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| Bloomers were quite fashionable for the newly created cycling set, among other fads and cultural trends for younger women, during the gilded age. Cycling gave young women a freedom they had not felt before and wearing bloomers, or pants, were part of that freedom. They were not welcome in many business or social settings, however. Image source, Pinterest |
Explaining the Etiquette of Bloomers
It is not denied that woman has a right to wear bloomers or anything else that may suit her fancy, but she mustn’t complain if a man insists that she shall wear skirts in his office, just as she insists that he shall wear a coat in her dining-room. A San Francisco woman is suing a dentist for $250.00 because though he had engaged to put her teeth in good condition when she appeared before him in skirts, he wouldn’t even look into her mouth when she came to his office in bloomers.
It wasn’t so much that he couldn't stand the trousers himself; he could, because he was quite used to them, having a few pairs of his own, but there were others in the office who would be shocked by them and so he spoke quite harshly to her, just to show her and the others that he was posted on bloomer etiquette. It seems that bloomers on the street, or in the park, are all right, but they don't go in a dentist’s office – if there are other women present.— Expositor, Volume XXXI, August 1897
🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia
