1868-1873. Cage crinoline with integral bustle.
Five cotton tapes hold thread-covered wire in place to create the supportive shape of this cage crinoline, which has a wire-free area at the top front. Eight wire semicircles run from hip to hip around the back at the top, with the top four wires paired at the ends to create two rows of two wires each in a bustle configuration with all the fullness in back. Below this, a spiral of wire wraps around the legs in a widening cone to the hem for a mostly slim conical shape, with more density at the bottom. A cotton tape waistband closes with a two-pronged buckle. Machine-made.
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