on the back of the head. Beginnings of dress reform 1851 marked the birth of the Victorian dress reform movement, when New England temperance activist Libby Miller adopted what she considered a more rational costume: loose trousers gathered at the ankles, topped by a short dress or skirt hemmed just below the knees. The style was promoted by editor Amelia Bloomer and was immediately christened a Bloomer suit by the press. Despite its practicality, the Bloomer suit was the subject of much ridicule in the press and had little impact on mainstream fashion. Style gallery 1850–1854 The Bloomer suit, a short dress worn over full trousers gathered at the ankle, briefly adopted by dress reformers in the United States in the 1850s. Male outdoors attire and female riding-habit of 1850 (New York). 1851 Parisian fashion plate shows the fashionable use of fabrics printed â la disposition (with border-prints) on skirt flounces and for bodices and sleeves. Madame Moitessier wears a black off-the-shoulder gown with ruffles. She wears a brooch and bracelets on both wrists. France, 1851. Mrs. Coventry Patmore wears a small fancy-work collar and a ribbon at her throat. Her thick, wavy hair is parted in the center and poufed over her ears, 1851. Matilde Juva-Branca wears a dark morning dress with a lace blouse or chemisette and cuffs and short leather gloves. Her hair is parted and worn in long sausage curls, 1851. Doña Josefa García Solis wears a simple green satin dress with laced short sleeves over a linen chemise or chemisette. Her lace cap is trimmed with rose-colored tassels and ribbons, and she carries an elaborate fan, 1852. Anna Henriette Stelzner wears a low cut lace trimmed silk dress with an elaborated bow ornament, 1852. Doña Amalie de Llano y Dotres, Condesa de Vilches wears a bright blue dress with a tiered skirt. The long pointed bodice is trimmed with horizontal bands of ruching over a chemise or chemisette (or an underlayer styled to look like a chemise), 1853. A reform corset from Madame Caplin. This corset was adjusted to the body, not to the dress as before. African American woman with Afro-textured hair. Style gallery 1855–1859 A white muslin dress with tiered flounces from . A plaid silk tafetta dress from . A cotton afternoon dress from . Empress Eugenie and her Ladies in Waiting wear formal dress (despite the outdoor setting). The hair styled