“Maud, does this dress make my butt look big?”
“Rather, Elsie.”
“Delightful. Let us take our walkies.”

I recently saw Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. (hurrah!), Jude Law (whatever) and Rachel McAdams, who at one point in the scene sported the biggest, shiniest, ruffliest magenta bustle I ever did see. It made me chuckle but also kinda made me want to wear one myself. Even though I totally don’t need it, according to my friends who had to inform fashion-dense me I have a fairly nice little bustle of my own if ya know what I mean *cheese wink*

Angle does not do bustle justice

More booty-bustle action after the jump:

When I previously thought of bustle dresses, this is the image that automatically popped into my head:

Anastasia, Drizella and Lady Tremaine model the bustle fashion

Sometime in the mid-nineteenth century the big hand bell look (ala Gone with the Wind) became passe and style dictated that only having a luscious rump was permissible.

probably a reproduction, but note the lovely snail shell like shape

historically accurate bustle drawn & made by Fashion of the Ages

I can’t seem to figure out if the bustle was as big (har har) of a fashion staple as it appeared in movies, or if period piece films are simply an exaggeration in an of themselves. Bustles are featured in a host of films. One of my favorite bustle dresses comes from 1992 Francis Ford Coppola flick Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Winona got back

Even Dracula can’t keep his hands off that booty

I’m not here to teach you a history lesson, though – The Birth and Death of the Victorian Bustle: an Apologia by Melissa Virag is better suited for that job.
However, between high end designers, historical fashion enthusiasts, theatrical performers and of the like, the bustle will never really fizzle out. It’ll remain as a downsized accent for some and an over-the-top showpiece for others.

The Rocket Mistress jacket by Lovechild Boudoir ~ who makes other dandy apparel

What kind of bustle feature would you sport? I don’t know if I could sport an all-out booty bouffant, considering how certain cuts of dreses fall on my rear end. A little subtly like this coat is more my style:

ASOS Wool Bustle Back Coat

Wedding dresses are big on accentuating certain portions of the human figure, and bustles are a prominent feature. Many go above and beyond the call for tulle and ruffles, but there are some tasteful gowns out there like this dress by Alisa Benay

I’d get hitched in that. OK, no, I wouldn’t, but it is lovely.

Zac Posen can’t seem to decide if he wants to play it safe or go balls-to-the-wall with the bustle. Either way works pretty well:


Karlie Kloss in a gloriously gaudy gold bustle dress & Lara Stone models a red flounce

Visually, though, I do enjoy some simple conceptualization to the bustle as demonstrated beautifully by ArtLab and Cloth kits, respectively:

Lysistrata Bustle Noir by ArtLab

Birdie Bustle Skirt by Clothkits

I think Admiral Squidingtoe’s An Ode to the Bustle sums up whatever is left to say on the matter of the bustle and its fetching attributes.

QUESTION: What do you think of the bustle, its influence and lasting power?