Hoops and Crinolines

When most people visualize women's clothing of the Civil War, a large hoop skirt comes to mind. The artificial crinoline was developed in 1855 or 1856 in France and was fashionable for another ten years. Before the crinoline, a woman had to wear many layers of heavy petticoats under her skirt in order to achieve the wide-skirted profile. According to Elizabeth Ewing in Dress and Undress, "The underclothing of a lady of fashion consisted of a chemise, long drawers trimmed with lace, a corset, a flannel petticoat, an under-petticoat three and one half yards wide, a petticoat wadded to the knees, and stiffened on the upper part with whalebones inserted a handsbreath from one another, a white starched petticoat with three stiffly starched flounces, two muslin petticoats and finally the dress." As you can see, wearing a cage crinoline was a great deal lighter and offered more freedom in movement. Another plus of the crinoline was that the corset did not have to be laced as tightly since the hoop was so wide, the waist appeared to be smaller than it measured.

Despite their popularity, there were some disadvantages to the cage crinolines. After their introduction, they became wider and wider. It became difficult for women to use public transportation or fit into carriages. Furniture could be knocked over with the sweep of skirts and doorways were often difficult to negotiate. Seating at parties had to be altered, since women needed additional room for their skirts. The plain wire cage crinolines could catch on carriages or other protrusions and cause the wearer to fall. Women who worked in china and glass factories caused problems when their wide skirts caused items to be swept from the shelves and be broken. A pottery in England lost inventory worth 200 pounds in one year. Fire was also a great danger. Since some dress fabrics were highly flammable, the wide skirts could brush a fire grate and easily catch fire. The openwork of the crinoline made it impossible to wrap the victim in order to extinguish the flames. Many magazines gave warnings to the wearer of crinolines about fires.

The hoops or cage crinolines were made from many different materials. Watchspring steel, whalebone, or metal ribs were held in place by fabric tapes. Some were just skeleton frames and others were full petticoats with the circular ribs held in place by casings. There was one record of inflatable rubber tubes used to hold the shape of the crinoline. In 1856 there was a patent of a crinoline that was inflated by means of a bellows and in order for the woman to sit down, she had to deflate it, and reinflate it with the bellows when she stood up. Another style employed gutta-percha which covered the rings so that the hoops were washable and did not rust when the rings got wet.

Not only upper and middle class women wore hoops: ladies' maids, shop girls and women working in factories wore hoops as did women working in fields. There is also documentation of women wearing crinolines mountain climbing. According to C. Willet and Phillis Cunnington in The History of Underclothes, 1859 Sheffield (a steel factory) produced wire for half a million crinolines each week. Since they were mass produced, the hoops were inexpensive. Peterson's published an advertisement for hoops in 1861 and the price ranged from 50 cents to $2.00. (In 1991 dollars that would be $7.69 to $30.75.) Children's crinolines cost between $ .19 to $1.00 ($2.92 to $15.37 in 1991 dollars).

There was much opposition to women wearing crinolines by men. According to Keri Geiger in The Civil War Lady, volume I, Number 1, the hoop kept men at a distance despite the flexibility of the skirts. Punch, an English publication constantly criticized the wearing of crinolines. Both women wearing hoops and the hoops themselves were the subject of many exaggerated cartoons and jokes. Even though men did not seem to like the crinolines, but were not above enjoying the sight of ladies' ankles or provocative stockings or petticoats.

In doing research for this article I found many items on hoops, their advantages and disavantages. I found many cartoons mocking the hoop both in Harper's New Monthly Magazine and Graham's Illustrated Magazine. Graham's had a monthly column on hoops for several months in 1857. There were articles announcing the demise of the hoop, but it remained fashionable for almost ten years longer. There were stories of why the hoop should not be worn and articles extoling the virtures of the hoop. I found a song excerpted from an October, 1857 Graham's Illustrated Magazine (It was also in the August, 1857 Harper's New Montly Magazine.). It seems to sum up a description and attitude of crinolines.

SONG OF THE HOOPS

Sailing down the crowded street,
Scraping every thing they meet,
With a rushing whirlwind sound,
Muffled belles around abound,

Hoop! Hoop! Hoop!
What a vast expansive swoop!

Hoops of whalebone, short and crisp,
Hoops of wire, thin as a wisp;
Hoops of brass, thirteen yards long,
Hoops of steel, confirmed and strong;
Hoops of rubber, soft and slick,
Hoops of roping, bungling thick;
Hoops of lampwick, cord and leather,
Hoops that languish in wet weather;
Hoops that spread out silken skirts,
Hanging off from silly flirts.
Sweeping off the public lands,
Turning over apple-stands;
Felling children to the ground,
As they flaunt and whirl around,

Hoop! Hoop! Hoop!
What a vast, expansive hoop!

Jolly hoops, that wriggle round,
Sober hoops, that sway profound;
Springy hoops, that shake and wag,
Broken hoops, that droop and drag;
Monster hoops, all overgrown,
Junior hoops, of smaller bone;
Hoops that ravish lover's eyes,
Hoops that rend their breasts with size;
Hoops that shock their feeble legs,
Like a crowd of giant kegs.

What gallant ships! What swelling sails!
How they resist opposing gales!
With what a full relentless waft,
They overwhelm each smaller craft!

Hoop! Hoop! Hoop!
What a vast, expansive swoop!

REFERENCES

Dress and Undress, A History of Women's Underwear, Elizabeth Ewing, Drama Book, New York, 1981.

Graham's Illustrated Magazine, Various issues in 1857.

Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Various issues in 1857.

Peterson's, Various issues in 1861.

The Civil War Lady, "Miss Kari's Korner," Keri Geiger, Volume 1, Number 1.

The History of Underclothes, C. Willet and Phillis Cunnington, Dover Books, New York, 1992.

Timeline - Clothes, Jacquline Morley, Franklin Watts, NY, 1992.

Vintage Fashions, "Silhouettes in the Past," May/June 1991.

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