[29] A LADY, _The Workwoman's Guide_ (London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 1840), p. 61. The following details reveal that, in general, this 1840 bathing gown starts as an unshaped garment similar to the gown attributed to Martha Washington [brackets are mine]. As the width of the materials, of which a bathing gown is made, varies, it is impossible to say of how many breadths it should consist. The width at the bottom, when the gown is doubled, should be about 15 nails [1 nail = 21/4 in.]: fold it like a pinafore, slope 31/2 nails for the shoulders, cut or open slits of 31/2 nails long for the armholes, set in plain sleeves 41/2 nails long, 31/2 nails wide, and make a slit in front 5 nails long.[30] [30] Loc. cit. (footnote 29). The instructions for finishing this gown, however, show that the sleeves were worn close around the wrists and that the fullness of the skirt was secured at the waist by a belt. In making up, delicacy is the great object to be attended to. Hem the gown at the bottom, gather it into a band at the top, and run in strings; hem the opening and the bottom of the sleeves and put in strings. A broad band should be sewed in about half a yard from the top, to button round the waist.[31] [31] Loc. cit. (footnote 29). By the addition of the above details this type of bathing gown more closely approximates the style of the long-skirted blouse of the 1850s to be described later. In regard to the bathing cap we are told that, These are made of oil-silk, and are worn, when bathing, by ladies who have long hair.... It is advisable, however, for those who have not long hair, to bathe in plain linen caps, so as to admit the water without the sand or grit, and thus the bather, unless prohibited on account of health, enjoys all the benefit of the shock without injuring the hair.[32] [32] Ibid., p. 68. The "Scene at Cape May" (fig. 3) shows women wearing long-skirted, long-sleeved, belted gowns as well as head coverings similar to the type described in _The Workwoman's Guide_. Thus during the period when bathing became popular as a medicinal treatment, women wore loose, open gowns perhaps patterned after a common undergarment, the chemise. Although this chemise-type bathing costume must have been very comfortable when dry, its fullness was restrictive when wet. The bather could only immerse herself in water which was all that was necessary for the treatment. As the recreational possibilities of bathing began to overshadow its health-giving properties, women's bathing dresses also became more fitted, following the general silhouette of women's fashions. [Illustration: SCENE AT CONEY ISLAND--SEA BATHING ILLUSTRATED. Figure 7.--SEA BATHING AT CONEY ISLAND, from _Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper_, September 1856. (Smithsonian photo 58437.)] BIFURCATED BATHING DRESS