THE JUBILEE OF "BLOOMERS."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7233, 21 October 1901, Page 2

THE JUBILEE OF "BLOOMERS."

AN. HISTORICAL SKETCH. An Amerir.ri r.ewspaper reminds us that we have ju-t pass-red the jubilee cf the introduction of " blcomers." A scrry jubilee indeed, fGr but that the term is used in America for any kind of •' reformed" cycling co£'.wr.« the name would havo died out as completely as the gamier t. On this side of the water (says the "Manchester Guardian") :".t survives only in tihe satirical pages of "Punch."' Mrs Bloomer was interested in social reforms, and editor of a temperance paper railed "The Lily." It is said that she first downed the costume- which was -to bear her name at a ball, creating thereby no small sensation. l%e first lady, however, to we-3r it was Mrs Elizabeth Smith Miller, daughter or Gerrit Smith, then a member of Congress, during her father's residence in Washington. The dre.p-j was adopted by a small number of women interested in social and political reforms, among them being Mrs Cady Stanton. still one of the veKran leadtrs of the women's suffrage- parly in the Skates. It has b=cn maliciously remarked that "women are more tyrannised over by their .skirts than their husband?, and stand more in need of pockets than of political rights." >So thought, apparently, Mrs Bloomer 'and her friends. The experiment was a hard o.ne. Some of the e-irly reformers 1 have, let-:- harrowing records of the sufferings which they underwent, and, considering all things/ it is astonishing that o:;3 or two j-.hould have persisted in the obnoxious costumes for several years. It was not n. graceful dress — a loose tunic, a f-kirt coming well below the knees, an/1 full trousers, gathered in at the ankle — and cannot compare with the girls' gymnastic costume of more recent days. One cannot look back upon the episode without reflecting upon the difficulty which there appeal's to be in effecting aiiiy change in costume. Since Mrs Bloomer's experiment there has been a. complete revolution in 'the position of women, but their dress remains in essentials the same. A few ladies wear " reformed" dress for cycling, and a good deal of latitude is often allowed to girls at school in the use of gymmastic costumes for game? ; but- there the matter ends. The jubilee* of Mrs 8100-m?r's heroic venture .sees her sisters clad in -skirts which sweep the carpet more aggressively than ever, an;l trail, in disregard ot hygiene, even on the pavements of the streets.