Was Victorian Fashion Deadly? Doubtful.

Ok, so this started out as just a rabbit hole for me, and then, in typical fashion, it's spiraled out of control and became a video. So please enjoy this ridiculous deep dive into the history myth of crinoline fires, and the really sad story of how Oscar Wilde's half-sisters (Mary & Emily) died from a tragic fire accident at a Halloween Party in 1871...

Sources:

Historic newspapers and periodicals from various databases via ProQuest, Gale, and Accessible Archives.

🥳Socials

Join this channel to get access to perks:

📚My books:

(This email goes directly to my management and not to me.)

📪 Abby Cox
642 N. Madison Street
Bloomington, IN 47404

[kathrynoftheshires]

I remember reading an article years ago about how many people are injured because they fall over while putting on trousers, strangely no one is suggesting trousers are far too treacherous to wear.

[RiaRaynedrops]

I love that Bernadette is just bundled up in the dark near the end. lol She's your Historical Costuming shadow lady, haha

[emily]

"She had to be helped down the steps because she couldn't see where her feet."
Yeah, uh, tell me you don't have a large bust without telling me you don't have a large bust.

[jirup]

The "Villain" (if there is one) is more likely to be the practice of weighting silks with tin salts, increasing the combustion risk of women's gowns, rather than any underpinning garments. The celebration, alcohol consumption, time of the night and extra fire hazards created a perfect storm scenario. Rest easy Mary and Emily, you have not been forgotten.

[Cheezbuckets]

Evidence number 1 for me that it wasn’t “the crinoline’s fault”: there were no fires *during* the party when an unknown number (definitely larger than 2) of women who would have been wearing the same style of dress were in the same room with the same amount of open flame, but only occurred after when the room was certainly far more empty with only two women in such dress. It’s not like their crinolines waited for the party to die down so they could run into the fire when no one was looking.

[sianthesheep]

I love the idea that all these supposedly prim and proper Victorian young ladies were getting absolutely smashed on punch at parties in a way that would put first year college students to shame! Also love the fact that the crinoline got the blame for their deaths not the HIGHLY FLAMMABLE silk that their dresses and would have been made from - kinda missed the obvious there guys!

[emmarichardson]

"Your great-great Aunt Mildred's punch would make you see colors beyond what biology says is possible." 😂😂 I'm dead. That line just killed me. 😂😂

[AJansenNL]

I have no doubt that men's coat tails sometimes caught fire too. Accidents happen, to any gender.

[nancyreid]

I recall grocery shopping with a roommate once, and upon seeing no crumpets where they used to be, cried, “oh, no crumpets! Whatever shall we do?” Another woman who was passing by just lost it, and turned to me to ask, “did you just say ‘whatever shall we do?’ You have just made my day.” I love that phrase, so beautifully dated.

[patmanchester]

the cranoline kept men from encroaching upon the personal space of women ( who were only there to please men) I think that was a huge reason why men hated the fashion.

[eliscanfield]

pff, lots of people go down stairs every day without seeing their feet. Stepping on your hems is way more of a problem then learning how to see with your feet

[sinswept]

Me: 37, can't draft a pattern to save my life
6 yo: Come, I will show you my studio where I design the latest fashion from naught but metal refuse and burlap

[stitchinghistory]

Maybe it's my overactive crime-writing brain, but I am suspicious. Two young women, probably drunk, stay back after a party, apparently without chaperones and only males present, and skirts catching fire and rolling them down stairs is the best story the guys can come up with? Hhmmmm.

[LadyBirdieBop]

I love how this video went from Myth Busting to full-on Detective Abby sorting it all out Atticus Finch-style.

[flyingpigfarm]

I used to do historical reenacting when my son was small - he’s 30 now - and while we traipsing around in the mud and dirt sleeping in tents and cooking over open fires, I ALWAYS wore something I made from wool. I even wore light wool petticoats due to fire paranoia. My Apron was voluminous and also made from wool. I grew up cooking on a wood stove and I was well-versed in fire safety. My son was similarly decked out in fine wool fashion (cuz when they’re little you can dress them up like your own personal Ken doll!) and I watched him like a hawk. At night I would make little bags from wool scrap and throw fire bricks into the fire, pull them out when they were good and hot and put them in the wool bags and trundle them around selling them to other reenactors to keep their feet warm in bed. I made a killing - thank you, BaaBaa Blacksheep!

[helenfreeman]

How did I recognize Bernadette’s couch before I recognized Bernadette herself?

[thomasdamours]

my grandmother once told me the story of a neighbour girl of hers during childhood who had died from catching fire in her nightgown. I think she was maybe 10, and she dropped a candle on herself at night. She did get out of the house, ran around on the lawn, and her brother tried to put her out, but she died of her injuries. It very much affected my grandmother at the time. This would have been in rural Canada in the 1950s. So, it's not like crinolines are in any way required for this kind of incident to occur. Any generally flammable clothing is enough, really. Add drunkenness, and this kind of incident does sound very plausible.

[waterdragon]

The video call it a "dumb way to die" is so disgusting. Two young women burned to death. Gross, great video

[originofclothing]

I need a history show where everything is presented with this style of story telling imagery

[wanderingspark]

I think weighted silk must also have been a factor in some of these alleged crinoline fire deaths. Pure silk, like wool, is naturally fire resistant, but the type of weighted silk that was used in the second half of the 19th c was apparently pretty flammable. Nicole Rudolph did a video on this.

Also, A 6 year old girl supplied with tin cans, a hatchet, and some muslin succeeded in making a garment that adults with all of the correct supplies and years of sewing experience struggle with. Sure Jan.