Reform
Dress reform, Black is Beautiful, fat acceptance and body neutrality, and the critiques made of each.
Part of Beauty Standards
98 moments in this segment.
- - Lily newspaper banner 1848. The Lily, the first U.S. newspaper edited by and for women, was published from 1849 to 1853 by Amelia Jenks Bloomer ( ).
- - Bicycling The Ladies of the Wheel, 1896 Paris Capital of the 19th Century. The woman holding the bicycle is wearing a short dress over dark leggings. Her dress retains the style of the epoque, with a sharply accentuated, corseted waist, a very high collar and billowing, leg of mutton sleeves.
- - Women smoking caricature. Caption from the "Bloomerism, an American custom", cartoon from Punch, 1851. Some American women appeared in the streets of London in a tunic and trousers, confirming a certain brassy stereotype.
- - LATIN YOUTH IN HILAND PARK OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY. THE INNER CITY TODAY IS AN ABSOLUTE.... NEW YORK CITY. THE INNER CITY TODAY IS AN ABSOLUTE CONTRADICTION TO THE MAIN STREAM AMERICA OF GAS STATIONS, EXPRESSWAYS, SHOPPING CENTERS AND TRACT HOMES. IT IS POPULATED BY BLACKS, LATINS AND THE WHITE POOR. MOST OF ALL, THE INNER CITY ENVIRONMENT IS HUMAN BEINGS, AS BEAUTIFUL AND THREATENED AS THE 19TH CENTURY BUILDINGS THEY LIVE IN.
- - Turks-in-Gotham-1851-Bloomer-parody. Turks in Gotham!", an 1851 caricature print, satirizing the feminist "Bloomer costume" (skirts considered short at the time worn over ankle-length harem pants) as being similar to Ottoman Turkish attire, with the comic premise that from wearing Bloomers it's only one additional small step to going whole hog and adopting full Turkish clothing (or rather, the caricaturist's humorous version of.
- - Amelia Bloomer from Illustrated London News. An illustration of Amelia Bloomer from Illustrated London News with the "AMELIA BLOOMER, ORIGINATOR OF THE NEW DRESS., FROM A DAGUERREOTYPE BY T. BROWN.- ( SEE PRECEDING PAGE.
- - Amelia Bloomer. Depiction of Amelia Bloomer wearing the famous "bloomer" costume which was named after her (mid-length skirts over quasi-harem-pants). Amelia Bloomer, Originator of the New Dress.
- - The Lily Masthead - February 1859. The Lily was a newspaper published by and for women. It was first published in Seneca Falls by Amelia Bloomer and beginning in 1855 by Mary B.
- - Bloomer Costume (Robert Chambers, The Book of Days, 1864, p.113). Bloomer costume illustration from Robert Chambers's 1864 publication The Book of Days. The illustration appeared in connection with a short essay about Amelia Bloomer and the style of reform dress that she first adopted in 1851.
- - AmeliaBloomer-sig. Public relations portrait of Amelia Bloomer as used in the History of Woman Suffrage by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Volume I, published in 1881.
- - Mrs. Oscar Wilde. She is wearing a a divided skirt, one of the then latest ‘rational’ outfits.
- - Lox-Toni-Aperitif-par-Excellence-Georges-Meunier-1895. Poster from 1895 illustrated by Henri Georges Meunier advertises a French alcoholic drink brand which was entitled ‘LOX Toni-Aperitif Par Excellence, Kina-Loxa.
- - Verkehrsmuseum Dresden Replika Damenfahrradkostüm - Damenunterwäsche um 1895 III. Cycling jacket bloomers and pair of combinatioms with corset, German, c.1895.
- - Ride a Stearns and be content, bicycle advertising poster, 1896. Poster advertising Stearns bicycles, showing a woman cyclist. Text reads, "Ride a Stearns and be content.".
- - Ellimans-Universal-Embrocation-Slough-1897-Ad. 1897 advertisement in The Graphic for Elliman's Universal Embrocation (manufactured in Slough), showing a relatively early example of an ordinary non-sea-bathing Western woman appearing skirtless in public (wearing "rationals" or "knickerbockers" or "bloomers" for bicycle-riding). The whole outfit (top and bottom) was known as a "bicycle suit".
- - Smith-College-Class-1902-basketball-team. Smith College class of 1902 basketball team (1902 was their year of planned graduation; the ay not actually have been taken in 1902). Uploaded as better example for en:Bloomers (clothing).
- - Practical Designer - Woman's Bloomers, Back Part. Sewing pattern (front part) for designing woman's bloomers (a.k.a. knickerbockers).
- - Baseball and bloomers still. A film still from Baseball and Bloomers in the Moving Picture World..
- - Prince Saad I bin Abdulrahman. Prince Sa’ad Ibn Saud, in a photograph taken by Captain Shakespear in 1911. Royal Geographical Society.
- - Two views of local Extension leaders drilling in physical exercise in middies and bloomers, .... Human Ecology Historical Photographs Two views of local Extension leaders drilling in physical exercise in middies and bloomers, outdoors. No date given, but appears to be about.
- - Practical Designer - Woman's Bloomers, Front Part. Sewing pattern (back part) for designing woman's bloomers (a.k.a. knickerbockers).
- - Hair grower ad. Walker's hair grower product was an immensely successful part of beauty culture.
- - Bloomer-Girl-Douglass-Wilson-McCracken. Promotional photograph for the Broadway production of Bloomer Girl, featuring (from left) Margaret Douglass, Dooley Wilson and Joan McCracken Caption reads as follows: A runaway slave is delivered in trunk by Evalina to office where Dolly publishes radical paper called The Lily and runs an underground station for fugitive slaves.
- - Showboat, University of Minnesota - Bloomer Girl 1961. Printed on back: BLOOMER GIRL, 1961 production of the University Theater on the SHOWBOAT operated on the Mississippi River every summer during the months of June, July, and August. Address: SHOWBOAT, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MINNEAPOLIS 14, MINNESOTA U.S.A.
- - "Come Let Us Build a New World Together" poster, 1963 - DPLA - 23306ba45268e4b0e4e7f886f6c0106c. Three Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) protestors kneeling outside of the segregated swimming pool in Cairo, Illinois in July 1962. This is one of four posters in this collection featuring the work of Danny Lyon who worked as a photographer for SNCC early in his career.
- - Afro Sheen Blowout Kit, Liquid. With a $250 dollar loan, George and Joan Johnson founded Johnson Products Co. The company produced hair-care products for African American men and women.
- - Yoko Matsuoka leads protest. Yoko Matsuoka in The Morning Call Sun Dec 27 1970. Caption reads: LEADS PROTEST - Yoko Matsuoka, a 54-year-old graduate of Pennsylvania's Swarthmore College, heads the only women's liberation movement of any consequence in Japan.
- - ¡LIBERTAD PARA LOS PRISONEROS POLITICAS!. This poster urges freedom for political prisoners and features an illustration of Angela Davis. The poster reads ¡LIBERTAD PARA LOS PRISONEROS POLITICAS!
- - Primera gran manifestación no autorizada por la liberación de la mujer, de calle Goya a.... First large unauthorized demonstration for the liberation of women, from Goya to Colón Street (Madrid), on January 15, 1976.
- - Otra imagen de la primera gran manifestación no autorizada por la liberación de la mujer,.... Another of the first large unauthorized demonstration for women's liberation, from Goya Street to Colón (Madrid), on January 15, 1976.
- - Doll, sleeping. Simba brand sleeping doll, 1980s-90s vinyl head, arms and legs and cloth body; sleeping eyes; long blonde synthetic hair in ponytail with turquoise hair tie; wearing pink blouse and bloomers and candy stripe sunfrock with cream socks and pink plastic shoes.
- - Kobe Bryant Frobe. Kobe Bryant, nicknamed "Frobe" for his afro hairstyle, with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1999.
- - FEMA - 10698 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-11-2004 in Florida. A week after hurricane Frances, Mark Donohue from the Red Cross delivers water and Meals Ready to Eat (MRE's) in preparation of Hurricane Ivan.
- - Anti-furry protesters near AC 2007. Anti-furry protesters ( /b/tards ) near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in which Anthrocon 2007 was set.
- - Anthrocon 2007 7chan protestors. Members of 7chan protest against Anthrocon 2007 on a street corner opposite the convention. The signs and costumes are a reference to a previous 'raid' on Habbo Hotel.
- - Artistic Braiding by Yessenia. Cornrows (or canerows) are a traditional style of hair grooming where the hair is braided very close to the scalp. Cropped some to remove watermark by Ali'i on 18:23, 13 March 2008 (UTC).
- - Carro centri sociali al Gay Pride di Milano 2008 - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 7-June-2008. Float of the alternative youth centers at the local Gay Pride march in Milan, on June 7 2008. Picture by Giovanni Dall'Orto.
- - Theresa und ich von hinten. New (left) and older dreadlocks by Theresa and me.
- - Artist King Charlton. Picture of King Charlton at a photo shoot with wind blowing his hair.
- - Bloomers shop - geograph.org.uk - 1594838. Bloomers shop. To try and brighten up an otherwise sad looking part of Biddulph High Street, the Biddulph Regeneration Scheme invited local artists to decorate four disused shop fronts- this one is depicting a florists.
- - 2011 May Day in Brno (054). May Day demonstration Brno blokuje (Brno blocks) and V Brně neonacisty nechceme (In Brno we don't want neo-Nazis) against march of Dělnická mládež (Workers' youth) across Cejl in Brno.
- - Brothers - DC Gay Pride Parade 2012 (7171190295). Young African American men march as part of the Obama 2012 contingent in the parade. D.C.'s African American community is particularly homophobic, due to the influence of right-wing so-called "Christians", and being out and proud can be a real sacrifice for some.
- - Black is beautiful - DC Gay Pride Parade 2012 (7171059227). Oh yes, Black is Beautiful! At the Capital Pride parade near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., in the United States on June 9, 2012.
- - The Open Mind - Naomi Wolf on Beauty - A New Trap for Women. Naomi Wolf discusses the argument of The Beauty Myth, published in 1990, that appearance standards intensified as women gained ground in work and public life, and that industries profit from that pressure.
- - María Remedios del Valle © 2013 Mirta Toledo. Of the Invisible Argentinean Afro-descendant Heroes series / Acrylic on Canvas /. Made in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- - Paper Inspiration #136: Society For Rational Dress. Printed material produced by the London society founded in 1881 is examined as design work, its typography and layout carrying a campaign against heavy and constricting clothing.
- - Hairstyles twist. Natural hair twist styles poster board created by Pamela L. Presented to the U.S.
- - The Rational Dress Society // Ep. 07 [EXTRA]. Founded in London in 1881, the Rational Dress Society set limits on the weight of underclothing and campaigned against tight lacing and heavy skirts, publishing its own gazette.
- - Western Engagement during Meiji Restoration. Japan's dealings with Western powers after 1868 reached into dress and grooming, with officials adopting frock coats and cut hair as visible signals of the new order.
- - Womens-March-MadisonWI-Jan212017-26. Participants make their way up State Street to the Wisconsin State Capitol during the Madison WI rally for the Women's March on January 21 2017.
- - Garry Mendes Rodrigues (2018). Garry Mendes Rodrigues with Cornrows in a Galatasaray Jersey during the 2017, 18 Turkish Super League in 2018.
- - Abena, 2019. As part of Black Lunch Table's Art+Feminism photo studio at MoMA, NY.
- - Marcus Seaton Modeling ART? Lightening Crew Neck. Marcus Seaton is a ART? clothing model and in this picture he is modeling on of their shirts.
- - Episode 4 Preview: Elisabet Ney and Women's Dress Reform. The sculptor Elisabet Ney worked in Texas in loose, unstructured clothing of her own making, a public refusal of the corseted dress expected of women in her circles.
- - Episode 4 Preview: Elisabet Ney and Women's Dress Reform. The sculptor Elisabet Ney worked in Texas in loose, unstructured clothing of her own making, a public refusal of the corseted dress expected of women in her circles.
- - The American Costume or Why do We Call Them Bloomers?. Reformers called it the American Costume and their opponents called it something else; the naming dispute opens an account of the garment's design and its short public life.
- - The American Costume or Why do We Call Them Bloomers?. Reformers called it the American Costume and their opponents called it something else; the naming dispute opens an account of the garment's design and its short public life.
- - Rochelle Graham-Campbell. This is Rochelle Graham-Campbell, CEO of Alikay Naturals, with her afro puffs big and prominent.
- - Bankara - Meiji Japan’s Anti-Fashion Movement. Bankara students in Meiji Japan cultivated a deliberately rough appearance, wearing torn uniforms, wooden geta and unkempt hair against the Westernised polish expected of the educated class.
- - Bankara – Meiji Japan’s Anti-Fashion Movement. Bankara students in Meiji Japan cultivated a deliberately rough appearance, wearing torn uniforms, wooden geta and unkempt hair against the Westernised polish expected of the educated class.
- - We need to talk about the obsession with the female body | Maartje Laterveer | TEDxAmsterdamWomen. A conference talk in Amsterdam argues that public attention to women's bodies operates as a system with commercial interests behind it, drawing on the speaker's own reporting.
- - We need to talk about the obsession with the female body | Maartje Laterveer | TEDxAmsterdamWomen. A conference talk in Amsterdam argues that public attention to women's bodies operates as a system with commercial interests behind it, drawing on the speaker's own reporting.
- - The Problems with Body Positivity. Criticisms of body positivity are grouped and examined, including the argument that its language was absorbed by advertising and that body neutrality was proposed as an alternative framing.
- - The Problems with Body Positivity. Criticisms of body positivity are grouped and examined, including the argument that its language was absorbed by advertising and that body neutrality was proposed as an alternative framing.
- - Amelia Bloomer Revolution in Ruffles. Ridicule in cartoons and newspaper columns greeted women who appeared in the trouser costume, and the campaign that Amelia Bloomer led through her paper is set against that reaction.
- - Amelia Bloomer Revolution in Ruffles. Ridicule in cartoons and newspaper columns greeted women who appeared in the trouser costume, and the campaign that Amelia Bloomer led through her paper is set against that reaction.
- - Body Positivity: A critical analysis of a controversial movement. Body positivity's origins in fat-acceptance organising of the 1960s and 1970s are distinguished from its later commercial adoption, with the critiques made from within the movement set out.
- - Body Positivity: A critical analysis of a controversial movement. Body positivity's origins in fat-acceptance organising of the 1960s and 1970s are distinguished from its later commercial adoption, with the critiques made from within the movement set out.
- - Moga - Les Icônes Glamour des Années Folles au Japon : Indépendance, liberté et anti-conformisme. Moga, the modern girls of 1920s Japan, cut their hair short and wore Western dresses in the cafés of Tokyo and Osaka, drawing commentary in the press about independence and conduct.
- - Moga - Les Icônes Glamour des Années Folles au Japon : Indépendance, liberté et anti-conformisme. Moga, the modern girls of 1920s Japan, cut their hair short and wore Western dresses in the cafés of Tokyo and Osaka, drawing commentary in the press about independence and conduct.
- - A display of magazines at the Feminist Library, London. A collection of historical magazines on display in October 2024 in the Feminist Library hall, at the Sojourner Truth centre in Peckham, South London.
- - Dress Reform and Women's Rights: the Intersection of Women's Suffrage, the Bloomer Costume, & the OC. At the Oneida Community in New York, short skirts over trousers were adopted as everyday dress, connecting that experiment to the wider suffrage and dress-reform campaigns of the period.
- - Dress Reform and Women's Rights: the Intersection of Women's Suffrage, the Bloomer Costume, & the OC. At the Oneida Community in New York, short skirts over trousers were adopted as everyday dress, connecting that experiment to the wider suffrage and dress-reform campaigns of the period.
- - The Corset Controversy: Fashion, Power & Pain Through the Ages. Arguments for and against the laced bodice ran through medical journals, women's magazines and reform pamphlets, with the garment defended as respectable and attacked as constricting.
- - The Corset Controversy: Fashion, Power & Pain Through the Ages. Arguments for and against the laced bodice ran through medical journals, women's magazines and reform pamphlets, with the garment defended as respectable and attacked as constricting.
- - Sign against imperialist feminism at women's day demonstration lisbon. Lisbon, Portugal, march 8th 2025: drum player at the Women's Day demonstration carries sign in the back which says "Fuck Imperialist Feminism until total Liberation".
- - Band of Sisters- The Dress Reform Movement in Cortland County. Local records from a county in upstate New York document who joined the dress-reform movement there, what they wore in public, and how neighbours and the press responded.
- - Band of Sisters- The Dress Reform Movement in Cortland County. Local records from a county in upstate New York document who joined the dress-reform movement there, what they wore in public, and how neighbours and the press responded.
- - "Adoption of Western Dress 👗✨ | When Tradition Met Modernity". Governments and elites in several countries pressed Western tailoring onto populations that had dressed differently, and the resulting mix of official pressure and voluntary adoption is outlined.
- - "Adoption of Western Dress 👗✨ | When Tradition Met Modernity". Governments and elites in several countries pressed Western tailoring onto populations that had dressed differently, and the resulting mix of official pressure and voluntary adoption is outlined.
- - Victorian Era Fashion: The Hidden Dangers. Arsenical greens in dress fabrics, flammable crinolines and lead-based face preparations are examined as material hazards documented in the nineteenth-century press and coroners' reports.
- - Victorian Era Fashion: The Hidden Dangers. Arsenical greens in dress fabrics, flammable crinolines and lead-based face preparations are examined as material hazards documented in the nineteenth-century press and coroners' reports.
- - The Kimono Isn’t as Ancient as You Think. What is now worn as kimono took its recognisable modern form comparatively late, and the garment's standardisation is traced against the older robes it is assumed to descend from.
- - The Kimono Isn’t as Ancient as You Think. What is now worn as kimono took its recognisable modern form comparatively late, and the garment's standardisation is traced against the older robes it is assumed to descend from.
- - Amelia Bloomer: The Woman Who Made It Acceptable for Women to Wear Pants | Unheralded | 1850s. Amelia Bloomer publicised the trouser costume in her temperance newspaper The Lily from 1851, and her name attached to a garment she had not designed.
- - Amelia Bloomer: The Woman Who Made It Acceptable for Women to Wear Pants | Unheralded | 1850s. Amelia Bloomer publicised the trouser costume in her temperance newspaper The Lily from 1851, and her name attached to a garment she had not designed.
- - From Regency to Victorian: The Fashion Revolution That Started With a New Queen. Between the high-waisted Regency line and the full-skirted crinoline of the 1850s, British dress changed shape substantially, a shift dated to the early years of Victoria's reign.
- - From Regency to Victorian: The Fashion Revolution That Started With a New Queen. Between the high-waisted Regency line and the full-skirted crinoline of the 1850s, British dress changed shape substantially, a shift dated to the early years of Victoria's reign.
- - Why Japanese Clothing Culture Is Genius. Proportion, layering and the relationship between garment and body in Japanese clothing are compared with Western tailoring conventions built around a fitted silhouette.
- - Why Japanese Clothing Culture Is Genius. Proportion, layering and the relationship between garment and body in Japanese clothing are compared with Western tailoring conventions built around a fitted silhouette.
- - Getting to Know Japan: From Kimono to Street Style: The Global Story of Japanese Fashion. Kimono, wartime austerity dress, postwar tailoring and Harajuku street styles are followed as one continuous line in how Japanese clothing reached international audiences.
- - Getting to Know Japan: From Kimono to Street Style: The Global Story of Japanese Fashion. Kimono, wartime austerity dress, postwar tailoring and Harajuku street styles are followed as one continuous line in how Japanese clothing reached international audiences.
- - Bloomers: The Garment That Challenged Society. Full trousers gathered at the ankle, worn beneath a shortened skirt, drew sustained ridicule in the 1850s press and became shorthand for women claiming public freedoms.
- - Bloomers: The Garment That Challenged Society. Full trousers gathered at the ankle, worn beneath a shortened skirt, drew sustained ridicule in the 1850s press and became shorthand for women claiming public freedoms.
- - Why 19th-Century Women Wore Padded Bustles | The Bizarre History of Victorian Fashion | video 2026 . Wire frames, horsehair pads and tapes produced the projecting rear silhouette of the 1870s and 1880s, a shape supported beneath the skirt and abandoned within two decades.
- - Why 19th-Century Women Wore Padded Bustles | The Bizarre History of Victorian Fashion | video 2026 . Wire frames, horsehair pads and tapes produced the projecting rear silhouette of the 1870s and 1880s, a shape supported beneath the skirt and abandoned within two decades.
- - Why Were Victorian Women So OBSESSED With Tiny Waists. A small waist signalled status and leisure in nineteenth-century Europe, maintained through laced stays, skirt supports and the dressmaking that emphasised the contrast.
- - Why Were Victorian Women So OBSESSED With Tiny Waists. A small waist signalled status and leisure in nineteenth-century Europe, maintained through laced stays, skirt supports and the dressmaking that emphasised the contrast.