Brewer's: Bloomerism

A female costume; so called from Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, of New York, who tried in 1849 to introduce the fashion. The dress consisted of a short skirt and loose trousers gathered closely round the ankles- becoming enough to young ladies in their teens, but ridiculous for “the fat and forty.”

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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