Speculatively Sewing Helen Traphagen’s Invention

Learn more about speculative sewing here

Hoop skirts are often seen by contemporary viewers as awkward, inhibiting and limiting garments. There is no doubt they were problematic in many ways. Despite this they offered ways for women to claim power at a time when they were otherwise lacking socio-political rights. We are interested in exploring their affordances for adaptability and flexibility and above all, for wearers to make, claim and take space in different contexts. Many have written about hoops as being unexpected tools of identity and power.

“The origins, innovations, fluctuations, and failings demonstrate the tenacity of eighteenth-century Englishwomen in their autonomy. Although it is tempting to condemn the hoop as yet another example of female subjugation through dress, such as the medieval chastity or the crippling corsets of the nineteenth century, the hoop actually had quite the opposite function. In the face of widespread and violent protest from men, women willingly hoop as a means of protecting, controlling, and, ultimately, liberating female sexuality” (Chrisman 1996, 7).

Traphagen’s inflatable hoop skirt was fascinating to us as it is one of the early air-filled inventions that offered flexibility, adaptability and control. It could be expanded and reduced in size by the wearer as needed. It was also lighter and could be stored and carried more easily than steel, baleen and cane versions. This was achieved by using a brand new technology – rubber tubing – which would go on to revolutionise cycling towards the end of the century via the introduction of pneumatic tyres.

We reconstructed Traphagen’s inflatable hoop skirt using a calico petticoat with three concentric circles of rubber tubing. The inventor suggests they do not have to all join as is shown in the patent drawing. Instead, “[E]ach of the horizontal tubes”, she explains, can be “supplied with stop-cocks, so as to adjust the circumference of the skirt to the required dimensions”. A “stop-cock” is a valve for regulating or stopping the flow of water or gas. Using three separate tubes, each with their own “stop cocks” or valves, meant the wearer could avoid the risk and embarrassment of total deflation (which was a very real concern of the time).

We used contemporary bicycle inner tubes, cut and glued together, to make the larger circular hoops. Each was secured inside the petticoat via calico sleeves. We used a bicycle track pump to inflate the tubes, but wearers at the time of the patent could have “raised the wind” using a pair of bellows or by mouth..

We were delighted by the expansive potential of inflatable tubes: the skirt more than doubled in volume! We were also impressed by the parallel tube design which meant that even if one tube failed to stay inflated, the other two maintained the skirt’s shape. This happened to us during testing, and the skirt still kept its intended shape. Another aspect we noted relates to the ease of storage. When not in use, and in its deflated state, Traphagen’s invention hangs neatly on the railings with the other POP toiles, which was greatly appreciated in a small, yet very full, studio office.

You can read our open access journal article about speculative sewing here.

— Chrisman, K. (1996) UnHoop The Fair Sex, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 30(1).