Roxey Ann Caplin
Roxey Ann Caplin (* 1793 in Canada ; † August 2, 1888 in Mortlake , Surrey ) was an English corset maker, inventor and author. Her works are considered to be groundbreaking for the clothing reform movement .
Life
Roxey Ann Caplin was born in Canada to English immigrants. In the 1830s she married Jean François Isidore Caplin, who had studied medicine in Paris and researched undesirable developments in the spine. Together they moved to London , where Roxey Ann Caplin worked as a cleaner .
She benefited from her husband's medical knowledge and developed a spine-friendly corset , which she patented in 1849 - initially under the name of her husband. In 1851 she was awarded a prize for this at the London Industrial Exhibition . In the following years she applied for a total of 24 patents.
In 1856 she wrote her first book, "Health and Beauty, or, Woman and Her Clothing," in which she pointed out in detail the damage to health women suffered from incorrectly lacing corsets. She made clear the necessity of clothing for women, which neither by their construction nor by their weight restrict breathing, the development of muscles, a healthy posture, the blood circulation or the function of organs. Clothing must also offer enough freedom for both sexes to keep the body healthy through exercise.
Her treatise "The Needle: its History and Utility" , which appeared in 1860, is a cultural history of the needle and sewing. In this work, too, Caplin explains that until now it has never been the aim of clothing, especially women's clothing, to be health-promoting. She also complains about the working conditions in the textile industry and places her hopes in the further spread of the sewing machine. In 1876 Caplin wrote the book "Women in the Reign of Queen Victoria" with J. Mill . In this, too, she once again underlines her demand for healthy and practical women's clothing.
Caplin's investigations formed the basis for a new examination of women's clothing, as a result of which the Rational Dress Society was founded in 1881 , which made the introduction of more practical clothing for women a political goal.
Copies of the corsets designed by Roxey Ann Caplin are in the Museum of London .
Works
- 1856: Health and Beauty: or, Woman and Her Clothing, Considered in Relation to the Physiological Laws of the Human Body
- 1860: The Needle: its History and Utility
- 1860: Woman and Her Wants; Four Lectures To Ladies
- 1876: Women in the Reign of the Queen Victoria (with J. Mill)
literature
- Sarah Levitt: Caplin, Roxey Ann (1793-1888). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of January 2008
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Caplin, Roxey Ann |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Caplin, Emily Roxey |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English corset maker, inventor and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1793 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Canada |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 2, 1888 |
| Place of death | Mortlake , Surrey |