Promenade dress

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the 1860s, dress swelled in volume, but like the dresses we most associate with Scarlett O'Hara, their grand circumferences were supported by crinolines or hoops, allowing some air to circulate below. In fact, some caricatures rendered the new forms almost like unstable parachutes. As seen in Impressionist paintings, like French dresses were worn outdoors in parks and for summer promenades. Women could hardly sprint, but there was a modicum of buoyancy.

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