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n Do you remember the advice by Lord Bertram Cranworthnto those intending to settle in British East Africa I quoted the other day,nhere? He wrote,
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n“Bear in mind and act on the old maxim: Keep thenspirits up, the bowels open, and wear flannel next the skin.”n
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nAsnwith almost every opinion that one person has, there will be someone else whonfavours the exact opposite idea. And so it goes. Here is the advice given bynthe German Gustav Jäger,
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n“The air under the clothing can circulatenoutwards and upwards more freely than when a flannel under-vest is worn, as notnonly are the open spaces of the network much greater than the interstices ofnthe flannel, but they are also too large to become blocked by the excretionsnfrom the skin.”n
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| Gustave Jäger |
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nSo, says Gustav, don’t wear flannel next to thenskin. It’s not good for you. Jäger was an advocate of the Rational Dressnmovement. He wrote Health Culture in 1878, which was translated in tonEnglish by Lewis Tomalin, who also, in 1884, opened an emporium selling DrnJaeger’s Sanitary Woollen System, (the brand, although passing throughnvarious incarnations, exists to this day as Jaeger).
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| Gustave Jäger – Health Culture – Rev. Ed. 1907 |
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nIn his book Jägernadvanced his theory that clothes made from animal fibres were much morenadvantageous to the general health of the body, and those made from plant ornartificial fibres were deleterious to health. Jäger devised what he called hisnSanitary Woollen System, which was based on the theory that animals are coverednin animal fibres, whereas only mankind has devised clothing made from plantnfibres, making this an unnatural practice.
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n“Nature has clothed the animals. Man clothesnhimself.n
nAnimal Wool, which nature has created to cover annanimal body, is the “survival of the fittest” clothing-material.”n
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| Jager’s Pure Camelhair Sleeping Bag |
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nHenthought that clothes made from animal wool allowed the body to breathe morenefficiently, that perspiration passed freely through the woollen fibres muchnmore efficiently, and any air trapped in the fibres warmed the body better.nVegetable fibres (cotton, linen etc) trapped malodorous air next to the skin, preventednexhalation, held moisture and suffocated the skin. Illness inevitably followed.nJäger proposed that layers of clothing, all made from animal wool, were a muchnhealthier alternative. Underclothing should be made from sheep wool stockinet,
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n“Itnis also more supple than flannel, and therefore more durable, and is morenagreeable to the skin, as it does not become knotty, while it is much lessnliable to shrink.”n
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nHenfashioned a combination undergarment, which was a vest and drawers togethern(what today, we call Long Johns), which became extremely popular in the latenVictorian period, and were worn worldwide. They are still available today,nalthough it is not quite as common as it once was to sew oneself in for thenwinter.
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| Advert for The Union Underflannel |
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nJäger’s view was that it all came down to the free flow of air. Henwrote that bedroom windows should be kept open all year round, to allownventilation, and beds should be covered by layers of woollen blankets, whichncould be removed or added to, depending on the time of the year. He was opposednto tight boots, which suffocated the feet, and was not keen on corsets,nalthough he felt it was the materials from which they were made that caused thenproblems, rather than the tight lacing favoured by the fashions of the day.
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| Advert for The Emancipation Waist |
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nInnthis point, he differed from other commentators, who pointed to tight lacingsnas the cause of many of the problems in female health. Arguments againstnfashion said that the tight lacing of the waist, with too little above it andnfar too much below, was injuring women, by deforming their internal organs,nrestricting breathing and forcing them to carry great weights of heavy clothnhanging from their hips.
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| Bustle and Voluminous Skirt |
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nSome women were said to wear as many as seven doublenlayers of skirts, giving them fourteen layers of cloth wrapped around theirnhips, which were soaked and mired in wet weather, adding to the weight, andntrapping air beneath them, whilst light blouses and shawls kept the chestncolder, giving great differences in temperature on the body.
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| Advert for corded waist garments |
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nReforms werencalled for, providing clothes that could be healthier whilst maintainingnpropriety and female modesty. Early attempts were popularised by Amelia JenksnBloomer, but these were largely ridiculed and never really caught on. ElizabethnMiller of New York invented the long, baggy Bloomers with cuffs about thenankles, but Mrs Bloomer wore them in the 1850s and her name became attached tonthem.
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| Punch – Bloomerism – An American Custom |
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nPunch was still ridiculing Bloomers fifty years later, and itnseems likely that the use of ‘bloomer’ meaning a mistake or error stemsnfrom the ‘mistake’ of wearing the garment.
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| Punch – A Modern Waist |
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nThenconstriction of the waist in whalebone corsets reached ridiculous proportions –nit was said that the waists of some women could be encircled by the fingers andnthumbs of a man’s hand (not that such a thing was to be encouraged), andnEmancipation Bodices were developed, which were buttoned about the entire torsonand from which the various skirts and petticoats could be hung, reducing thenpressure on the waist and hips.
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| Advert for The Emancipation Suit |
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nJäger invented his own Emancipation Bodice,nmade entirely from wool and stiffened with cords, although they were so popularnmany manufacturers produced versions of their own. In 1881, the Rational DressnSociety was founded in London, and its members were quick to realise that itnwas not only in matters of fashion were reforms needed (and possible). Thenquestion of female emancipation was not new (Mary Shelley’s mother, MarynWollstonecraft, had published her The Vindications of the Rights of Womennin 1792), but dress reform was integral to the achievement of women’s suffrage.
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| Abba Goold Woolson – Dress Reform – 1874 |
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nOne surprising aspect came with the development of the bicycle. As thenVictorian fad for bicycling grew and grew, it was only natural that womennwished to participate, particularly as the health-giving properties of thenfashion were widely proclaimed. Obviously, the crinolines, bustles and longnskirts of high Victorian fashion were entirely impractical for cycling, and onenchange was the divided skirt, championed by the President of the Rational DressnSociety, Lady Harberton, which was also called the ‘dual garmenture’. Prettynsoon, a fashion for cycling suits was born – as witnessed in this cartoon from Punch,nwith the caption,
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n“Gertrude.n”My dear Jessie, what on earth is that bicycle suit for! “?n
nJessie.n”Why, to wear, of course.”n
nGertrude.n”But you haven’t got a bicycle!’n
nJessie.n“No; but I’ve got a sewing machine!”n
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| Punch – 1895 |
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nBicyclesnwere especially popular among the growing lower middle class, those respectablenyoung men from the offices and shops. They could not afford the new automobilesnbut they could afford bikes, and on the new ‘day off’ at the weekends, theyncould use them to get out of the towns and into the countryside. Physicalnmobility became an aspect of social mobility. And wives, sisters and daughtersnwanted part of the action.
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| Bicycling Cartoon – Punch 1895 |
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nSome of the conservative critics looked down theirnnoses but who could really object if propriety was properly observed – all thatnwas needed was a chaperone. Cycling clubs and touring societies were foundednand remain just as popular – one of my great pleasures is to take a spin aroundnthe back lanes of Lancashire on a sunny day. Thanks to the success of thenBritish cycling teams in the 2012 Olympics, it is now one of the fastestngrowing and most popular leisure pursuits in the country.
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| I want a combined napkin ring and holder! |
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