The relationship between women’s health and what they wore was the subject of a number of studies before and during the nineteenth century. Doctors focused both on the materials used and the form of the garments themselves. The high-heeled shoe, the corset and the train were the most controversial. Dr. Heinrich Lahmann was particularly engaged in the debate, had his own shop and agreed with Gustav Jäger concerning the best materials for reform clothing. The latter claimed ‘Des Menschen Wolle ist sein Himmelreich’283 and believed a corset should be made of
sheep’s wool. Dr. Spener concluded in ‘Die jetzige Frauenkleidung und Vorschläge zu ihrer Verbesserung’ (1897) that women’s bodies had become so dependent on the corset that the back muscles needed some form of artificial support. He advocated a reformed corset without fish bone, made of natural materials. Such corsets were produced and marketed with names such as ‘Hygiea’, ‘Liebling’ and ‘Freiheit’.284
In Die Frauenkleidung und ihre natürliche Entwicklung (1900), Stratz examines how such trends as the corset and high-heeled shoes affected women’s posture and health. He refers to the corset as a ‘Marterinstrument’ and sees it as responsible for various illnesses from its inception in the eighteenth century:
Dass eine derartige Vergewaltigung des weiblichen Körpers nicht ungestraft geschehen konnte, ist selbstverständlich. Die schwere Störung des Blutkreislaufs machte sich in der verschiedensten Weise geltend, und die Migräne, die Vapeurs und andere
Modekrankheiten danken dieser Zeit ihren Ursprung; auch die Schwindsucht nahm in erschreckender Weise zu.’285
Stratz’s language is strikingly violent; images of rape and punishment shock the reader who is used to the flattering rhetoric of fashion journals and the mild advisory tones of conduct literature. There was an evident need for such shock therapy, however, and the vehement writing of (male) professionals was met with interest.286 This interest can also be explained by the emphasis on
‘natürliche Entwicklung’. By emphasising nature as the primary motivation for reform, Stratz
283 This was Jäger’s motto according to Bayerisches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde (Munich: Der Kommission,
2008), 76.
284 See Welch, Ein Ausstieg aus dem Korsett, 19.
285 Stratz, Die Frauenkleidung, 331. For other illnesses attributed to corsetry, see Welch, Ein Ausstieg aus
dem Korsett, 15.
70 appeals to the nineteenth-century psyche which, as evidenced in fashion and Benimmliteratur, prioritised (the illusion of) nature. Stratz saw the reformed Kostüm of the 1890s as inspired by Grecian garbs that respected the body’s natural form since ‘das Kleid sich ohne irgend welchen Zwang der normalen Form anschmiegt’.287 For Stratz, exaggerated, unhealthy and unpractical
trends such as the crinoline betrayed ‘grosse Geschmacklosigkeit’288 and had drastic
consequences, including: a deformed liver; 289 a Spitzbauch which is created when the stomach
protrudes from under the corset; a Hängebauch which occurs underneath the belly button where fat accumulates, also leading to a Froschbauch.290 Poorly made corsets were particularly harmful
and could lead to a woman gaining weight rather than making her appear slim.291 Mohrbutter
suggests rules that should be taken into account when considering a corset. The first is ‘Lassen Sie sich Ihr Corset von einer Meisterin von Rang anfertigen!’ 292 His argument seems to derive
from the belief that the body is best flattered by a well-made corset that fits exactly, but indicates how common it was to opt for a cheaper make. Meanwhile, Stratz concludes that corsets should not be tied too tightly or worn too high. Finally, he suggests that a change in women’s fashions would allow women to achieve as much, and perhaps more, than men.293
Schultze-Naumburg’s Die Kultur des weiblichen Körpers als Grundlage der Frauenkleidung (1910) is a similar study to Stratz’s, but advocates a complete abolition of the corset. He argues that the corset has led to the weakening of muscles that would have otherwise produced the desired effect of a corset naturally.294 Rather than support reformists who aimed at developing a
healthy corset, he believes that the ribcage should be completely free of any pressure and that all corsets are harmful. Moreover, he asks, ‘Was in aller Welt kann den überhaupt ein ganz loses Korsett für einen ausdenkbaren Sinn haben?’295 In essence, he writes, men’s and women’s clothes
should not really be any different to one another. The fact that they are shows the extent to which women in particular have suppressed their natural reactions against repressive clothing in order to attract men.296 Schultze-Naumburg sees the corset first and foremost as a means of sexualising the
wearer and finds it ridiculous that people think that not wearing a corset is ‘unanständig’.297
Radical though Schultze-Naumburg is for his contemporaries, he readily acknowledges the social consequences of not wearing a corset:
287 Welch, Ein Ausstieg aus dem Korsett, 335. 288 Ibid, 338.
289 Ibid, 368. 290 Ibid, 373-74. 291 Ibid, 381-82.
292 Alfred Mohrbutter, Das Kleid der Frau (Darmstadt: Koch, 1904), 10. 293 See Welch, Ein Ausstieg aus dem Korsett, 388.
294 See ibid, 103. 295 Ibid, 104.
296See ibid, 106.
71 Ich weiβ, eine Dame, die es wagt, ohne Korsettaille zu gehen, und Stiefel trägt, wie sie ein unverbildeter Fuβ fordert, hat ein Märtyrertum durchzumachen. Ganz abgesehen von ihrer Familie, die sie peinigt, ihrer Gesellschaft, die sie boykottiert, muβ sie auf der Straβe Spieβruten laufen.298
Like Stratz, Schultze-Naumburg uses strong language. The woman who dresses alternatively is a martyr, an embarrassment who rejects society and is consequently rejected herself. Between them, the doctors suggest a situation where women are martyred regardless of their social and sartorial decisions. Like many others who advocate reform at the beginning of the twentieth century, Schultze-Naumburg anticipates that it is a matter of time before the corset falls out of fashion and women are no longer shamed for failing to adhere to restrictive fashions. In effect, he awaits an era where women do not have to be martyrs.
The abolition of the ‘Strassenschleppe’ was as important to the Dress Reform Movement as that of the corset. As mentioned earlier, the train became a fashionable feature in the 1870s when the afternoon gown had a low back. In the 1880s the society and ball dress included a long train and from 1892 even the ‘Strassenkleid’ began to lengthen. As Ober explains, while the train was criticised for hygienic reasons, ‘Sie diente vielmehr auch dazu, die Kritik an einem Frauenbild zu transportieren, das mit Hilflosigkeit und Bewegungsbehinderung verknüpft war.’299 The journal Die gesunde Frau reported in 1900 that in order to avoid dirt women should lift the skirt when in
public places. Despite being highly impractical, the train continued to be popular and by 1901, a woman’s dress could weigh up to 4.5 kilos as a result.300
A number of authors who did not belong to the medical profession also joined in the debate and mentioned nature as a motivation for reform. Lütt, for instance, criticises overly tight corsetry for doing nothing to embellish feminine beauty. Rather, by emphasising ‘eine unnatürlich dünne Taille’301 it distorts the body and destroys any chance of grace. She suggests that women should
ask themselves whether what they wear is good for their health and argues that some have done themselves great harm through ‘zu starkes Schnüren' which has even led to death.302 Lütt
encourages women to ask themselves whether their garments are ‘logisch’; the Tournüre, for instance was ‘weder anständig, noch geschmackvoll, noch logisch’303 because the female body is
not naturally S-shaped. Lütt’s comments are motivated by a pursuit of beauty and stem from the
298 Ibid.
299 Ober, Die Frauen neue Kleidung, 117. 300 See ibid, 125.
301 Lütt, Die Elegante Frau, 270. 302 Kübler, Der Haushalt, 127. 303 Ibid.
72 common belief that prettiness depends on good health,304 but her comments on the Tournüre come
when the trend was already disappearing. It is a common trait of writing on fashion that past trends are treated as unattractive, even ridiculous. When they are fashionable, however, conduct writers are quick to assert the importance of adhering to them. Anna Kübler, who insists in Der
Haushalt that women must take care neither to follow fashion blindly nor ignore it, is more direct
in her criticism of fashion than Lütt.305 She believed that fashion needed to be reformed not only
because it was unattractive, but also because it threatened the ability of the German woman to manage her household effectively:
(…) abgesehen davon, daβ (die Mode) wirklich viel Häβliches, Lächerliches und sogar geradezu Verwerfliches hervorbringt, trägt sie einerseits in einem weitaus zu geringen Grade den Anforderungen der Zweckmäβigkeit Rechnung, während sie andererseits wieder zu einem oft ganz unverhältnisgemäβigen Luxus führt, die auf das Wohl der Familien aller Kreise (…) die verderblichste Wirkung übt.306
Conduct writers therefore joined the debate for dress reform, apparently motivated above all by a desire to promote health and thrift.