By means of strings to reveal

Question

can you explain clauses which is written in bold in paragraph.

The crinoline, in fact, having served as a symbol of the Second Empire, collapsed with it like a pricked balloon. In the street it was the fashion for younger women to wear a shorter skirt, which could be looped up by means of strings to reveal a skirt underneath,

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Crinoline (according to Wiki) is a stiff fabric which is used to make a framework under a lady's skirt so that the skirt appears to have expanded as though it were filled by air like a balloon. (This differs from the image I carried in mind for years after hearing crinoline mentioned in a song by Simon and Garfunkel. At last you gave me a reason to look it up. Do so yourself; you may enjoy the fashion commercials that appear in the search results.) The balloon and the skirt are both symbols of the "air-filled" style of the Second Empire in France in the mid-1800s. The author is suggesting that both would collapse like a balloon if simply pricked with a pin. In the case of ladies' garments it sounds as though the wide skirt with crinoline under-frame was replaced by a two-layer garment whose outer layer could be pulled up somewhat like window curtains to reveal a more form-fitting inner layer. I would think this would only increase the danger to the ladies from un-named sharp objects. Ooh la la!
On a more sober note your passage may suggest that the Franco-Prussian war was the sharp object that deflated opulent French society. My French history ain't so good, so I may be off by a couple of decades here. (French Second Empire architecture is a dream to see - but a nightmare to maintain. Ah, but so civilized...!)

Heyose · Answer

thanks for your useful and clear explanations.

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