E.W. Godwin’s comment on fashion design points to the main concerns of the dress reformers of the late nineteenth century, a time when fashion designers attempted to construct and decorate the female body in such a way which would meet the requirements of both fashion and a sensible lifestyle. Godwin’s analogy of dress being a necessity on a par with shelter is appropriate.
The existing fashions of the day may be seen as blatant architectural forms, whether it be the dome-like shape resulting from the crinolines in the 1860s or the half bustle of the nineties. Each constitutes a geometrical construction through which designers not only attempted to articulate their artistic beliefs but to also sell their product. The momentum gained by the Dress Reform Society and the International Health Exhibition of the 1881 highlighted the issue of healthy dress. The reforms suggested by them may be examined in terms of economy and utility and, at times, even simplicity.
The state of conventional contemporary fashion explains why such reforms were necessary. From the 1860s to the 1870s most women wore the crinoline consisting primarily of loops of whalebone or steel worn under the dress - replacing the many layers of petticoats previously worn. The crinoline was at its widest in the early 60s; by 1865, it had begun to shrink. Many women stopped wearing them after 1867, returning to the use of petticoats, pads and tightly laced corsets as a substitute.
The wide skirts were bunched up at the sides as well as behind by the end of the decade, hinting at the skirts and bustles of the seventies. The dress bodice became moulded to the figure and the neck remained high and had long, wide sleeves low at the shoulder line; epaulettes also remained popular. Cunnington points out that as "quietness and stillness" in women were admirable tributes, "low cut sleeves made grand sweeping arm movements rather difficult."
The differences in the women’s fashions of the 1870s was primarily in the shape of the dress which became much more close fitting to the body than in the era of the crinoline. The skirts became draped and moulded and were heavily trimmed in an attempt to imitate an overskirt which was bundled up with a crinolette or a half crinoline. The bodice remained simple in shape and epaulettes were less featured; the neckline became more varied, low or high cut and sometimes vee or square shaped.
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