Crinolinemania: This deadly Victorian fashion garment killed around 3,000 women

鸟笼裙的狂热（Crinoline，因为形状似鸟笼，故称之为鸟笼裙，特注）：这件致命的维多利亚时装杀死了大约3，000名妇女

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Observed from today’s perspective, crinolines look utterly uncomfortable and unattractive to the point of absurdity. Why would anyone want to wear something that resembles a gigantic whipped-cream cake around their waist? Yet fashion trends have shown that comfort and attractiveness often have little in common, so it can be said that crinolines were just what any fad is–a way to get all eyes on you even if the cost is being a real (fashion) victim.

用今天的眼光来看，鸟笼裙看上去完全不舒服，而且毫无吸引力，甚至到了荒诞的地步。为什么有人会想在腰间穿一件类似于巨大的奶油蛋糕的裙子呢？然而，时尚界的趋势已经表明，舒适和吸引力往往没有什么共同之处，因此可以说，鸟笼裙正是一时流行的东西---即使其代价是真正的(时尚)牺牲，也能吸引众人的目光。

One of the fashion trends of the 19th century Victorian Era that stirred lady fashionistas was the so-called “Crinolinemania,” a craze that referred to the fashion obsession with the crinoline, a stiffened underskirt made using horsehair and linen or cotton, invented in the early 1840s.

19世纪维多利亚时代的女装时尚潮流之一就是所谓的“鸟笼裙狂热（Crinolinemania）”，这种狂热指的是19世纪40年代初发明的用马毛、亚麻或棉花制成的加强衬裙--crinoline的时尚迷恋。

These skirts were the followers of the “panniers” women’s underwear worn in the 17th and 18th centuries that enabled extending of the skirt at the side, thus creating a large side-squared dress that properly displayed the garment’s decorations.

这些裙子是17世纪和18世纪女性内衣以后的产品，裙子的侧边延长，从而形成了一件大面积的连衣裙，可以充分展示裙子上的饰品。

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However, according to some fashion historians, the real predecessor of the crinoline was the 16th-century Spanish “farthingale.” These wide, full skirts were much adored by the Spanish ladies even back in the 15th century. The queen consort of Castile, Joana of Portugal, copied their style and introduced it to court, attracting admiring attention, although court rumor had it that the main reason she wore the style was to hide her illegitimate pregnancy. England became acquainted with the crinoline when Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII, wore a Spanish farthingale made of linen and cane sticks.

然而，根据一些时尚史家的说法，鸟笼裙的真正前身是16世纪的西班牙“撑裙架”。追溯到15世纪的时候，这种宽大而又丰满的裙子深受西班牙女士们的喜爱。卡斯蒂尔王后、葡萄牙的乔安娜，照搬了他们的风格并将其引入宫廷，深得赞赏；尽管宫廷有传言，说她穿这种风格的裙子主要是为了隐藏自己的私生子。当亨利八世的第一任妻子阿拉贡的凯瑟琳穿着一件由亚麻和拐杖制成的西班牙撑裙架时，英格兰就开始熟悉鸟笼裙了了。

In the first half of the 1800s, skirts became bigger and adopted a round shape. The ladies created an illusion of a large circle at the bottom part of their attire by wearing numerous layers of petticoats. This layered clothing often disabled the ladies’ movement and comfort, so when the crinoline was finally invented, they felt a relief. Crinolines weighed less and fit more easily to the body.

在19世纪上半叶，裙子变得更大，采用了圆形。女士们通过穿上许多层衬裙，在她们的衣服底部形成一个大圆圈的错觉。这种分层的衣物常常使女士们无法运动且不舒适，所以当鸟笼裙最终被发明时，她们感到松了一口气。鸟笼裙重量较轻，更适合身体。

The name of the fashion fad first appeared in the 1800s in the magazine Punch, which mocked the crinoline craze and published humorous cartoon illustrations about Crinolinemania. The root of the garment’s nickname originates in the French words crin (horsehair) and lin (linen), which describe the materials of which the initial versions of the crinoline were made. The horsehair crinolines supported the weight of the layers of petticoats under the full skirts and provided more convenience.

这种时尚的名字最早出现在19世纪的“Pounch”杂志上，该杂志嘲弄了鸟笼裙的狂热，并出版了关于鸟笼裙狂热（Crinolinemania）的幽默卡通插图。这种裙子的绰号来源于法语单词crin(马毛)和lin(亚麻)，这两个词汇描述了最初制作鸟笼裙的材料。马毛衬裙支撑着裙摆下衬裙层的重量，并提供了更多的便利。

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One of the most widely known models is the cage crinoline which was first patented in 1856 by R.C. Milliet in Paris. His agent brought it to Britain and it became popular overnight. These crinolines were made of spring steel with lightness providing flexibility and enabled women to walk and sit while wearing them.

其中一种最广为人知的模型是笼子衬里，它于1856年由R.C. Milliet首次在巴黎申请专利。他的经纪人把它带到了英国，并在一夜之间流行起来。这些鸟笼裙由弹簧钢丝制成、轻盈灵活，使女性在穿着它时可以走路和坐着。

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The ladies felt liberated in comparison to their previous layered petticoats and praised their experience in the Lady’s Newspaper in 1863: “So perfect are the wave-like bands that a lady may ascend a steep stair, lean against a table, throw herself into an armchair, pass to her stall at the opera, and occupy a further seat in a carriage, without inconveniencing herself or others, and provoking the rude remarks of observers thus modifying in an important degree, all those peculiarities tending to destroy the modesty of Englishwomen; and lastly, it allows the dress to fall in graceful folds.”

女士们与以前的分层衬裙相比感到了自由，并在1863年的女士报上为此点赞：“波浪般的裙子太完美了！女士们可以登上陡峭的楼梯、靠在桌子上、坐进扶手椅、在歌剧院找座位以及在车厢里找座位都不会给自己或他人带来不便，也不会激起旁观者们的辱骂；从而在很大程度上改变了所有会破坏英国女性优雅形象的一切; 此外，这种裙子的起落姿态优美”。

These positive reviews stimulated a massive production of crinolines led by the most successful producer, Douglas & Sherwood’s Hoop Skirt Factory in New York. The mass-production made crinolines affordable to women who stood at different levels on the social ladder. On daily occasions, most of the women wore small crinoline versions while the large bell-shaped models, some up to six feet in diameter, were worn on special occasions such as balls.

这些正面的评论刺激了鸟笼裙的大量生产，领先的裙子生产厂就是纽约的Douglas & Sherwood’s Hoop。大规模的生产使得各个社交阶层的女性都能够买得起鸟笼裙。在日常生活中，大多数女性都穿着小型的鸟笼裙，而大的（直径达6英尺）钟形鸟笼裙只在特殊的场合，如舞会上穿。

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Nevertheless, due to their heaviness and robustness, crinolines had disadvantages that completely outweigh the advantages. Wearing them in the summer meant spending the day in hot, unhygienic conditions. The biggest issue, however, was a fatal one.

然而，由于鸟笼裙的沉重和坚硬，其缺点完全盖过了优点。在夏天穿着它们意味着在炎热、不卫生。 不过，最大的问题是致命。

The enormous size of the crinolines was often too challenging for the women in specific surroundings, and thus there were thousands of reported cases of ladies being severely injured or burned alive when a candle or a spark from the fireplace would accidentally flame by touching the crinoline. Sometimes the hoops would also get caught in machinery or be run over by carriage wheels, causing serious consequences to the wearer.

超大的鸟笼裙对于特定环境中的女性来说往往是一种挑战，据报道有数千例女性被伤害或活活被烧死，这些意外是因壁炉上的蜡烛或里面的火花触碰到鸟笼裙而发生的。有时候，衬裙环也会被机器卡住或被车轮碾压，给穿戴者带来严重的后果。