Whats A Bustle On A Dress?

A wedding dress bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness or support the drapery at the back of women’s dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. It secures the train or any extra fabric off the ground and into the back of the dress, keeping it from dragging across the floor all night. There are many types of bustles, such as wrist bustles, which use a loop to attach to the end of the train and worn around the bride’s wrist.

The purpose of bustles on gowns is to prevent the train fabric from becoming dirty as the bride wears it beyond the walk down the aisle. They can also be used to create the illusion of wearing two separate dresses on one day, creating the flirty and playful look of a dress with a short hemline.

In the 1870s and 1880s, bustles were notably fashionable in Europe and the United States. Fashionable Victorian women wore various undergarments, including corset covers and petticoats for added volume and warmth. The most common type is the “over bustle,” which uses hooks or buttons at the waist line or at the start of the skirt flare on a fitted dress.

A bustle pulls the train of the wedding dress off the ground, allowing movement with ease and alleviating some of the fear of tripping.

Do all dresses need a bustle?

Not all wedding gowns need a bustle. Not every bride wants to bustle her dress, and not every wedding gown needs a bustle. If your dress doesnt have a train, or it only has a baby train, you wont need a bustle. These types of wedding dresses allow for greater freedom of movement overall, which some brides appreciate.

Other gowns may be constructed of a lightweight fabric that can be managed without a bustle. For instance, on some gowns a seamstress can attach a loop to the underside of the train which secures around your wrist. This lets you elegantly lift your gown while keeping your hands free.

Think about the bustle when you pick your gown. The bustle can really change the look of the gown and how it functions. At your bridal appointment, talk to your stylist about how your dress will be bustled. Most dresses allow for a few different options, but you should make sure you like your choices. You may spend most of your wedding day with the gown bustled.

Perhaps you love the gown but decide that you dont like how it would look or feel with a bustle. Gowns with long dramatic trains can look stunning during the ceremony, yet may feel like too much to manage all day, even with a bustle. In that case, consider buying a second gown just for the reception.

Can I bustle my own dress?

Anyone who has ever gotten married can testify that weddings are incredibly expensive. Most couples look for ways to cut corners and save money, and one way you can do that is by bustling your gown yourself. Wedding dresses do not come with a pre-made bustle, but if youre handy with a needle and thread, you can learn to sew one on yourself.

Place a safety pin on the back of the dress, halfway up the length of the brides train. This is where the loop will go. Thread the needle by doubling up the thread and inserting it into the needle. Tie the end of the thread with a knot to secure it.1.

• Insert the needle into the underside of the dress. Pull the thread all the way through.
• Make a small stitch and pull the thread most the way through to create a loop.
• Grab the loop with your fingers and pull the remaining thread through the loop to create a knot.
• Repeat this process until you have a loop big enough to fit your button.
• Secure the loop by running the needle and thread through the loop to tie it off.
• Insert the needle through the fabric to the other side and make two knots. Cut off any excess thread.

Can you bustle your own dress?

Anyone who has ever gotten married can testify that weddings are incredibly expensive. Most couples look for ways to cut corners and save money, and one way you can do that is by bustling your gown yourself. Wedding dresses do not come with a pre-made bustle, but if youre handy with a needle and thread, you can learn to sew one on yourself.

Place a safety pin on the back of the dress, halfway up the length of the brides train. This is where the loop will go. Thread the needle by doubling up the thread and inserting it into the needle. Tie the end of the thread with a knot to secure it.1.

• Insert the needle into the underside of the dress. Pull the thread all the way through.
• Make a small stitch and pull the thread most the way through to create a loop.
• Grab the loop with your fingers and pull the remaining thread through the loop to create a knot.
• Repeat this process until you have a loop big enough to fit your button.
• Secure the loop by running the needle and thread through the loop to tie it off.
• Insert the needle through the fabric to the other side and make two knots. Cut off any excess thread.

What is the difference between a crinoline and a bustle?

The bustle was likely more restrictive than the flexible cage crinoline, especially when sitting, forcing the wearer to sit forward in her seat or push the bustle to one side. After a brief respite, the bustle became fashionable again around 1883.

It was often the structures beneath Victorian clothing that gave womens fashion its form. Corsets (also known as stays) moulded the waist, while cage crinolines supported voluminous skirts, and bustles projected a dress out from behind. Fashionable Victorian women wore an array of other undergarments, from corset covers that hid the lines of their stays, to petticoats for added volume and warmth. Exactly what was worn and how it was made changed rapidly throughout the era, influenced by forces like technological innovation and shifting attitudes towards gender.

When Victoria became Queen in 1837, fashion was characterised by low, almost off-the-shoulder necklines for evening and formal wear (higher necklines, collars, and small shawls were worn for daywear), cinched waistlines often forming a low point at the front, and fairly wide skirts protruding to the same extent all the way around. Sleeves often featured sizeable puffs.

This silhouette was created largely by undergarments. Long corsets rounded the bust, held the waist and stomach in, shaped the hips and concealed other underwear worn beneath stays – including chemises (also known as shifts). Throughout the period a chemise and drawers were sometimes replaced by a garment combining the two, known as combinations.

Why did Victorians wear bustles?

The bustle was introduced as a distinct undergarment during the 1870s, supporting skirts which no longer sat over a crinoline, but which were gathered up at the back, projecting out below the waist. Also known as a dress-improver, or by its French name tournure, the bustle provided a foundation for this new arrangement of skirts via sculpted pleats and ruffles, often stiffened with horsehair. By the mid-1870s skirts narrowed further, and the puff of volume beneath the waist lowered. Volume became less pronounced but more expansive, as skirts developed trains fanning out behind the wearer. Tubular waterfall bustles were used, providing extended support for the rear length of skirts which were now a focus of decoration, cascading down the back of the dress in an arrangement of ruffles, pleats or flounces.

Like crinolettes, some bustles featured internal tapes and ties. These enabled the shape of the structure to be adjusted, but, combined with a flat front and narrow overskirt, movement was noticeably hindered. The bustle was likely more restrictive than the flexible cage crinoline, especially when sitting, forcing the wearer to sit forward in her seat or push the bustle to one side.

After a brief respite, the bustle became fashionable again around 1883. The revived bustle took a far more exaggerated form; steel strips were often attached to the insides of dresses to amplify the curve of the bustle, which jutted out at right angles from the back of the body. Bustles came in all shapes and sizes. Some were constructed almost entirely of steel, whilst others resembled colourful cushions stuffed with horsehair, down and straw. Different styles of bustle were available according to the activity and time of day: small tournures fastened to the corset were recommended for walking; modest puffs provided lift for the early afternoon; and larger, longer bustles were suited to the ballroom.

When did people stop wearing bustles?

In the late 1880s, fashion moved on and the angular, bustled shape was no longer in favour. Instead, a small horsehair pad sufficed, attached inside the skirt to shape the back of the body. Skirts were even simpler and less restrictive by the 1890s, reflecting the growing interest in physical freedom for women connected to the burgeoning New Woman movement – an important strand of turn-of-the-century feminism. Cut in an A-line shape falling from the waist, skirts were liberated from structural aids. They did, however, rely on heavy materials and stiff petticoats, in order to create a defined silhouette. Some women dared to wear controversial divided petticoats and skirts (essentially trousers).

Volume had not, however, disappeared entirely from the fashionable silhouette; it moved to the upper sleeves. Furthermore, with the new straighter silhouette and absence of a bustle, stronger emphasis was again placed on the waist. Some corsets were heavily boned on each side and featured a long straight busk.

Other developments in corsetry were more in line with New Woman thinking, with a variety of reformed corset styles becoming newly available. Dress reformers, whether motivated by concerns about maternity or general health, alternative beauty ideals, or a desire for women to experience greater physical liberty, had been pushing for different approaches to womenswear for decades, with corsetry being a particular focus. But it was only around the 1890s that their ideas started to influence the mainstream. For example, skirts, as discussed, became more practical. Jaeger – established in the 1880s as Dr Jaegers Sanitary Woollen System Co., Limited – sold many woollen undergarments, based on the German naturalist and hygienist Gustav Jägers belief in the importance of wearing animal rather than plant fibres next to the skin.

Why were bustles so popular?

The bustle was a fashion accessory in Victorian Europes upper-class society throughout the nineteenth century. In its function, it replaced the hoop skirt to provide wealthy women with a desirable figure that exaggerated the curvature of the buttocks. Despite its integration into couture fashion during the period, the origins of this accessory have an arguably complex history that is rooted in the exploitation of Black women. Specifically, the bustle is arguably directly inspired by Black body types. Through the repulsion and desire of Black women in European society, the bustle quickly became a staple among the elite.

Saartjie Baartman (1789-1815) was a South African woman from the Khoikhoi tribe. Baartman was employed by William Dunlop and Henrik Cesars to work as an indentured servant. During her servitude, she was put on display at “freak shows” across Paris and London. Later in life, she became associated with an animal exhibitor, whom scholars believe forced Baartman into prostitution. At the age of twenty-six, Baartman died due to an inflammatory disease believed to be syphilis. During her lifetime, big bottoms were deemed desirable for women in Victorian Europe, so Baartmans figure was admired and envied by audiences. After her death, Baartmans body remained on display at a Parisian ethnographic museum until 1974.

At what point do you bustle your wedding dress?

• Before the wedding, decide who you will designate to bustle your dress at the reception site. We suggest having the Maid or Matron of Honor be in charge of the process, with the bridesmaids holding the dress up if need be (i.e., if its a ball gown). Mothers of the Bride are often far too stressed to do this job on the day of the wedding.
• Your MOH should come to one of your final fittings for a bustle practice run with a professional from The White Room. Many Mothers of the Bride actually video the MOH in action and send it to her so she can refer back to it if needed.
• The final bustling decision needs to be made before you leave your fitting – it is too late to change course when you get to your reception site.
• During this practice run, well have you twirl as if youre dancing at your reception, wear the heel height you plan to wear, and basically simulate the actual experience of bustling at your wedding.
• Make this a special moment between the bride and her MOH – the MOH is helping the bride preserve one of the most beautiful gowns shell ever wear.
• The best time to bustle the dress is after the bride and MOH get to the reception venue, before the bride and groom are introduced. It should only take three to five minutes if the MOH is fully engaged in the process. That being said, try to do it in a private room without distractions.
• With ribbons, its critical when youre underneath the dress to bring the ribbons together – make sure you follow through in tying the butts of the ribbon together so there is no slack. If not tied properly, the train is going to be on the ground. How youll know you got it right is some parts of the train will still hit the floor, but will be out of the way of dancing.

We are happy to answer any and all bustling questions you have – we understand that your wedding is often the first and only time youll ever bustle! Let us help you – thats what were here for. Also, The White Room offers the service of having your dress professionally cleaned and preserved. Just bring the dress back and we will take care of it.

Do I need a bustle?

Not all wedding dresses need a bustle. If your dress is one length or a dress that doesnt touch the ground, then there is no need for a bustle. If you have a dress with a train and dont want to have your train down for the full wedding, then a bustle is a great option to have put in your dress.

You purchased your gown because you loved it and if your dress has a train then you probably love that train and want to show it off! You wont want to have your gown bustled for the whole wedding. Normally, your train will be down from when you get ready until either the beginning of the reception or after you first dance. You will want your train down for your ceremony and all portraits. Some people want their train down for their first dance and parent dances and others want to have it bustled before they make their reception entrance, that choice is up to you! Once open dancing hits, however, you will want to have your dress bustled so you can dance the night away on the dance floor without people stepping or ripping your dress.

Like I mentioned before, there are several types of bustles depending on your dress and what you are envisioning. I will talk about them all below, however, it is best to talk to your seamstress about which bustle will work best with your dress.

Why do people bustle their wedding dress?

Put simply, your wedding dress bustle is when the beautiful train of your dress is buttoned up to floor length when you enter your reception. This is done so you can dance and move about freely without it getting stuck or caught, or stepped on!

In our bridal appointments we often have girls ask, “How does this dress bustle?” Depending on the dress, the fabric, the length of the train, etc., there are a number of different ways to do this. The video below tells you in detail!

This is a very important part of your dress alterations because for your entire reception the back of the dress will be pulled up and secured. It may be fastened by hooks/eyes, buttons, ribbons, or a combination of them.

Can all wedding dresses be bustled?

Do all wedding dresses come with bustles?. Most wedding dresses dont come with bustles already on the dress. Bustles are often added during the alterations process based on the style, length, and design of the dress. Your seamstress or tailor will assess your gown and should discuss the bustle options with you. They will be able to determine the most suitable style and create the bustle based on your specific dress.

What are the most common bustle styles?. There are various types of bustles available, and the right choice depends on the style and design of your dress. Here are a few common types:

Overbustle: This style lifts the train up and attaches it to the outside of the gown, often creating a beautiful cascading effect. It is achieved by securing the train with buttons, hooks, or ribbons to corresponding points on the back of the gown.

What is a bustle in a dress?

Next we have a ballroom bustle a ballroom bustle. Simply kind of tucks under that extra train fabric and you have a really nice clean finish.