19th C. Bicycling Fashion Etiquette

In taking up cycling attire for women we wish first of all to launch a protest against those abominable modern cycling garments, the bloomers. Don't wear them! Don't make them! Don't have anything to do with them! ~ Polite society has always dictated the etiquette expected for fashion, especially for the newest trends and styles in outdoor activities.

For Women Who Wheel 

New York Sartorial Art Journal contains the following interesting remarks anent bicycle costumes for women:

In taking up cycling attire for women we wish first of all to launch a protest against those abominable modern cycling garments, the bloomers. Don't wear them! Don't make them! Don't have anything to do with them! For of all the monstrosities of this day, a woman with a tightly laced waist und with limbs encased in baggy bloomers is the worst. Skirts are made nowadays of such design and length as not to hinder the free movements of the riders' limbs, so on that score there is no reason for complaint. It is much better from an artistic point of view, for a woman to wear knickerbockers than the hideous bulging bloomers, which no woman who has good taste will wear.

The short skirts of last season would blow up when the wearer pedaled fast or coasted down hill, even though knickerbockers and leggings were worn underneath, which exposed the rider to some mortification. This, however, is done away with by the increased length worn today. Regarding accessories to women's cycling attire, there is not much in the way of novelty to chronicle. The fourteen-button, tan kid boots remain very popular, with now and then a high lace and a high French kid boot in evidence. Some women wear knickerbockers and golf stockings underneath their skirts, and some, in hot weather, wear low Oxford shoes, the high lace button boot being rather warm. Shirt waists will of course, be in vogue as soon as the warm weather strikes us, and the high-banded turndown collar, worn with a cotten tie, will be popular.

A new thing for women's use in cycling furnishings will be the riding stock, which will be used either with shirt waist or jacket. It will fold twice around the neck, like a man's riding stock, though it will tie in the form of a bow instead of an Ascot. The tie proper in both the women's and men's articles will be of a material to match tho shirt or shirt waist. In mentioning women's cycling hats we can only say that there is such a variety of headgear for cycling that it would be an impossible task to enumerate and describe all of them. It is enough to say that the Tam-o-Shanter and the Tourist form of hats, neatly trimmed, and of a color to match the suits worn, and a black straw sailor, will be proper and most effective. Almost any kind of a stout glove goes well for cycling, although there are varlous special designs of cycling gloves on the market. — San Francisco Examiner, 1896

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Japan's Empress' Etiquette of Dress

Civilisation has reached a stage
never yet attained in the past history of this country, and everything seems to point to the necessity of reviving the old 'standing etiquette' of the Naniwa Court, for it is evident that the sitting form of etiquette can no longer hold its place in society. 

Japanese Female Costumes

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The Empress Advises Her Countrywomen How to Dress

Her Imperial Majesty, addressing the wives of the high dignitaries and nobles of the Empire, has given expression to the following views with respect to the dress of the women of Japan:

"In ancient times the costume of the women of Japan consisted of an upper garment and a skirt. Following in the wake of the administrative reforms instituted in the period of Taikwa, in the reign of the Emperor Kotoku, a specific style of court costume was fixed and established in the reign of the Emperor Jito; while later, during the reign of the Emperor Gensho, the folding of the left side of the dress over the right side was prohibited.

Still later, in the time of the Emperor Shomu, a decree was promulgated throughout the Empire ordaining that all women should adopt and wear a style of dress which had been established by law. The new costume consisted of an upper garment and a skirt, and in some cases women went the length of wearing two skirts, an inner and an outer. This custom, however, was afterwards prohibited by statute. Thus, until the middle ages, the women of this country, both in cities and in the rural districts, continued to wear a skirt, which was generally of a scarlet color.

But about this period dissensions arose among the members of the Imperial Family as to the succession, and a Northern and a Southern Court being formed, the country was for a long time the scene of civil discord and warfare. Under each circumstances our women were compelled by necessity to content themselves with only one upper garment. Once established as a custom this style of dress continued long after the conditions that had prompted its introduction ceased to exist, the skirt being dispensed with, and the upper garment simply lengthened to cover and protect the lower limbs.

In recent years since the period of Yenpo, the width of the belt was gradually increased until the costume as a whole has assumed its present form. But a dress consisting only of an upper garment, and destitute of a skirt, is manifestly imperfect, and ought to be supplemented in some way on the lines of the ancient costume of Japan.

Moreover, civilisation has reached a stage never yet attained in the past history of this country, and everything seems to point to the necessity of reviving the old 'standing etiquette' of the Naniwa Court, for it is evident that the sitting form of etiquette can no longer hold its place in society. If we examine the dress of Western women we find that it, like the old dress of Japanese women, consists of both upper garment and skirt, and, further, that not only does it lend itself readily to the requirements of the 'standing etiquette,' but also affords every facility and ease for changes of posture and for the movement of the limbs.

It is, therefore, only right and proper that we should borrow suggestions from the Western style in order to the improvement of our clothing. But, in endeavoring to bring about this costume reform, there is one consideration that ought to receive very special attention, and that is the necessity of utilizing as far as it is at all possible, the fabrics manufactured and the materials produced in this country.

If the products of our own land are properly made use of, then the reform in question will certainly tend to impart a powerful stimulus to the progress of manufactures and of the fine arts in Japan, while at the same time it will confer no inconsiderable benefit on merchants and others. It may therefore be expected confidently to be productive of good in many respects other than the mere improvement of the costume of our women.

Passage from an old into a new order of things, as in this case, cannot fail to be attended by great, and in many instances needless, expenditure of money; but if due care be exercised, if the wearer's expenses are kept proportionate to her means, and if simplicity is always preferred to extravagance, I think it will be possible to attain the object hoped for without undue lavishness. These are my sentiments and my hopes in reference to this reform in the costume of Japanese women." — The Daily Alta, 1887

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia