Editing Crinoline (section)

===1850s–60s===
The cage crinoline made out of [[spring steel]] wire was first introduced in the 1850s, with the earliest British patent for a metal crinoline (described as a "skeleton petticoat of steel springs fastened to tape") granted in July 1856.<ref name=alison45>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dg7DAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 Gernsheim], p. 45</ref><ref name=breward>[https://books.google.com/books?id=MpEwlPqTwnAC&pg=PA157 Breward, pp. 157–160]</ref> Alison Gernsheim suggests that the unidentified French inventor was probably R. C. Milliet of [[Besançon]], as the July 1856 patent was filed by their British agent, C. Amet.<ref name=alison45/> Milliet had already patented a {{lang|fr|'tournure de femme'}} in Paris on 24 April 1856 which was described as comprising "elastic extensible circles joined together by vertical bands."<ref name=alison45/> Following its introduction, the women's rights advocate [[Amelia Bloomer]] felt that her concerns about the hampering nature of multiple petticoats had been resolved, and dropped dress reform as an issue.<ref name=dalleva>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EFI7tr9XK6EC&pg=PA243 D'Alleva], p. 243</ref> Diana de Marly, in her biography of the couturier [[Charles Frederick Worth]], noted that by 1858 there existed steel factories catering solely to crinoline manufacturers, and shops that sold nothing else but crinolines.<ref>de Marly, p. 76</ref> One of the most significant manufacturers of crinolines was that of Thomson & Co., founded by an American with branches across Europe and the United States. At the height of their success, up to four thousand crinolines were produced by Thomson's London factory in a day, whilst another plant in [[Saxony]] manufactured 9.5 million crinolines over a twelve-year period.<ref name=alison46>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dg7DAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 Gernsheim], p. 46</ref> In 1859, the New York factory, which employed about a thousand girls, used {{convert|300000|yard}} of steel wire every week to produce between three and four thousand crinolines per day, while the rival Douglas & Sherwood factory in [[Manhattan]] used one ton of steel each week in manufacturing hoop skirts.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bxcL8PmV_ZwC&pg=PA45 Wosk], p. 45.</ref>

[[File:Dressing for the Ball in 1857, Punch's Pocket Book (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Inflatable crinoline. 1857 caricature by [[John Leech (caricaturist)|John Leech]] for ''Punch's Pocket Book'']]
The crinoline needed to be rigid enough to support the skirts in their accustomed shape, but also flexible enough to be temporarily pressed out of shape and spring back afterwards.<ref name=vam/> Other materials used for crinolines included [[whalebone]], [[gutta-percha]], and [[vulcanised]] [[caoutchouc]] (natural rubber).<ref name=whales>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KX5RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA537 ''Crinoline and Whales''], Dublin University Magazine, pp. 537–538</ref> The idea of inflatable hoops was short-lived as they were easily punctured, prone to collapse, and due to the use of brimstone in the manufacture of rubber, they smelled unpleasant.<ref name=whales/> Although hard rubber hoops of gutta-percha worked satisfactorily at first, they were brittle and easily crushed without recovering their form.<ref name=whales/> Despite objections that the sharp points of snapped steels were hazardous,<ref name=whales/> lightweight steel was clearly the most successful option.<ref name=vam/> It reduced the number of petticoats and their weight, and offered increased freedom of movement of the legs.<ref name=vam/> However, hasty or careless movements in a hoop skirt could lead to accidentally revealing more than intended.<ref name=vam/> An advertisement published in ''The Lady's Newspaper'' in 1863 for a cage crinoline with waved hoops attempted to reassure the potential customer that while wearing it, activities such as climbing stairs, passing to her theatre seat, dropping into armchairs, and leaning against furniture would be possible without hindrance either to herself or to others around her.<ref>''The Lady's Newspaper'', 1863, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170214234431/http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/corsets-and-crinolines-in-victorian-fashion/ cited by Johnston]</ref>

[[File:Crinoline joke photograph sequence 04.jpg|thumb|Comic photograph, {{c.|1860}}]]
Despite some claims, such as that by the historian Max von Boehm, that the largest crinolines measured up to {{convert|10|yard|ft}} around, the photo-historian Alison Gernsheim concluded that the maximum realistic circumference was in fact between {{convert|5.5–6|yard}}.<ref name=alison47>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dg7DAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 Gernsheim], p. 47</ref> Whilst a loosely gathered skirt draped over a large hoop would certainly require a higher yardage, Gernsheim noted that {{convert|10|yard}} hems were highly improbable.<ref name=alison48>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dg7DAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 Gernsheim], p. 48</ref> Staged photographs showing women wearing exaggeratedly large crinolines were quite popular, such as a widely published sequence of five [[stereoscope]] views showing a woman dressing with the assistance of several maids who require long poles to lift her dress over her head and other ingenious means of navigating her enormous hoopskirt.<ref name=gins45>Ginsburg, p. 45</ref> Such photographs, which re-enacted contemporary caricatures rather than accurately reflecting reality, were aimed towards the [[voyeur]]'s market.<ref name=gins45/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Zeller |first1=Bob |title=The blue and gray in black and white: a history of Civil War photography |date=2005 |publisher=Praeger |location=Westport, Conn. [u.a.]|isbn=9780275982430|page=156|edition=1. publ.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMUfEait_9AC&pg=PA156}}</ref> However, it was a fact that the size of the crinoline often caused difficulties in passing through doors, boarding carriages and generally moving about. By the late 1860s many crinolines were of a significantly reduced size, as noted by a [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] curator observing the sizes of cage crinolines in the museum's collection.<ref name=crinolettes/>

[[File:Crinolettes 1872-75.jpg|thumb|left|Two English crinolettes, 1872–75 (LACMA)]]