Over time there became a demand for more comfortable clothing for women. Woman began to become frustrated with the cumbersome dresses and wanted clothing that they could more easily move in and were better for their bodies.
One form of dress reform came in the form of the tea gown. In the 1870s the tea gown became popular it was an easy and comfortable garment appropriate for taking five o’clock tea. This dress was considered revolutionary because of its “unboned bodice, which, in the eyes of contemporary fashion critics, made it less of a dress and more of a formalized dressing gown.” The tea gown was very different from other dresses from the late 1800’s because of loose and non-confining nature.
Another aspect of changing fashion that made garments more comfortable for woman was the princess dress. The princess-style dress was made possible with the invention of the sewing machine. The sewing machine allowed seams to be longer which created the princess style gown, like this work dress from 1885-1890 [Figure 15]. Because the dress did not have a waistband, instead of weight laying entirely on the woman's’ shoulder it was distributed evenly throughout her entire body. This took a lot of strain off the woman’s figure and helped drive the dress reform movement.
As the nineteenth century came to an end there became a greater demand to be more comfortable clothing. This demand was not a new development, since there were multiple accounts of dress reform between these decades and even the years before the 1860s. There was a demand for these reforms because women had a desire for simple, healthful and practical clothing that would allow them to be active participants in the public, professional and economic arenas of society, Women’s clothing was so restrictive that women’s roles in society became limited and they were perceived as inferior political position in society. Women weren’t only expected to wear different clothing for different occasions but also different clothing for different times of day.
There were many examples of women during the late nineteenth century that attempted to create this change by dressing in more particular ways. The tea dress is one example as it became popular to wear in the home and some women even dared to wear them on the streets.
The bicycle is another tool that helped spread the dress reform movement. Riding a bicycle became a very popular activity for young woman, and since it was impossible to do in the cumbersome clothing that was popular, new dresses had to be designed particularly for the bicycle. It was difficult to wear a corset while riding a bike so often women would loosen it or wear a softer corset to make the activity more enjoyable. The bicycle trend helped bring about a reform in dress and in society.
There were multiple examples of dress reform throughout the years, changing ideals of fashion and what was acceptable for woman was a long tiresome journey. It was a long battle for woman to be allowed to wear looser and more comfortable clothing in public.