scribed in Peterson's Magarjne. are sewn to a linen band 

 with linen suspenders attached. The unfitted, un- 

 shaped skirt (8 ft. 8 in. in circumference) is pulled in 

 at the waist by a belt attached to the center back. A 

 similar technique for forming a waistline is described 

 in 77;? Jt'orkwoman's Guide of 1840. 



Women's magazines in the United States from the 

 third quarter of the 19th century show illustrations of 

 bathing costume, but in many instances these publi- 

 cations used European fashion plates. Harper's Bazar, 

 (spelled thus until 1929) particularly in its early years, 

 used fashion plates and pattern supplements from its 

 German predecessor Der Bayir. Thus, in one issue 

 one can find a fashion plate showing the predominantly 

 bifurcated European bathing suit and, in a column on 

 New York fashions, a separate description of long- 

 skirted bathing dresses with trousers. During the same 

 period Peterson's Magarjne had illustrations previously 

 used in the London publication, Qiieen's Alagazine. 



American women seem to ha\e accepted the ma- 

 jority of styles shown in European fashion plates, 

 except for the skirtless bathing suits. The writer of an 

 1868 column on New York fashions sought to convince 

 his readers to try the more daring European style 

 although he grudgingly admitted that the "Bathing 

 suits made with trousers and blouse waist without 

 skirt are objected to by many ladies as masculine and 

 fast. . . ." ^^ This style was in fact, very similar to 

 the costume worn by men when they bathed with the 

 ladies. A year later, the writer of the same fashion 

 column had gi\en up the campaign to dress all women 

 in the skirtless suits and admitted that these imports 

 ". . . are worn by e.xpert swimmers, who do not 

 wish to be encumbered with bulk)- clothing." '' Such 

 practical bathing dress was thus limited to a \ery 

 small number of progressive women. 



The inajority, consisting of those who were strictly 

 bathers, wore the ankle-length drawers beneath a 

 long dress as described or illustrated in the majority 

 of sources that originated in the United States. Why 

 was the European bathing suit not fully adopted by 

 American women? Differences between the bathing 

 customs of the two continents tmdoubtedly encouraged 

 the development of different dress. While men and 

 women in the United States bathed together freely 

 at the seashore during the latter half of the 19th 



century, this practice was not widelv accepted in 

 England until the early 1900s. In the presence of men, 

 American women probably felt compelled to retain 

 their more concealing dress and drawers. 



In England swimming seems to have been more 

 popular among women than it was in the United 

 States. While encouraging its readers to swim, during 

 the late 1860s, Qjieen's Magazine used forceful language 

 of a kind that was not foimd in American publications 

 until the late 19th century. If swimming was more 

 acceptable as a feminine exercise in England it is 

 understandable why English women were more 

 recepti\-e to a functional, skirtless bathing suit — 

 especially since it was worn only in the presence of 

 other women. 



In 1858, Winshjw Homer, who was later tcj become 

 a well-known American painter, was welcomed 

 into the society at Newport until it became apparent 

 that he wanted to sketch the bathers for a weekly 

 newspaper (see fig. 4). So great were the ensuing 

 objections that he was permitted to complete his 

 sketches ". . . provided he depicted the bathers 

 only in the water and only above the waistline and 

 without divulging the identity of the bathers." "^ 



As can be seen in figure 4, these sketches serve more 

 as a testament of Homer's fancy than as an acciu-ate 

 historical statement on style. The two feminine 

 legs exposed in the water from just below the knee 

 to the toe and the feminine head coverings appear 

 to be anachronisms, .'\ccording to se\'eral other 

 illustrations of the period, these women were un- 

 doubtedly wearing long drawers. The young artist 

 at 22, howexcr, has been described as having an eye 

 for feminine beaiUy and a sense of fashion. He seems 

 to have exploited to the full the decorative possibilities 

 of hoop skirts blown by the breeze or agitated by sonie 

 pretty accident to discreetly reveal a trim ankle. 

 A drama of breeze versus long skirt appears with the 

 small feminine figure in the left background of this 

 print. The force of the waves and the motion of the 

 frolicking bathers gave the artist opportunity to show 

 two more pretty accidents. The only head covering 

 he showed for feminine bathers was a ruffled cap that 

 framed the face. Other sources show Newport bathers 

 wearing the less attractive wide-brimmed straw hat 

 (fig. 9). The straw headgear worn over these caps 

 seems more likely since Newport's fashionable belles 



3fi "New York Fashions," Harpers Bazar (August 8, 1868), vol. 



I, no. 41, p. 643. ss B. Brooke, "Bathing-dress with Hat and Gloves," Hnhhifs 



^' Ibid. Ouly 10. 1869), vol. 2, no. 28, p. 435. (August 1958), vol. 63, p. 90. 



BULLETIN 250 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



