… new types of undergarments were major factors that changed fashion from Early to Mid Victorian fashion eras.
Empress Eugenie of France had shown her friend Queen Victoria the crinoline as we discussed before. That of course was a blatant change from wearing multiple petticoats to adding a hoop which eliminated the need for all but one petticoat. The new light weight structure gave a sort of freedom from copious volumes of fabric and layers, but at the same time made fashion more cumbersome and unwieldly; less functional for a woman to actually DO anything.
Working women wore hoops and crinolines, but more refined with simpler garments on top.
(Photo: late 1840’s undergarments with layers or fabrics with a multitude of pleats at the top to create the skirt volume. Note the waist is not so tiny – yet – at this time.)