Bustle
1888
Wire mesh and cotton twill tape
Museum purchase
Object numberP88.65.4
The silhouette of the 1880s was created with corsetry and “dress improvers” such as this wire-mesh bustle. Structured foundation garments exaggerated the sexually-dimorphic curves of the female body. But the bustle was not simply the cul de Paris. It was also a deliberate revival of the “bum rolls” and “half-farthingales” of the Baroque era, just as the crinoline recalled the hoop skirts and paniers of the 18th century. Colorful undergarments, such as this red corset, were ultra-fashionable in the 1880s, and even somewhat controversial. Only a decade earlier, the style had been associated with “the aristocracy of vice.”
DescriptionThe Daisy bustle: double crescent tube of wire net, cotton tape ends and buckled waistband; patentedCollections
Exhibitions