Reforming women's fashion, 1850-1920 : politics, health, and art

**The first comprehensive study of women’s dress reform** During the latter half of the nineteenth and the first decade of the twentieth centuries, books, periodicals, and newspapers were rich in discussions related to women’s roles, health, beauty, and dress. Many believed that restrictive and unwieldy women’s fashions compromised health, distorted women’s true physical beauty, and curtailed the potential role of women in society. __Reforming Women’s Fashion, 1850–1920__ focuses on the efforts toward reforming women’s dress that took place in Europe and America during this period and the types of garments adopted by women to overcome the challenges posed by fashionable dress. "During the latter half of the nineteenth and the first decade of the twentieth centuries, books, periodicals, and newspapers were rich with discussions about women's roles, health, beauty, and dress. Many believed that restrictive and unwieldy women's fashions compromised health, distorted women's true physical beauty, and curtailed the potential role of women in society. Reforming Women's Fashion focuses on the efforts toward reforming women's dress that took place in Europe and America during this period and on the types of garments adopted by women to overcome the challenges posed by fashionable dress." "Patricia Cunningham considers the many advocates for reform and thoroughly examines their motives, their arguments for change, and their ways of promoting improvements in women's fashion. Through there was no single overarching dress-reform movement, Cunningham reveals that there were similarities among the arguments posed by diverse groups of reformers, including especially the equation of reform with an ideal image of improved health." Drawing on a broad variety of primary and secondary sources in the United States and Europe - including the popular press, advice books for women, allopathic and alternative medical literature, and books on aesthetics, art, health, and physical education - Reforming Women's Fashion makes a significant contribution to costume studies, social history, and women's studies. Copiously illustrated with contemporary paintings, drawings, and photographs, presented in large format, this cross-disciplinary volume sheds light on the philosophy supporting dress reform from a variety of perspectives, revealing the universality of reform efforts and offering new insights into the pervasive effects of fashion on women, society, and culture. This work focuses on the efforts toward reforming women's dress that took place in Europe and America in the latter half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, and the types of garments adopted by women to overcome the challenges posed by fashionable dress Focuses on the efforts toward reforming women's dress that took place in Europe and America during the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth