Victorian Fashion

Image : Google
1844 fashion plate depicting
fashionable clothing for men and women,
including illustrations of a glove and bonnets.

              Victorian fashion comprises the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and developed in the United Kingdom and the British Empire throughout the Victorian era, roughly 1830s to 1900s (decade). The period saw many changes in fashion, including changes in clothing, architecture, literature, and the decorative and visual arts.

By 1905, clothing was increasingly factory-made and often sold in large, fixed price department stores. Custom sewing and home sewing were still significant, but on the decline. New machinery and materials developed clothing in many ways.

The introduction of the lock-stitch sewing machine in mid-century simplified both home and boutique dressmaking, and enabled a fashion for lavish application of trim that would have been prohibitively time-consuming if done by hand. Lace machinery made lace at a fraction of the cost of the old. New cheap, bright dyes were developed that displaced the old animal or vegetable dyes.

History of the Victorian Corset

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           In the 1830's, the corset was thought of as a medical necessity. It was believed that a woman was very fragile, and needed assistance from some form of stay to hold her up. Even girls as young as three or four, and probably directed by the best motives, were laced up into bodices.

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           Gradually these garments were lengthened and tightened. By the time they were teenagers, the girls were unable to sit or stand for any length of time without the aid of a heavy canvas corset reinforced with whale bone or steel. The corset deformed the internal organs making it impossible to draw deep breath, in or out of a corset. Because of this Victorian women were always fainting and getting the vapours. 

Working class women (except when dressed for special occasions) did not go through the discomfort of wearing tightly laced corsets. They wore looser corsets and simpler clothes, with less weight. The higher up in class a lady was, the more confining her clothes were.

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Pros and cons of a corset :

Cons :

- Asphyxia: they could not breathe very well with them.

- Sunstroke: women usually get sunstroke because of all the clothes they had to     wear.

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- Infertility: the corsets they had to wear were so tight that women had continually miscarriages, many of them remained sterile for life. In the "best" cases babies came out deformed or with cardiorespiratory problems.

- Faints: Faints were caused by the difficult task of breathing well.

Pros :

- Corsets were used to enhance women's figure and to enhance the bust as well.

Image : Google
Evolution of Fashion Dresses

Women's Fashion 

Image : GooglePrincess Albert de Broglie wears a blue silk
evening gown with delicate lace and ribbon trim.
 Her hair is covered with a sheer frill trimmed
with matching blue ribbon knots.
 She wears a necklace, tasseled earrings
and bracelets on each wri

            In the 1840s and 1850s, women's gowns had wide puffed sleeves. Dresses were simple and pale, and incorporated realistic flower trimming. Petticoats, corsets, and chemises were worn under gowns. By the 1850s, the number of petticoats was reduced to be superseded by the crinoline, and the size of skirts was expanded. Day dresses had a solid bodice and evening gowns had a very low neckline and were worn off the shoulder with shawls.

          In the 1860s, the skirts became flatter at the front and projected out more behind the woman. Day dresses had wide pagoda sleeves and high necklines with lace or tatted collars. Evening dresses had low necklines and short sleeves, and were worn with short gloves, fingerless lace or crocheted mitts.

          In the 1870s, uncorseted tea gowns were introduced for informal entertaining at home and steadily grew in popularity. Bustles were used to replace the crinoline to hold the skirts up behind the woman, even for "seaside dresses". The fad of hoop skirts had faded and women strived for a slimmer style. Small hats were perched towards the front of the head, over the forehead. To complement the small hat, women wore their hair in elaborate curls. Some women wore hairpieces called "scalpettes" and "frizzettes" to add to the volume of their hair.

          In the 1880s, riding habits had a matching jacket and skirt (without a bustle), a high-collared shirt or chemisette, and a top hat with a veil. Hunting costumes had draped ankle-length skirts worn with boots or gaiters. Clothing worn when out walking had a long jacket and skirt, worn with the bustle, and a small hat or bonnet. Travelers wore long coats like dusters.

          In the 1890s, Women's wear in the last decade of the Victorian era was characterised by high collars, held in place by collar stays, and stiff steel boning in long line bodices. By this time, there were neither crinolines nor bustles. Women opted for the tiny wasp waist instead.

The women's dress was very elaborated. Their dresses affected the way they walked, sat or moved her arms. Women wore a variety of colours for their stockings and dresses. Dresses and stockings undergarments were cut in a style  to show off the figure in a modest way. The undergarments had whale-bones or flexible steel to make it more comfortable.

 

Below one can see what women of that time had to wear :

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Firstly the drawers

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Secondly the slip

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Thirdly the Corset

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Then the petticoat

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Then the camisole

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Then they had to put on the "bustle" or polisón, this piece was essential to give form to the dress.

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Followed by the underskirt

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Finally the shirt and the jacket or a t-shirt

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In this picture the woman is dressed to go out.

Hats

Image : GoogleEmma Hill by Ford Madox Brown(1853),
a woman wearing a later version of the poke bonnet.

          Women's hats during the Victorian era are stereotypically thought of as the enormous, feather- and flower-laden creations that were fashionable in the late-Victorian period. They evolved through many trends over the decades before reaching the later style.To enhance the style without distracting from it, hats were modest in size and design, straw and fabric bonnets being the popular choice. Poke bonnets, which had been worn during the late Regency period, had high, small crowns and brims that grew larger until the 1830s, when the face of a woman wearing a poke bonnet could only be seen directly from the front. They had rounded brims, echoing the rounded form of the bell-shaped hoop skirts.

       

Image : GoogleOpera singer Adelina Patti painted
 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter in 1863

  The silhouette changed once again as the Victorian era drew to a close. The shape was essentially an inverted triangle, with a wide-brimmed hat on top, a full upper body with puffed sleeves, no bustle, and a skirt that narrowed at the ankles (the hobble skirt was a fad shortly after the end of the Victorian era). The enormous wide-brimmed hats were covered with elaborate creations of silk flowers, ribbons, and above all, exotic plumes; hats sometimes included entire exotic birds that had been stuffed. Many of these plumes came from birds in the Florida everglades, which were nearly entirely        decimated by overhunting.

Shoes

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In the early XIXth century shoes began to be made with a right foot and a left foot instead of being interchangeable.  Men very often wore boots in the XIXth century and it became acceptable for women to wear them too. Firstly they were made of leather but since the 1850s they were made of rubber. However at the end of the century it became fashionable for women to wear shoes again. 

Accessories

             Shawls, cloaks, mantles, scarves and little aprons were other accessories. Gloves and parasols were popular. Large brooches were worn at the throat and large and small earrings were also worn. The use of fans was also very common. Boas made of feathers or fur were also very big.

Makeup

           

Image : Google

About the makeup of this time, women wanted to look as fragile ladies. They compared themselves to delicate flowers and emphasised their delicacy and femininity.  They always wanted to look pale and interesting. Paleness could be induced vinegar and avoiding fresh air. Sometimes ladies discreetly used a little rogue on the cheeks, but makeup was not seen very good, especially during 1870s when social etiquette became more rigid.

            Actresses, however were allowed to use makeup. Most cosmetic products available were still either chemically or homemade with kitchen colourings like berries and beetroots.

A pale skin was a mark of gentility. It meant that an upper class-lady did not work in the country so she was not dark-skinned. Parasols were very popular and used to protect the skin from the sun.

            During this time the most valued thing on women was their hair. It was rarely cut, usually only in severe illness. It was also supplemented by false hair depending on the current fashion.

Hairstyles

Hairstyles were very complicated. Hair was thick, long and luxuriant in many different styles. Hair was parted down the middle, curled or braided, then tied or pinned back. Only in informal occasions, a Victorian lady was seen leaving her hair fall loose around her shoulders.

Later in the XIXth century, Victorian hairstyles became more elaborate. Bangs made their debut around 1880. Women began to use hot irons to wave their hair or add ringlets to it.

 * When Queen Elizabeth died in 1901 her styles died with her. The XXth century brought simpler fashions. Women's fashions changed considerably with the rise in feminism in the XXth century.

Men's Fashion

     

Image : GoogleDrawing of Victorian men 1870s

      During the 1840s, men wore tight-fitting, calf length frock coats and a waistcoat or vest. The vests were single- or double-breasted, with shawl or notched collars, and might be finished in double points at the lowered waist. For more formal occasions, a cutaway morning coat was worn with light trousers during the daytime, and a dark tail coat and trousers was worn in the evening. The shirts were made of linen or cotton with low collars, occasionally turned down, and were worn with wide cravats or neck ties. Trousers had fly fronts, and breeches were used for formal functions and when horseback riding. Men wore top hats, with wide brims in sunny weather.

            During the 1850s, men started wearing shirts with high upstanding or turnover collars and four-in-hand neckties tied in a bow, or tied in a knot with the pointed ends sticking out like "wings". The upper-class continued to wear top hats, and bowler hats were worn by the working class.

            In the 1860s, men started wearing wider neckties that were tied in a bow or looped into a loose knot and fastened with a stickpin. Frock coats were shortened to knee-length and were worn for business, while the mid-thigh length sack coat slowly displaced the frock coat for less-formal occasions. Top hats briefly became the very tall "stovepipe" shape, but a variety of other hat shapes were popular.

            During the 1870s, three-piece suits grew in popularity along with patterned fabrics for shirts. Neckties were the four-in-hand and, later, the Ascot ties. A narrow ribbon tie was an alternative for tropical climates, especially in the Americas. Both frock coats and sack coats became shorter. Flat straw boaters were worn when boating.

            During the 1880s, formal evening dress remained a dark tail coat and trousers with a dark waistcoat, a white bow tie, and a shirt with a winged collar. In mid-decade, the dinner jacket or tuxedo, was used in more relaxed formal occasions. The Norfolk jacket and tweed or woolen breeches were used for rugged outdoor pursuits such as shooting. Knee-length topcoats, often with contrasting velvet or fur collars, and calf-length overcoats were worn in winter. Men's shoes had higher heels and a narrow toe.

             Starting from the 1890s, the blazer was introduced, and was worn for sports, sailing, and other casual activities.

             Throughout much of the Victorian era most men wore fairly short hair. This was often accompanied by various forms of facial hair including moustaches, side-burns, and full beards. A clean-shaven face did not come back into fashion until the end of the 1880s and early 1890s.

             Distinguishing what men really wore from what was marketed to them in periodicals and advertisements is problematic, as reliable records do not exist.

Mourning Black

       

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   In Britain, black is the colour traditionally associated with mourning for the dead. The customs and etiquette expected of men, and especially women, were rigid during much of the Victorian era. The expectations depended on a complex hierarchy of close or distant relationship with the deceased. The closer the relationship, the longer the mourning period and the wearing of black. The wearing of full black was known as First Mourning, which had its own expected attire, including fabrics, and an expected duration of 4 to 18 months. Following the initial period of First Mourning, the mourner would progress to Second Mourning, a transition period of wearing less black, which was followed by Ordinary Mourning, and then Half-mourning. Some of these stages of mourning were shortened or skipped completely if the mourner's relationship to the deceased was more distant. Half-mourning was a transition period when black was replaced by acceptable colours such as lavender and mauve, possibly considered acceptable transition colours because of the tradition of Church of England (and Catholic) clergy wearing lavender or mauve stoles for funeral services, to represent the Passion of Christ.

Home Dećor

             Home decor started spare, veered into the elaborately draped and decorated style we today regard as Victorian, then embraced the retro-chic of William Morris as well as pseudo-Japonaiserie.