Arsenic dresses, sharp collars and other fashionable tricks from the past, which today are injected into a stupor

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Weird garments from the past are a wonderful lesson and experience for modern designers. People of that time went to the real frenzy to emphasize their status in society. They did not mind breaking their necks, putting on high platform shoes, who did not know what balance was, they agreed to the most rigid binding and fixation, which negatively affected the bones and skin just for the sake of the latest fashion trends. And the more there was an exaggeration to one degree or another, the more fashionable and the more desirable was a piece of clothing for a person.

1. Lotus shoes

Such shoes were usually worn by Chinese girls who had their feet bandaged. In China, the very painful and dangerous process of breaking legs to create tiny feet was considered commonplace, since they were considered more beautiful and increased a girl's chances of getting married. The leg was tightly bandaged and often could not grow normally, which subsequently led to the destruction of the bone structure, bending of the toes to the foot and their fusion. The whole process took about three years, while the women's legs subsequently remained tiny for life.

Women with wrapped legs wore such lotus shoes, which were either a scabbard or a cone, which vaguely resembled a lotus flower, hence the name. Shoes made from silk or cotton were often additionally decorated with flowers, animals, and other embroidered designs. Note that for all the time in Asia, no attempts were made to ban such a painful practice, which, in general, did not bring any positive results. Therefore, it was only in 1912 that the local government issued a decree banning leg bandaging.

2. Arsenic dresses

In the Victorian era, green clothing was perhaps one of the most expensive and coveted. The reason for the insane prices for this shade was that it was actually achieved with an arsenic-based dye. And, as you might guess, the negative consequences were not long in coming. Many women complained of visual impairments, skin reactions, and constant nausea due to the dye. However, the only good thing was that since such dresses were insanely expensive, they were only worn on extremely rare and special occasions, thus reducing the effects of the deadly poison on the body. The real damage was done to the manufacturers of such clothes that they died creating similar dresses for the representatives of the aristocracy and the upper class.

3. Stiff starched collars

During the 19th century, detachable collars were at the height of fashion and were also deadly. They were starchy until they acquired a bent shape, which was supported by a pair of studs. This "collar" was so dense and dangerous that it could easily strangle a person who wore it for a rather long period of time, especially if a man fell asleep in it while intoxicated. The sharpness of these collars also became a problem. It was the first time a St. Louis resident encountered her, who was unlucky: the sharp parts of the collar literally dug into his throat, leaving several deep wounds. In fact, these collars were so dangerous that the people called them "parricides."

4. Pannier

This garment comes from the French word "pannier" which literally translates to "basket" and was popular in the early 17th and late 18th centuries. This dress, which had a fluffy skirt, under which an artificial frame was hidden, laid the foundation for a fashion, during which dresses and skirts with the largest possible width became popular. Their main feature was that they were designed to expand on both sides without touching the waist. Previously, these dresses differed in shape and size, as well as materials. Mostly they were made from wood, whalebone, metal, or even the cheaper material - reed. Usually the size of the pannier depended on the occasion, and therefore the brighter and larger the celebration, the larger the skirt with the frame was.

Since such a dress was not at all cheap, only rich ladies could afford it, and the poorer ones wore smaller hoops and frames. It seems that the panniers were so wide in width that if two women wearing such dresses tried to walk through the same passage at the same time, they would not be able to do so. As a result, the not very comfortable dress slowly but surely began to cause a lot of ridicule from the outside. Most magazines of the time published articles that women were fed up with a fashion that reminded them of "a chair tied to them on either side, right up to their ears."

5. Poulen or Krakow

Krakow, which are better known as pulleins, were very long boots that were extremely popular throughout Europe in the second half of the 14th century. These long shoes were named after a city in Poland known today as Krakow, as Polish nobles were the first to wear these fashionable shoes. These shoes became insanely popular the moment someone was spotted wearing them at the royal court, even though they were 24 inches long. However, since they were in high demand, the shoes helped to highlight the social status of the wearer. In addition, the longer Krakow was, the higher was the position of its master in society.

Sometimes people even used chains to tie the toe of the boot to the knee to make it easier to walk. A little later, the toe of this shoe was stuffed with various materials. However, despite the popularity among the nobility, church leaders and conservatives did not approve of such a fashionable trend, calling them "the devil's fingers."

6. Chopin

In the 16th century, ladies from wealthy families were crazy about extremely dangerous platform shoes called chopin. They were usually made of cork or wood, covered with natural leather or brocade, and also had embroidery and velvet upholstery on the sides. Such shoes meant belonging to certain social strata, and the higher the platform was, the more the lady had a status in high society.

Nevertheless, there was also a fly in the ointment in this fashion trend. And it consisted in the fact that such shoes did not allow their mistress to move quickly and easily. In fact, women often needed the help of their servants, who held their hands so that they could walk in such high shoes.

7. Crinolines

Crinoline was a kind of bell-shaped skirt with a hoop, which significantly increased the volume and splendor of clothing. This piece was worn during the Victorian era in the 19th century, and in fact it was a skirt made of hard horsehair and linen. However, after the invention of a version of crinoline with a steel mesh instead of a hoop, it became possible to achieve the required level of volume and splendor without experiencing overheating from a large number of layers of fabric. Crinoline was not only difficult and uncomfortable to wear, but even deadly. For example, in 1858, a Boston woman died when her skirt caught fire from a spark from a fireplace. Many such cases were reported in the same year, due to which the trend of wearing such skirts has sharply declined.

8. Hobble Skirts

In the second decade of the 20th century, French designer Paul Poiret became the king of fashion, whose fashion ideas began to dominate clothing. He was the one who first introduced the famous hobble skirt to the world. Such a skirt was a very tight-fitting model that did not allow easy and simple movement, forcing women to take a short and neat step. However, in its own way, the hobble was a revolutionary product that allowed women to get rid of heavy and bulky skirts, as well as tight corsets. But, according to the designer himself, he freed the female bust, while shackling her legs.

9. Macaroni

Aristocrats from British society in the 1760s wore really huge wigs with a tiny cap and feather. People who wore such wigs probably borrowed them during the "Grand Tour" of continental Europe, where they were instilled such a fashion under the auspices of deep cultural development. However, the style of such a wig was named after a famous Italian dish, which actually means “gourmet.” A popular British song that later became a kind of US anthem read:

The meaning of this poem and its lyrics were originally conceived as a satire that, by putting a feather to his hair, any commoner can call himself “macaroni”. Despite such rhymes, this trend in fashion continued to remain popular for a long time, at least for about the next twenty years for sure.

Read also about the elegant and famous ladies of the past.