Bustle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

During the revival of the bustle, from 1883 to the end of the decade, women wore skirt supports to mold their dresses into the desired shape of the period - small, waisted, flat at front with the skirts swept over a pronounced bustle at the back. The bustle was so large it sometimes sat at a right angle from the wearer's body. This example of a bustle would be worn over the chemise, corset and drawers, with an additional petticoat worn on top to lessen the chances that the hoops might show through the dress fabric. It is interesting to see the sculptural undergarments required to accomplish the shape of the extreme bustle of the 1880s.

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