A history of women’s trousers

Today we have a history lesson dedicated to a brave woman from the past who chose to be the first to wear pants.

Elizabeth Smith Miller is often considered the first woman to wear pants in a progressive and modern way.

Her goal in the 1800s was to help women in America gain the right to vote.

She also helped slaves seeking freedom – her home was a stop for them on the Underground Railroad.

Miller reportedly created the Turkish-style trousers one day in 1851 while working in the garden.

These trousers were long trousers that tapered at the ankle and were worn under skirts.

These first trousers were designed to allow women more freedom of movement, while still maintaining the modesty expected of clothing.

After Miller debuted this style, she shared it with her cousin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton who then shared the style with her neighbor, Amelia Bloomer.

However, they were highly criticized in the mainstream media. Most of the women who wore these models were active in the women’s rights movement.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton perhaps best summed up the meaning of women wearing pants when she said, “It’s not about how you look, but a woman, how you feel.”

Another woman who publicly advocated dress reform was Mary Edwards Walker, an abolitionist and Civil War surgeon.

Walker, who wore trousers while working in a military hospital, wrote in 1871 that women’s dress should “protect the person and allow freedom of movement and circulation, not enslave the wearer.”

Walker openly wore men’s pants and was arrested several times for wearing men’s clothing. Her first arrest was in 1866, and her last arrest was in 1913, in Chicago, at the age of 80.

Today, the question isn’t “Do you wear pants?” but rather, “‘Do you wear 3/4 pants?'”