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Dictionary definition: Bloomers
- Article from:
- A New Dictionary of Eponyms
- Author:
Copyright© A New Dictionary of Eponyms 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information)
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Bloomers
Bloomers were designed, in 1850, by Mrs. Elizabeth Smith Miller, who also was the first to wear them. But this garment got its biggest impetus and its name from Amelia Bloomer, who dressed frequently in this attire and was its most consistent advocate.
Amelia Bloomer (1818–1894), born Amelia Jenks in Homer, New York, was the editor of a journal in Seneca, New York, titled
The Lily
, the house organ of the Seneca Falls Ladies’ Temperance Society. Amelia had always been something of a maverick. For example, she had the word
obey
omitted from her marriage vows when she married Dexter C. Bloomer in 1840. When Amelia learned about the costume that ultimately ...