Category: New Jersey


  • Newspaper: “Bloomers Not Masculine Apparel, But If a Woman Dresses Like a Man in West Orange She Will Be Fined” (1895)

    “Bloomers Not Masculine Apparel, But If a Woman Dresses Like a Man in West Orange She Will Be Fined.” New York Herald. May 22, 1895.

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    BLOOMERS NOT MASCULINE APPAREL

    But if a Woman Dresses Like a Man in West Orange She Will Be Fined.
    [BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.]
    ORANGE, N. J., May 21, 1895.—The West Orange Township Committee recently passed an ordinance relating to vice and immorality. One of the sections provides that “no person shall appear on any street or highway or public place in a state of nudity or in a dress not belonging to his or her sex, &c., under a penalty of $10 for each and every offence.” At a meeting of the Board held last night the question was raised whether or not this referred to the wearing of bloomers or knickerbockers by women cyclists. The question was not settled, but one of the Board said he guessed there would not arise an occasion where the question would be tested, as the garments referred to had become so generally used that they could, he thought, be considered as belonging to the female.


  • The City Charter and Ordinances of the City of Newark (1858)


    The City Charter and Ordinances of the City of Newark, Together with Miscellaneous Acts of the Legislature, Relating to the City, with an Appendix. Newark, NJ: Daily Advertiser Office, 1858.

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    Chapter XXXIV (An ordinance to prevent Vice and Immorality, to preserve Public Peace and Good Order, and for other purposes), Sec. 11 (Indecent exposure and conduct), p. 260:

    Sec. 11. No person shall appear in any street or public place in a state of nudity, or in a dress not belonging to his or her sex, or in an indecent or lewd dress, or shall make any indecent exposure of his or her person, or be guilty of any lewd or indecent act or behavior, or shall exhibit, sell, or offer to sell, any indecent or lewd book, picture or other thing, or shall exhibit or perform any indecent, immoral or lewd play or other representation, under the penalty of ten dollars for each and every offense. … Passed, July 12, 1858. Approved, July 13, 1858.

    Passed, July 12, 1858. Approved July 13, 1858.