Bustle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The crinolettes that supported the bustled skirts of the 1870s and 1880s took on a more cylindrical form than their predecessors of the 1860s, with a flattened front and increased emphasis over the buttocks. Although they were conceived purely as mechanisms to achieve an aesthetic effect, crinolettes also responded to practical considerations. Some, like the Lobster-Pot crinolette, were designed, like winter petticoats of the period, to keep the wearer warm. This example was constructed of medium-weight wool and sports a button-on hem ruffle.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art