Just as Thomas Crapper did not actually invent the flush toilet (that honor belongs to Alexander Cummings), Amelia Bloomer did not actually invent bloomers. But, like Crapper, Bloomer’s name became highly associated with what was wrongly attributed to her – and for good reason.

Bloomer believed women should feel comfortable in their clothes (how radical..sigh). As the first woman to own and edit a newspaper, she wrote in her bi-weekly publication The Lily (definitely not The Shrinking Violet) that the “costume of women should be suited to their needs and necessities.”

So, when Elizabeth (Libby) Smith Miller (a lesser-known hussy from history) started wearing the loose fitting, yet-to-be-named trousers in 1851, the media picked up on the new fashion trend and dubbed the style bloomers after the free thinking, women rights promoting Amelia Bloomer.

By the way, Bloomer introduced two famous hussies of history to each other -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton (a suffragette, known for daring to write "all men and women are created equal") and women’s rights activist Susan B Anthony. As soon as Stanton saw bloomers on her cousin Libby Miller, she was all in on the style. She showed Amelia Bloomer the comfy trousers gathered at the ankles and - no surprise - Amelia was soon promoting the new look in her writings.

Bloomers then spread throughout the Suffragist movement and elsewhere. And for good reason -- it was easier for the Suffragists (they were not called Suffragettes until 1906, a term that was intended to be derogatory) to march in bloomer trousers than in voluminous dresses and corsets.

The fashion caught on like wildfire in the 1850s among the newly liberated women of the day. But women wearing the bloomers were frequently ridiculed in the press and throughout society. Bottom line: the bloomer wearing hussies caused massive hissy fits of national outrage!

I have heard for years that Bloomers were scandalous, but I always assumed that was because bloomers were considered immodest, showing ankles or something. Looking at the pictures of women marching in bloomers, however, it’s hard to believe they were ever accused of being immodest, even in the 1850s.

Guess what? They weren’t. Immodesty was NOT the issue.

The real reason bloomers were so maligned? It was simply the fact that they gave women freedom of movement! The main criticism of bloomers is not that they showed skin, but that they allowed women to walk about as easily as men!

Rev. John Todd (who was clearly NOT a huss-he) was a best-selling author of the day. The not quite” right” Reverend wrote:

Some have tried to become semi-men by putting on the Bloomer dress. Let me tell you in a word why it can never be done. It is this: woman, robed and folded in her long dress, is beautiful. She walks gracefully…If she attempts to run, the charm is gone…Take off the robes, and put on pants, and show the limbs, and grace and mystery are all gone.

The problem for this preacher seems to be that women could possibly run instead of struggle to walk in the cumbersome attire of the day. In fact, other notables during that time said women in bloomers walked in an unladylike manner. (Excuse me, but I will walk or STRUT anyway I damn well please and I’m proud the bloomer wearers did, too!)

The point of all of this, darlings, is to be yourself, non-hussies be damned! You do you, and you wear you! The next time someone criticizes what you are wearing, remember your foremothers and strut your stuff!

Post Script: The Suffragists may have been the first example of American women casting off corsets for comfort, but this true tale would not be complete without a nod to Coco Chanel, another famous Hussy of History. Thanks to her, corsets were cast into the dustbin of history for good! Stay tuned for more about Chanel soon!