I have pictures (somewhere) of my great-grandmother working on the farm
in pants. I also seem to remember that when my grandmother was very
small and left out to herd the sheep, that she wore "boy's clothes". I,
of course, was more shocked to learn that an eight-year-old would be
left alone all day with the sheep, the dog and a rifle.
Carmen
On 3/22/2013 1:37 AM, Maggie Koenig wrote:
I'm starting to wonder if our ancestors found the idea of women in pants as shocking as
we think they did. I keep finding examples of women wearing them in the 19th century. The
"bloomer" costume as reform dress, the bathing costumes, women in camping and
hiking situations, women on the westward trek, female mine workers in Wales and other
parts of Europe, utopian societies, fishwives in England and female acrobatic performers.
I have a feeling the more people dig the more we will find out that there were just
certain situations where no one found it out of place to see a woman in pants.
I will grant you that in none of these cases are the women putting on a pair of
men's pants. They are wearing pants with a unique style and construction.
Maggie Koenig
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 21, 2013, at 11:09 PM, Marjorie Wilser <the3t...@gmail.com> wrote:
I was astounded to learn that my very proper great-great grandmother and her daughters
wore bifurcated garments on the Oregon Trail-- in 1852, very soon after Amelia Bloomer
was named as their "creator." One of the older daughters wrote about their
experience and how the garments made walking the trail much easier than it would have
been in skirts. The stuff of family legend.
I suspect G-g-grandmother's prior pioneering experience influenced her to make a radical
fashion choice for Oregon. In 1836 she and her husband had floated down the Allegheny on
a raft; she mentions having to traipse around a portage through weeds and wet with wind,
and how her skirts "switched" between her ankles, making walking almost
impossible.
G-g-grandmother was the wife of a preacher and Presbyterian missionary- I was amazed that
such a character would make use of what was then rather a controversial garment. Perhaps
she thought nobody she knew would see her! -- they and their large family had two wagons
and did not join a "train."
== Marjorie Wilser
=:=:=:Three Toad Press:=:=:=
http://3toad.blogspot.com/
"Learn to laugh at yourself and you will never lack for amusement." --MW
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