Victorian fashion

thumb|1844 [[fashion plate depicting fashionable clothing for men and women, including illustrations of a glove, a fanchon, and bonnets]]

thumb|upright|Illustration depicting fashions throughout the 19th century

Victorian fashion consists of 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 from the 1830s through the 1890s. The period saw many changes in fashion, including changes in styles, fashion technology and the methods of distribution. Various movement in architecture, literature, and the decorative and visual arts as well as a changing perception of gender roles also influenced fashion.

Under Queen Victoria's reign, England enjoyed a period of growth along with technological advancement. Mass production of sewing machines in the 1850s as well as the advent of synthetic dyes introduced major changes in fashion. Clothing could be made more quickly and cheaply. Advancement in printing and proliferation of fashion magazines allowed the masses to participate in the evolving trends of high fashion, opening the market of mass consumption and advertising. By 1905, clothing was increasingly factory made and often sold in large, fixed-price department stores, spurring a new age of consumerism with the rising middle class who benefited from the industrial revolution. Unlike in earlier centuries when women would often help their husbands and brothers in family businesses and in labour, during the nineteenth century, gender roles became more defined. The requirement for farm labourers was no longer in such a high demand after the Industrial Revolution, and women were more likely to perform domestic work or, if married, give up paid work entirely. Dress reflected this new, increasingly sedentary lifestyle, and was not intended to be utilitarian.

Clothes were seen as an expression of women's place in society, hence were differentiated in terms of social class. Most women wore a corset over a chemise, followed by a gown or skirt paired with a bodice, blouse, or chemisette. The shape of the skirt would be supported by layers of petticoats or, later in the period, structured support such as crinolines or bustles. Upper-class women, who did not need to work, often wore more tightly-fitting garments and corsets, adorned with numerous embroideries and trims. Middle-class women exhibited similar dress styles; however, the decorations were not as extravagant. Working-class clothing was simpler still, with less expensive fabric and fewer layers and trimmings. The many layers and the construction of garments made women's clothing much heavier than today, and more restrictive, especially in the waist (due to the stiffness of the corset) and the shoulders (due to the popularity of dropped shoulder seams). The amount and quality of fabric was often a display of wealth.

thumb|Picture of 1850s evening dress with a bertha neckline

Neckline: For day, a close neckline was ubiquitous for most of the period. For evening, a wide, low neckline was popular, often with a bertha. This cut exposed a woman's shoulders and it sometimes was trimmed over with a three to six-inch deep lace flounce, or with several horizontal bands of fabric pleats.<br />This décolleté evening style popularized shawls or capelets and required a corset without shoulder straps. The fashion was to produce two bodices, one closed décolletage for day and one décolleté for evening.
Corsets: Corsets were ubiquitous, providing bust and posture support helping to shape the female body into the fashionable silhouette. They function as an undergarment which can be adjusted to bind tightly around the waist, hold and train a person's waistline. It also helped stop the bodice from horizontal creasing. Corsets have been blamed for causing many diseases because of tight lacing, but the practice was less commonplace than generally thought today (Effects of tightlacing on the body).

thumb|Engageants would be worn to fill open sleeves.

Sleeves: In the early Victorian era, the gigot sleeve of the Romantic Era began to tighten into a slimmer line. The armscye was dropped off the shoulder to emphasize the hourglass silhouette.<br />However, as crinolines started to develop in fashion in the 1850s, sleeves turned to be like large bells known as pagoda sleeves. Engageantes, which were usually made of lace, linen, or lawn, with cambric and broderie anglaise, were worn under the sleeves. They were easy to remove, launder and restitch into position, so to act as false sleeves, which was tacked to the elbow-length sleeves during the time. They commonly appear under the bell-shaped sleeves of day dresses. Sleeves tightened again during the 1880s and the armscye moved back up the shoulders.
Silhouette: Silhouette changed over time supported by the evolution of the undergarment. In earlier days, wide skirts were supported by layers of petticoats which used horsehair in the weave. By 1856, the hooped underpinning known as the cage crinoline was used to give skirts a bouffant shape. The 1860s saw fullness slowly move toward the back of the skirt, with the "first bustle" 1870s silhouette requiring the crinolette and then a bustle to support the fashionable draperies such as the polonaise. The bustle disappeared in the late 1870s and returned in a more shelf-like form in the "second bustle" 1880s, with hooped undergarments finally falling out of favor at the start of the 1890s.

Victorian-era cosmetics were typically minimal, as makeup was associated with promiscuity. However, small amounts of pale face powder or powdered blush were more widely used. Some cosmetics contained toxic or caustic ingredients like lead, mercury, ammonia, and arsenic .

1830s dress style

alt=This dress features a low waistline, and the bodice is worn over the hips to further emphasise the silhouette|thumb|upright|An undressed woman In 1837, featuring a fashionable hairstyle, busked corset, and layers of petticoats.

left|thumb|English day dress of around the time of Victoria's ascendancy, with bow details and puffed sleeves.

During the start of Queen Victoria's reign in 1837, the fashionable silhouette was an hourglass shape with wide shoulders, emphasized by puffed gigot sleeves, a full skirt, and a slim waist.

Corsets were extended over the abdomen and down towards the hips, worn with a busk. A chemise was worn under the corset, and cut relatively low in order to prevent exposure. Over the corset, was the tight-fitting bodice featuring a high, straight waistline. Along with the bodice was a long skirt, featuring layers of stiffened petticoats

At the start of the decade, bodices lengthened to the natural waist, and met at a point in the front. The popular low and narrow waist was accentuated by the shape of the corset and seam lines on the bodice.

At the start of the decade, sleeves of bodices were tight at the top, but puffed around the area between the elbow and before the wrist because of the mancheron or gigot. This soon disappeared and was replaced with a tight line.

The second half of the decade saw sleeves flaring out from the elbow into a funnel shape; requiring undersleeves to be worn in order to cover the lower arms.

Skirts lengthened, while widths increased due to the introduction of the horsehair crinoline in 1847; becoming a status symbol of wealth.

Extra layers of flounces and petticoats also further emphasised the fullness of these wide skirts. To achieve the narrow waist, skirts were attached to bodices using very tight organ pleats secured at each fold.

left|thumb|An English silk morning dress from 1865, with machine-made lace.

During the first half of the 1860s, crinolines began decreasing in size at the top, while retaining their volume at the bottom, creating a more pyramidal shape. Bodices remained relatively unchanged, ending at the natural waistline with wide pagoda sleeves or bishop sleeves. By the middle of the decade, the shape of the crinoline became flatter in the front and more voluminous behind, often with a train, requiring an elliptical crinoline. In 1868, Skirt widths diminished even further, while fullness and length remained at the back. In order to emphasize the back, the train was gathered together to form soft folds and draperies.

1870s dress style

alt=Dresses featuring the Bustle & Polonaise|left|thumb|A fashion plate of early 1870s day and evening dress.The style of the 1870s was characterized by an abundance of draperies and trims, beginning the rococo revival. The trend for broad skirts slowly disappeared during the 1870s, as women started to prefer a slimmer silhouette. The waistline of the early 1870s was high, necklines varied, while armscye remained off the shoulder. An overskirt was extremely popular, often tied up into an apron effect at the front with a polonaise or puffed draperies at the back.

thumb|A black net ball dress from 1874, with back draperies and an overskirt.

Over time, the overskirt shortened into a detached basque, resulting in an elongation of the bodice over the hips. As the bodices grew longer in 1873, the polonaise was thus introduced into the Victorian dress styles. A polonaise is a garment featuring both an overskirt and bodice together. The tournure was also introduced, and along with the polonaise, it created an illusion of an exaggerated rear end.

By 1874, skirts began to taper in the front and were adorned with trimmings, while sleeves tightened around the wrist area. Towards 1875 to 1876, bodices featured long but even tighter laced waists, and converged at a sharp point in front. Bustles lengthened and slipped even lower, causing the fullness of the skirt to further diminish. Extra fabric was gathered together behind in pleats, thus creating a narrower but longer tiered, draped train too. Due to the longer trains, petticoats had to be worn underneath in order to keep the dress clean.

left|thumb|An English sheer summer dress with polonaise from around 1875.

In 1877, dresses moulded to fit the figure,

Shoes

The women's shoes of the early Victorian period were narrow and heelless, in black or white satin. By 1850s and 1860s, they were slightly broader with a low heel and made of leather or cloth. Ankle-length laced or buttoned boots were also popular. From the 1870s to the twentieth century, heels grew higher and toes more pointed. Low-cut pumps were worn for the evening.

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 difficult, as reliable records do not exist.

Mourning black

thumb|Victoria's five daughters (Alice, Helena, Beatrice, Victoria and Louise), photographed wearing mourning black beneath a bust of their late father, Prince Albert (1862)

alt=Black Victorian mourning dress|thumb|Mourning Dress, 1894–95

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.

The mourning dress on the right was worn by Queen Victoria, "it shows the traditional touches of mourning attire, which she wore from the death of her husband, Prince Albert (1819–1861), until her own death."

Norms for mourning

Manners and Rules of Good Society, or, Solecisms to be Avoided (London, Frederick Warne & Co., 1887) gives clear instructions, such as the following:

{| class="wikitable"

! Relationship to deceased !! First mourning !! Second mourning !! Ordinary mourning !! Half-mourning

| Wife for husband || 1-year, 1-month; bombazine fabric covered with crepe; widow's cap, lawn cuffs, collars || 6 months: less crepe || 6 months: no crepe, silk or wool replaces bombazine; in last 3 months jet jewellery and ribbons can be added || 6 months: colours permitted are grey, lavender, mauve, and black-and-grey

| Daughter for parent || 6 months: black with black or white crepe (for young girls); no linen cuffs and collars; no jewellery for first 2 months || 4 months: less crepe || – || 2 months as above

| Wife for husband's parents || 18 months in black bombazine with crepe || – || 3 months in black || 3 months as above

| Parent for son- or daughter-in-law's parent || – Black armband in representation of someone lost || – || 1-month black || –

| Second wife for parent of a first wife || – || – || 3 months black || –

The complexity of these etiquette rules extends to specific mourning periods and attire for siblings, step-parents, aunts and uncles distinguished by blood and by marriage, nieces, nephews, first and second cousins, children, infants, and "connections" (who were entitled to ordinary mourning for a period of "1–3 weeks, depending on level of intimacy"). Men were expected to wear mourning black to a lesser extent than women, and for a shorter mourning period. After the mid-19th century, men would wear a black hatband and black suit, but for only half the prescribed period of mourning expected of women. Widowers were expected to mourn for a mere three months, whereas the proper mourning period expected for widows was up to four years. Women who mourned in black for longer periods were accorded great respect in public for their devotion to the departed, the most prominent example being Queen Victoria herself.

Women with lesser financial means tried to keep up with the example being set by the middle and upper classes by dyeing their daily dress. Dyers made most of their income during the Victorian period by dyeing clothes black for mourning.

Technological advancement

Technological advancements not only influenced the economy but brought a major change in the fashion styles worn by men and women. As the Victorian era was based on the principles of gender, race and class. Much advancement was in favor of the upper class as they were the ones who could afford the latest technology and change their fashion styles accordingly. In 1830s there was introduction of horse hair crinoline that became a symbol of status and wealth as only the upper-class women could wear it. In 1850s there were more fashion technological advancements hence 1850s could rightly be called a revolution in the Victorian fashion industry such as the innovation of artificial cage crinoline that gave women an artificial hourglass silhouette without layers of petticoats, which was lighter and more hygienic. Synthetic dyes, such as mauveine (aniline purple), were introduced in 1856, adding bright colours to garments. In 1855's Haute couture was introduced as tailoring became more mainstream in years to follow.

Charles Frederick Worth, a prominent English designer, became popular amongst the upper class though its city of destiny always is Paris. Haute couture became popular at the same time that sewing machines were invented. Princess Eugenie of France wore the Englishman dressmaker, Charles Frederick Worth's couture and he instantly became famous in France though he had just arrived in Paris a few years ago. In 1855, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Britain welcomed Napoleon III and Eugenie of France to a full state visit to England. Eugenie was considered a fashion icon in France. Queen Victoria, who had been the fashion icon for European high fashion, was inspired by Eugenie's style and the fashions she wore. Later, Queen Victoria also appointed Charles Frederick Worth as her dress maker and he became a prominent designer amongst the European upper class. Charles Frederick Worth is known as the father of the haute couture as later the concept of labels were also invented in the late 19th century as custom, made to fit tailoring became mainstream.

By the 1860s, when made-to-fit tailoring was popular in Europe, crinolines were considered impractical. In the 1870s, women preferred more slimmer silhouettes, hence bodices grew longer and the polonaise, a skirt and bodice made together, was introduced. In 1870s the Cuirass Bodice, a piece of armour that covers the torso and functions like a corset, was invented. Towards the end of Victoria's reign, dresses were flared naturally as crinolines were rejected by middle-class women. Designers such as Charles Frederick Worth were also against them. All these inventions and changes in fashion led to women's liberation as tailored looks improved posture and were more practical.

Home furnishing was not necessarily ornate or overstuffed. However, those who could afford lavish draperies and expensive ornaments, and wanted to display their wealth, would often do so. Since the Victorian era was one of increased social mobility, there were ever more nouveaux riches making a rich show.

The items used in decoration may also have been darker and heavier than those used today, simply as a matter of practicality. London was noisy and its air was full of soot from countless coal fires. Hence those who could afford it draped their windows in heavy, sound-muffling curtains, and chose colours that didn't show soot quickly. When all washing was done by hand, curtains were not washed as frequently as they might be today.

There is no actual evidence that piano legs were considered scandalous. Pianos and tables were often draped with shawls or cloths—but if the shawls hid anything, it was the cheapness of the furniture. There are references to lower-middle-class families covering up their pine tables rather than show that they couldn't afford mahogany. The piano leg story seems to have originated in the 1839 book, A Diary in America written by Captain Frederick Marryat, as a satirical comment on American prissiness.

Victorian manners may have been as strict as imagined—on the surface. One simply did not speak publicly about sex, childbirth, and such matters, at least in the respectable middle and upper classes. However, as is well known, discretion covered a multitude of sins. Prostitution flourished. Upper-class men and women indulged in adulterous liaisons.

Gallery

References

External links

Victorian Fashion
VictorianVoices.net – Fashion articles and illustrations from Victorian periodicals; extensive fashion image gallery
Victorian myths
Victorian fashion, etiquette, and sports
Background on "A Diary in America"
Form and Fashion — the evolution of women's dress during the 19th century (many photographs)
Educational Game: Mix and Match — build a 19th-century dress using a virtual mannequin
Fashion detective: Fashion, Fiction and Forensics in nineteenth century Australian fashion on Culture Victoria

Victorian fashion

1830s dress style

1870s dress style

Shoes

Mourning black

Norms for mourning

Technological advancement

Gallery

See also

Time periods

Women's clothing

Contemporary interpretations

References

Further reading

External links