Objects of Substance – Grammar Bloomers

1924: Hurdling on the running track – Molly Pratten, Dorothy Hill, Joyce Guthrie, possibly Mayday Matters

Bloomers were worn by schoolgirls, under dresses, when they were performing physical activities in the gymnasium and on the court from the late 19th century. As the length of the dress over the bloomers became shorter and shorter, in the early 20th century the dress was discarded and the bloomers were revealed in all their glory. (Note the Grammar girl with interlocked arms in the pyramid below, front right, sporting a very dashing pinafore over her bloomers.)