This Article may be of interest to you, though it is paywalled. It's one of the sources for the wikipedia page on the Estonian national awakening.

The era from 1870-1900 constituted the second wave of the Estonian national awakening. The first wave of the awakening (1820-1869) had seen Estonian culture turn away from accepting the cultural hegemony of Baltic German culture and instead Estonians started to actively recognize their own, distinct cultural identity. An imperial effort to russify its' provinces (like Estonia) began in the 1880s, in order to assimilate the minority cultures across the Empire and make Russia more homogenous from a cultural perspective. This shattered the previously positive view Estonian intellectuals had of Imperial Russia, and resulted in the awakening taking on more political dimensions, eventually leading to a push for national independence in the tail end of the first world war.

As far as the year 1888 specifically goes, I've failed to find any specific events regarding that year. As far garments of that era go, this wikipedia article may be of use to you. Though it should be noted that Estonia as a periphery was not as wealthy as mainstream Western fashion centers were. As such the garments in Estonia would have been simpler, and likely even outdated, compared to the latest fashions in Paris or London. In fact, given the Estonian cultural identity associating itself with common roots, simpler, more practical garments were themselves a cultural statement. I also recommend researching Estonian National Dress, as most "traditional" Estonian garments originate from the national awakening era.