Nicknames for Demi: | Edit. Share what you know! Meanings and history of the name Demi: | Edit. This name first gained wide attention through the actress Demi Moore, who used it as a short form of her full name, Demetria. It is now being used as an independent name.
In Western fashion history, it's men who are the innovators, and women pick up bits and pieces of it as men abandon them. Women didn't really start wearing pants or trousers in public until the 1930s or so, revealing at least the shape of their lower bodies for the first time. Practicality really isn't high on the list of reasons why people wear the things they do.
As we consider the history of women's dress, and the development of pants on women, we go back to a time when Ellen White was still living. Consider the prevailing fashions of the day: Prevailing fashions of 1850s and 1860s included corsets, dragging skirts, and hoops. These dresses were unhealthful and impractical.