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
Willie Phelps Willie Phelps Willie Thomas Phelps (Chesapeake City, Sept. 5 1914- March 1, 2004) was an American songwriter and country and western guitarist. He performed with his brothers Norman and Earl as the Phelps Brothers. His songs were recorded by country artists such as Jim Reeves, and once by Elvis Presley. Phelps' songs featured in cowboy films in the 1930s; the three brothers had a screen appearance as Ray Whitley's cowboy band in "Hittin' the Trail" 1937, and Phelps' "Move Slow, Little Dogie" featured in the film "The Renegade Ranger" 1938. In 1961 he saluted Jimmie Rodgers (d.1933) and Hank Williams