Bohemian style was not really until the First World War that "many working women ... embarked on a revolution in fashion that greatly reduced the weight and restrictions imposed on them by their clothing". Some women working in factories wore trousers and the brassiere (invented in 1889 by the feminist Herminie Cadolle and patented in America by Mary Phelps Jacob in 1914) began gradually to supersede the corset. In shipyards "trouser suits" (the term, "pantsuit" was adopted in America in the 1920s) were virtually essential to enable women to shin up and down ladders. Music hall artists also helped to push the
John M. Phelps He was elected as Secretary of State in 1870 and served 1871–1873. John Phelps married Mary Loudin prior to 1845 in Gilmer County, West Virginia. they had three children all born in Virginia: Oliver (born 1845), Cordelia (born 1846), and William (born 1849). Mary died in February or March 1853 in Harrison County, West Virginia. Oliver also served in the Civil War, and was promoted to commissioned a captain of E Company on May 6, 1862, first lieutenant on March 5, 1862, and was made captain of B Company on February 1, 1864. Phelps then married Susan Jane Hagerman at