To think the hoop skirt was all started with a 19th century fad. The first item that Joseph and Lyman Bloomingdale carried in their Ladies' Notions Shop in New York's Lower East Side. Late 1800's, most fashion retailers specialized in just one type of garment. Not the brothers Bloomingdale - their East Side Bazaar, opened in 1872, sold a wide variety of European fashions. It was the beginning of what would become a "Department Store".