Victorian dress reform
Videos
Victorian dress reform was an objective of the Victorian dress reform movement of the middle and late Victorian era, led by various reformers who proposed, designed, and wore clothing considered more
1895 Punch cartoon. Gertrude: "My dear Jessie, what on earth is that Bicycle Suit for?" Jessie: "Why, to wear, of course." Gertrude: "But you haven't got a Bicycle!" Jessie: "No; but I've got a Sewing Machine!"
Inès Gaches-Sarraute in a straight-front corset from about 1892, which became fashionable in the Edwardian period
'The Emancipation Waist.' Excerpt from 'Catalog of Dress Reform and Other Sanitary Under-Garments For Ladies and Children' George Frost and Co., Boston Mass June 1, 1876.
A 1900 diagram from Ladies' Home Journal illustrating the difference between the Victorian and Edwardian corsets
Union suit
Videos
A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear, most often associated with menswear in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Victorian dress reform
…such as bicycling or swimming. The movement was much less concerned with men's clothing, although it initiated the widespread adoption of knitted wool union suits or long johns. Some of the movement's proponents established dress reform parlors, or storefronts, where women could buy sewing patterns for the garments…
A union suit from the 1902 Sears, Roebuck catalog
Union suit (front)
Union suit (drop-seat version)
Worn as comfortable, if informal, lounge wear