Fleshlings: lost bodystockings at the birth of twentieth-century dress
Date
2019
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
In the decades around the turn of the twentieth century, American and European women appeared in risqué performances and images wearing flesh-colored bodystockings. Although these garments-often referred to in period sources as fleshlings-were once a widespread material phenomenon, they have largely been lost today. Few known examples remain, and little scholarship recognizes them. This thesis pieces together a material history of these remarkable lost garments by examining two remaining examples and then tracing evidence of them in period photographs, catalogs and newspapers. Ultimately this paper argues that these faux-nude suits helped to create a radically new public vision of the female body. Though they were often seen as scandalous and objectifying, fleshlings helped to redraw the boundaries of female decency at the turn of the twentieth century. These garments presented the public with a form of clothing that allowed a new freedom of movement and showcased a natural silhouette, revealing women's legs and waists from beneath the centuries-old traditions of long skirts and corsets. Fleshlings thus helped push forward late nineteenth-century efforts at women's dress reform and were key participants in the birth of twentieth-century dress.