands.
Women loved the cage crinoline. At the height of its popularity
enough steel was produced in Sheffield to make half a million
hoops in one week. Ladies were freed from the heavy petticoats
that had begun to weigh them down and they were able to move
their legs freely beneath the cage.
The cage crinoline could be awkward in wear and could cause
damage to objects, knocking them with a swish in the wrong
direction. Even so, it was a welcome alternative to restrictive
petticoat layers. Pottery workers found crinolines
difficult to work in, but they persisted in wearing them despite
causing breakages. The fashion was everywhere and reached small
towns quicker than ever before after the railway spread ideas
more rapidly from town to country.
Seeing that the 'crinoline frame' only became popular during the
late 1850s we can assume that the earlier form of petticoat
crinoline would have been more common on the goldfields. That is
not to say that 'town folk' didn't wear the latest fashions
even though it was discouraged to wear 'class' orientated
fashions on the goldfields (more bellow).
History of Crinoline
from Answers.com
(has more information and images)
The
first 'crinolines' were petticoats starched for extra stiffness,
or made out of the new crinoline fabric, and they often had
ruffles to support the skirts to the desired width. However,
dress fabrics were heavy but not stiff enough to support their
own weight, which tended to collapse the petticoats out of
shape. Extra rigidity was added to petticoats through rings of
cord or braid running around the hem. In the 1830s, women
started to wear petticoats with hoops of whalebone or cane
around the hem.
The
first hoop skirt in US is patent no. 4,584 from 1846, of David
Hough, jr.
U.
S. patent no. 20,681 from 1858 of I. R J, Mann, was the first
latticework, of strings and hoops
In
1858, the American W.S. Thomson greatly facilitated the
development of the cage crinoline by developing an eyelet
fastener to connect the steel crinoline hoops with the vertical
tapes descending from a band around the wearer’s waist. The
invention was patented in the United States (patent US21581),
France (patent FR41193) and Britain (patent GB1204/1859). This
facilitated the fashionable silhouette's development from a cone
shape to a dome. It was not an entirely original idea; Thompson
was probably inspired by the open cage or frame style of
farthingales and panniers.
The
cage crinoline was adopted with enthusiasm: the numerous
petticoats, even the stiffened or hooped ones, were heavy, bulky
and generally uncomfortable. It was light — it only required
one or two petticoats worn over the top to prevent the steel
bands appearing as ridges in the skirt — and freed the
wearer's legs from tangling petticoats.
Unlike
the farthingale and panniers, the crinoline was worn by women of
every social class. The wider circulation of magazines and
newspapers spread news of the new fashion, also fueling desire
for it, and mass production made it affordable.
Women
On The Goldfields by Peter Butters
After the discovery of gold in 1851 the tranquillity
of Ballarat gave way to excitement as hordes of new arrivals
sought instant wealth, but for the majority it did not
materialise. The pastoral paddocks became the scene of great
industry but conditions were very basic without fundamental
amenities.
The
Ballarat 'Star' of Tuesday the 5th July 1859 carried an
editorial under the banner of 'INEQUALITY OF THE SEXES ON THE
GOLD FIELDS'.
The article drew on information taken from the census returns of
March 1857, which had just been released and the paper informed
its readers of such, in a rather long winded fashion.
'..... we shall proceed to lay before our readers such portions
of its contents, as we think may prove both interesting and
instructive. In doing so, we must again allude to the fact of
these returns being for a period so far back as the early part
of 1857, thus entirely destroying their freshness, and largely
lessening their importance and their usefulness, whether for the
purposes of the statesman or of the social reformer.'
The paper obviously had concerns about the overall accuracy of
the media when it included 'As the matter now stands, the public
of Victoria are left to receive from the too often inexperienced
hands of metropolitan or provincial journalists such an analysis
of this report...'
The editorial noted that there was a total population of 383,668
'exclusive of the residents in the Chinese encampments, and the
roving aboriginals'. There were 237,743 males and a 145,925
females.
At that time the evenness of the number of new born males as to
females was astounding. Under one year old there were 8,163
males and 7,991 females, between one and two, 6,237 males and
6,204 females, between two and three, 6,092 males and 6,050
females and between three and four, 4,711 males and 4,687
females. The paper noted, In all these figures it will be
observed that the proportion of males and females is as nearly
as possible equal, in accordance with the natural law which so
equally and so mysteriously divides the births of the human race
between the two sexes.'
However, between the ages of twenty four and twenty five on the
goldfields there were 8,182 males and only 4,073 females, and
between twenty five and six there were 9,206 males as opposed to
only 3,750 females, and similar numbers in the next age bracket.
It was explained 'our readers will not fail to observe the
marked disproportion between the total of the sexes of the two
periods. In the first mentioned period the males and females are
nearly equal; in the second, the males are to the females nearly
as three to one. The ratio continued to widen and at the age of
thirty four there were 5,289 males and a mere 1,823 females. At
the age of twenty however the difference was trifling.
On the goldfields, under the age of fifteen years there were
17,897 males and 17,155 females, and there were 4,365 males aged
between fifteen and twenty thus making the number of males under
twenty equal to 22,262.
The 'Star' continued, 'If we assume then that the females under
fifteen and the males under twenty are to be deducted from the
total number of the goldfields population, as not having arrived
at the marriageable age, which perhaps, for general purposes, is
as fair a division as is required, there will then remain only
26,988 females of a marriageable age, against 80,023 males who
have arrived at the age of puberty.'
There were not many mature people on the goldfields as the
report added, 'As the number of both sexes above the age of
fifty is comparatively trifling, these figures may be assumed to
fairly represent the proportion of marriageable males and
females on the gold fields; in other words for every female at
this stage of life, there are upwards of three males. Only 9.3
per cent of the females of the age of twenty and upwards are
unmarried, while of the males in the same condition there are
61.20 per cent.'
The paper deduced that 'the numbers of the two sexes on the
goldfields who, in March, 1857, had arrived at a marriageable
age, but who were unmarried, stand thus in round numbers :
males, 48,000; females, 2,700; or nearly eighteen males to one
female. These figures at once bring before us, in a most
startling form, the great sexual inequality of the goldfields'
population.'
By contrast the seaport towns had 68,927 males and 59,777
females.
Early Ballarat historian William Bramwell Withers referred to
the lack of females on the goldfields. 'There were no hospitals
or asylums in that early day, and a woman was an absolute
phenomenon. In those first days of digging life, when womanless
crowds wrestled with the earth and the forest amid much
weariness and solitude of heart, the arrival of a woman was the
signal for a cry and a gathering. The shout, 'There's a woman!'
emptied many a tent of be-soiled and hardy diggers, for the
strange sight evoked instant memories of far away homes, of
mothers, wives, and sweethearts, and all the sweet affections
and courtesies they represented, and never with such eloquent
emphasis as then. There was no man, having the heart of a man,
who did not bless the vision, while many an eye was moistened
with the sudden tear as love, hope, disappointment, fear,
struggled all at once in the homeless digger's bosom.'
Early Melbourne historian William Kelly was not impressed with
Ballarat women or the conditions. 'The tents were of the most
flimsy description, and side-glances into their interiors seldom
discovered any traces of comfort, or seldom of decency, scarcely
any had chimneys attached, so that all the cooking was done in
the open air, but all of them were surrounded by hosts of
mongrel dogs of the most noisy and snappish breed.' When
referring to females he said, ' I was on the point of writing
the softer sex, but that would be a misnomer, for the most
callous specimens of the male creation I ever encountered were
mere green pulp in comparison with some of the granite-grained
viragoes I had the honour of meeting.'
The publication 'Australia Illustrated' merely noted,
'Fortunately, comparatively few women found their way to the
goldfields in the early days. As a rule, those who did so were
well qualified to encounter the hardships and difficulties of
the life, but their experiences were by no means pleasant ones.'
A male perspective of one female on the goldfields was evident
in a 'letter to the editor' of the 'Weekly Times' of December
25, 1857. 'What a Woman On Ballarat Can Do.' 'Sir - I removed to
the Caledonian Lead a few months since, and located in the
vicinity of the Brown Hill Hotel. In a few days after being
installed in my new quarters, my attention was attracted by the
strokes of an axe, plied incessantly from morning until night.
On observation, much to my surprise, I perceived the
indefatigable wood-chopper to be a woman.
At first, however, as the stately gums and other primitive
monarchs of the forest, one by one, came down with a groan and a
crash, I naturally supposed that the limbs of the fallen were
merely designed to supply the wood yard of a provident
neighbour, but not so. The boughs were indeed chopped off, cut
into uniform lengths, and the larger split, but not for the
purpose which I had at first supposed. After the completion of
this work, the conqueror next appeared in the field armed with
maul and wedge, and with the utmost apparent good-will and
determination, attacked the knotted trunks of the fallen trees.
In a few days the last of these had disappeared in a heap of
posts and rails.
Immediately in front of her tent, or bark hut rather, is a low
piece of ground which at the time was partly inundated by the
early rains. Of this ground she staked off the area of an acre,
more or less, and after having planted her posts and erected the
fence (which, by the way, is a substantial one), as heretofore,
unassisted by anyone, she very deliberately set about excavation
of a drain several hundred feet in length.
After completion of this, the spade was again brought into
requisition, and about two-thirds of the enclosure turned up and
prepared for cultivation. This ground, owing to its watery
propensity, required the greatest ingenuity, and most laborious
pains, in its preparation. But in time, in spite of all,
industry and perseverance conquered. The marsh soil was deprived
of its moisture, the ground planted, and now in a high state of
improvement, presents one of the most forward and beautiful
vegetable gardens in this vicinity.
I may further add, that the time of this girl, (I have been told
that she is single), is not undivided. With the assistance of
another female, her partner, she keeps a milk dairy, a lot of
poultry, and a herd of pigs. I am unable to give the name of
either of the parties, but any enquiries made in reference to
the above, in the vicinity of 70 or 80 Caledonian Lead, would be
successful. Her reputation has become quite a prodigy in these
parts and everyone in the neighbourhood should be able to point
out the garden made and cultivated by a woman. I am Sir, Yours
&c. A LOVER OF INDUSTRY.
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