Crimes of Fashion: The Civil War Hoop Skirt Smugglers

By | May 9th, 2020|Categories: Civil War, Victorian Era, Women's History|Tags: , , , , |

In my last blog post, I explored the light side of smuggling in the Victorian Era and the innovative ways that female entrepreneurs took full advantage of their women’s-only clothing to advance their position in the marketplace. During my research, I encountered many stories of Victorian women using their skirts for a different purpose: Civil [...]

The History of the Hoop Skirt

By | June 8th, 2015|Categories: Ball Gowns, Civil War, Underpinnings, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions|Tags: , |

When we think of the hoop skirt, we tend to think of the Victorian Era. And it’s true that hoop skirts were used then. However, hoop skirts have been around since as early as the sixteenth century. The farthingale was a hoop skirt popular in Europe, and different forms of farthingales originated in France, Spain, [...]