I have been interested in the early suffragettes in Australia. Bloomerism was an early form of dress reform in the mid 1800's. Named after the American Amelia Bloomer, who pioneered the bloomers. Bloomers were down to the ankle trousers, that were to be worn under the dress and the dress or skirt could then be raised to knee height for less restricted movement. This simple reform was considered radical in it's day and was met with a lot of resistance.  Both Caroline Dexter and Henrietta Dugdale were two suffragettes who lived in Melbourne for a period and campaigned for this cause.

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I wanted to run the city for the cause of Bloomerism as a way to both acknowledge the campaigners of the past and the idea that such practical dress reform could be considered as something so radical. In wearing black I wanted to literally carve out a silhouetted space for the women of the past, as I ran with my Bloomer flag billowing throughout the city. 

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