Dress During The Victorian Era

“She is doomed to her position in society: a slave to fashion, cosseted and striving to be pleasing to men, whatever the cost.” (V&A date unknown?) -V&A http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/corsets-and-crinolines-in-victorian-fashion/ Fashion in the victorian era is described here as a moment of restriction for women and therefore a reflection of their place in society. Women’s ability to perform everyday tasks and engage in activities was jeopardised for the sake of the male invention of corsets, forcing women as the V&A labels them to be slaves of fashion. Imprisoned behind their clothes physically, resulted in their constrained role in society.

The dress style for ladies continued to have an emphasis on the narrow waist, but the bodice shifted to a low-necked gown trimmed with fabrics, lace ruffles, or a fichu tucked into the low neckline.The front of the skirt was open to feature a separate petticoat, which made up the ensemble.

Some might ask, why was clothing in the Elizabethan Era so monumental? The ruler of The Elizabethan Era, Elizabeth I, who possessed two thousand exquisite gowns upon her death was a woman, with her being a woman, fashion was nothing to be toyed with; it was serious business(Lad). Fashion in the Elizabethan Era defined citizens as persons; colors, fabrics, and even hair lines could indicate whether you belong to the lavish upper class or the lower class clothed in wool. Clothing of the Elizabethan Era was indeed serious business, so serious that Elizabeth I introduced the Statues of Apparel In Greenwich on June 15, 1574. (Alchin)

My Major Textile Project is a ballgown styled evening piece that is simple, elegant and uncluttered. It is designed to be worn in an extremely formal setting such as a red carpet event and therefore falls into the category of apparel. My ensemble consists of a corset which is fastened at the back via eyelets laced with ribbon with a decorative pintucking crosshatched design on the front panel. This is paired with a full-length skirt with petticoats to add bulk, creating a design very reminiscent of the Victorian Era but also a garment that can be worn in a modern day, formal context. Evidently, my focal inspiration is 19th century Victorian Era garments and the silhouettes common in that time. The Victorian Era style of dress was one with a

The Victorian era is a term used to refer to the period during which Britain was under the control of Queen Victoria. It was a period that was different from all the other periods in the history of Britain. The Victorian era was before the Georgian era. This period of British history has lasted about 63 years, starting from when Queen Victoria began to rule in 1837 and ended when she died in 1901.

In the Victorian Era, clothes showed social rank, wealth, stability and style. The rich wore really expensive clothes. The women always wore big, puffy, shiny dresses. The men wore suits and ties with a vest and dress pants and black or brown leather dress shoes. If you didn’t have nice clothes, you were considered useless or

Clothing in the Victorian era was constantly changing. Three of the most common fabrics used, were cotton, flax, and silk. Women’s clothing was changing more often than men’s and different materials were used for each gender. Clothing was different for each social class; to say nothing of, types of clothing and materials also differed by gender.

In Victorian times women actually had up to five layers of clothing on everyday. The first layer was very basic but also important. It was stockings they went just above the knee and were held up by garters. The second layer was a corset and a crinoline. The third layer was a camisole placed over the corset placed as a shield between the woman’s skin and the dress and a petticoat was put over the crinoline to help it from messing up the bottom of the dress. The fourth layer is the actual dress. The fifth layer were just accessories.

Elizabethan clothing and fashion was known to be one of the most significant time periods in English History. People believed that social rank and wealth depended on what family one was born into, however it was much more than that. The style of clothing would be easily recognizable today because clothing, accessories and embellishment were all apart of daily life. Clothing during this time period played a big role in determining who associated with who, what your identity was and social rank during this era (“Stubbes on Ruffs.”).

This silhouette has drastically changed from its manly previous more masculin and e, stiff, triangtriangle ular shape, to a very much more feminine oneform. Handmade suits had fitted jackets with peplums, usually worn with a long, narrow pencil skirt. Day dresses had fitted body and full skirt, with low-cut necklines or Peter Pan

Women’s clothing took hours to put on. Women in the Elizabethan time wore puffy sleeves, and tight-fitting dresses. Back in that time the women tried to look more petite than they look even though they wore multiple layers on (History of Fashion). Women had to cover all of their bodies. Women who were in the upper class wore knee-length, of full chemise. A chemise was a thin white (dress for girls), puffy shirt-dress. A chemise was usually made of undergarment made of linen. Stockings were knee-length and were usually made or wool, silk or linen. What was strange was a farthingale. A farthingale was a dome shaped skirt (made stiff of whalebone or wood) that was worn underneath the dress. A women’s petticoat was worn over the farthingale to add more volume to the gown. A kirtle was worn above the petticoat. The kirtle was decorated in the front section. Gowns were expensive materials. They split in the middle to reveal the kirtle. The ruffs were worn by the women also. The shoes, were made of leather, silk, velvet, and brocade (rich fabric). The women in this social class, wore looser corsets (which usually clinched at the waist), less layers, and wore simple clothes that were less cumbersome (large or heavy)

I'm going to be talking about the victorian era and what they did for fun for fun. This topic is going to focus on mainly children and adults on what they did for fun in the victorian era. You should be able to relate to some of the things that they did.

The Elizabethan era was a time period centered around the life of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign (1558-1603). This period in time is considered the peak of English history and is the beginning of when people began to think and believe differently. That brought along changes in the way people dressed. How people, particularly rich ones, dressed was just another way for them to express themselves. Social classes are also very much prominent in the era. These social classes influenced the fashion of the Elizabethan era. This is shown in men’s and women’s clothes, shoes, hats, and accessories in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (Whitmore, Deanne)

How long did the Victorian Era last? Queen Victoria of England ruled the throne for over 64 years, however her impact made the Victorian era last for a 150 year. The Victorian era was most known for its censorship and proper allegations. For example, men were supposed to be hard workers and protectors of the house and family. Subsequently, women were suited to a role that limited their abilities as a citizen as compared to today, which included household chores and such. Lastly, children were to be quite and did not spend much time with their mothers and fathers. Due to society’s own harsh expectations of themselves, it impacted other aspects of their lives. This impacted literature and is a major time when authors had to use more profound and deeper meaning to events in stories to get inappropriate points across that would otherwise be censored. With this, the ideas in literature reflect ideas that are found during the Victorian era because of its characters’ reactions and events that were censored. The novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, uses the Victorian era’s ideology to influence the story and its characters to convey the Victorian’s beliefs in their society.

The Victorian era was between 1837 till 1901. It was a time of the industrial revolution, new inventions and where the country earned the name Great Britain. But with all of these positive events there were many downfalls such as the increase of poverty and disease. Many authors saw this as an opportunity to show the reality of Great Britain , for example Charles Dickens wrote many novels. He talked about differences in classes and that even with all the money in the world your wealth has little to no value if you are not happy and healthy whereas the poor have to work harder and earn their money for family with meagre financial rewards for the work they do. But all of this aside what were the conditions like in Victorian England?