The term 'hobble skirt' came into popular use in the early 1910s when Paul Poiret introduced long skirts that were narrow at the hem, with no slits, pleats or other practical device to facilitate walking.
Sketch by Poiret of "the lampshade dress"
Hobble skirts can look so graceful. It's fascinating that women actually wore them. Perhaps it can be said the hobble skirt was the daughter of the bustle look and the mother of the pencil skirt. Check out this
article from 1910 in the NY Times. "The Hobble is the Latest Freak in Women's Fashions" reads the headline. Under one illustration showing two women in hobble skirts sitting and trying to cross their legs the caption reads "These are not exaggerated at all. The skirts actually look like this." It seems even people at the time thought "what are they thinking" in regards to women who wore hobble skirts. The trend seems to have petered out for the most part by 1913.
Here are some more pictures.
I need a 1912 costume for a crime-dinner. I think above I found it, the lampshade dress by Paul Poiret. The only left is: creating a pattern and the right fabrics :-)
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