Dexter, Dextra, Dextrum: The Bloomer Costume on the British Stage in 1851

The author argues that by putting the Bloomer costume onstage, the perceived masculinity of the dress and the anxieties attending the assertion of female emancipation could be absorbed by the traditions of theatrical transvestism. Manifestations of the Bloomer costume on British stages in 1851 represent a complex negotiation of the disturbing and transgressive issues aired by the Bloomer movement in Britain. What helped to ignite the Bloomer debate so successfully in Britain were the London lectures given by an Englishwoman, Caroline Harper Dexter (1819-1884). Harper Dexter defended the costume primarily on the basis of health, convenience, and comfort. By stepping into the limelight and putting herself on public display, Harper Dexter had unwittingly given the press license to represent her person as "performer" and to interpret her lecture, by extension, as "performance." Several performances are recalled.