Windsor Castle in Modern Times by Landseer depicts the Queen and the Prince Consort "at home" in the 1840s.

The term "Victorian fashion" refers to fashion in clothing in the Victorian era, or the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). It is strictly used only with regard to the United Kingdom and its colonies, but is often used loosely to refer to Western fashions of the period. It may also refer to a supposedly unified style in clothing, home décor, manners, and morals, or a culture, said to be prevalent in the West during this period. Image File history File links Windsor Castle in Modern Times by Sir Edwin Landseer, 1841-1845. ... Image File history File links Windsor Castle in Modern Times by Sir Edwin Landseer, 1841-1845. ... Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer, 1851: the image was widely distributed in steel engravings Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (March 7, 1802 - October 1, 1873) was a British painter, well known for his paintings of animals - particularly horses, dogs and stags. ... For other uses, see Fashion (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Fashion (disambiguation). ... Clothing protects the vulnerable nude human body from the extremes of weather, other features of our environment, and for safety reasons. ... The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Clothing protects the vulnerable nude human body from the extremes of weather, other features of our environment, and for safety reasons. ... Interior decoration is the art of decorating a room so it looks good, is easy to use, and functions well with the existing architecture. ... // In sociology, manners are the unenforced standards of conduct which show the actor to be cultured, polite, and refined. ... For other uses, see Culture (disambiguation). ...

Usefulness of the term

An extreme class contrast in attire, 1871

Those who have studied the period in detail would protest vacuous generalizations. Clothing, décor, manners, and morals varied from year to year, country to country, and class to class. Whether or not there is a style or unified culture connecting a Scottish fisherwoman, for example, and an aristocratic London lady, might well be debated. Image File history File links 1871-fashion-class-contrast. ... Image File history File links 1871-fashion-class-contrast. ... For other uses, see Culture (disambiguation). ...

If we carefully restrict our language, however, and take Victorian fashion to refer to the dress, or in a wider sense, the culture of an upper-middle-class London family of fashion and conventional attitudes, and describe it as it varied from decade to decade, we may be able to usefully describe these phenomena. We can also usefully speak of contemporary stereotypes of the Victorian era. These stereotypes, while not historically valid, help us understand current uses of the term "Victorian". In modern usage, a stereotype is a simplified mental picture of an individual or group of people who share a certain characteristic (or stereotypical) qualities. ...

Historical overview

Several general style trends of the Victorian era transcend any one facet of fashion, but rather had broad influence across clothing styles, architecture, literature, and the decorative arts. Many of these had their roots in the 18th century but flowered in the Victorian age. These include: This article is about building architecture. ... The decorative arts are traditionally defined as ornamental and functional works in ceramic, wood, glass, metal, or textile. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

• Orientalism
• The romanticising of the Scottish Highlands
• The Gothic revival, which in turn generated the Pre-Raphaelites and Artistic Dress
• Aestheticism

Overview of women's fashions, 1794-1887

The Great Exhibition of 1851 had a marked impact on fashion, especially home décor, and even social reform movements influenced fashion, through dress reform and rational dress. For the book by Edward Said, see Orientalism (book). ... Lowland-Highland divide Highland Sign with welcome in English and Gaelic The Scottish Highlands (A Ghàidhealtachd in Gaelic) include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. ... Victoria Tower at the Palace of Westminster, London: Gothic details provided by A.W.N. Pugin The Gothic revival was a European architectural movement with origins in mid-18th century England. ... Persephone, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. ... Jane Morris (The Blue Silk Dress) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1868. ... The Aesthetic movement is a loosely defined movement in art and literature in later nineteenth-century Britain. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (710x1345, 84 KB) A sketch by Alfred Roller, giving an overview of womens fashions during the period 1794-1887. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (710x1345, 84 KB) A sketch by Alfred Roller, giving an overview of womens fashions during the period 1794-1887. ... The Great Exhibition: Paxtons Crystal Palace enclosed full-grown trees in Hyde Park. ... During the middle and late Victorian period, various reformers proposed, designed, and wore clothing supposedly more rational and comfortable than the fashions of the time. ...

Clothing

See also fashion by decades: 1830s - 1840s - 1850s - 1860s - 1870s - 1880s- 1890s

Methods of clothing production and distribution varied enormously over the course of Victoria's long reign. In the 1830s, men wore dark coats, light trousers, and dark cravats for daywear. ... Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort at home, 1841. ... 1859 fashion plate of both mens and womens daywear, with seabathing in background. ... Fashions of the 1860s include square paisley shawls folded on the diagonal and full skirts held out by crinolines. ... Bustles and elaborate drapery on evening dresses of the early 1870s: Detail of Too Early by Tissot, 1873 1870s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by a gradual return to a narrow silhouette after the full-skirted fashions of the 1850s and 1860s. ... Fashions of 1888 feature full busts, large bustles, and wide shoulders Fashion in the 1880s in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by the return of the bustle. ... Fashion in the 1890s finally got rid of the bustle which had haunted womens fashion for 25 years. ...

In 1837, cloth was manufactured (in the mill towns of northern England, Scotland, and Ireland) but clothing was generally custom-made by seamstresses, milliners, tailors, hatters, glovers, corsetiers, and many other specialized tradespeople, who served a local clientele in small shops. Families who could not afford to patronize specialists, made their own clothing, or bought and modified used clothing.

By 1907, clothing was increasingly factory-made and sold in large, fixed price department stores. Custom sewing and home sewing were still significant, but on the decline.

New machinery and materials changed 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, laborious methods. Sewing machines can make a great variety of plain or patterned stitches. ... Trim or trimming in clothing and home decorating is applied ornament such as gimp, passementerie, ribbon, ruffles, or, as a verb, to apply such ornament. ...

New materials from far-flung British colonies gave rise to new types of clothing (such as rubber making gumboots and mackintoshes possible). Chemists developed new, cheap, bright dyes that displaced the old animal or vegetable dyes. This does not cite any references or sources. ... New Zealand term for a Wellington boot. ... Mackintosh shop, Burlington Arcade, London. ... A chemist pours from a round-bottom flask. ... Look up dye in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Women's clothing

A satire on the evolution of 19th-century fashion

Women's fashionable clothing began with a straight, Regency silhouette, bloomed into exaggerated skirts and sleeves, moved to small shoulders and even wider skirts supported by crinolines or hoops, and narrowed by way of the bustle to hobble skirts. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1417x345, 215 KB) A somewhat subjective and fanciful mid-Victorian caricature by Alfred Grévin, which seems to express his personal opinion of the progressive degeneration of womens clothing styles over the first seven or eight decades of the 19th... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1417x345, 215 KB) A somewhat subjective and fanciful mid-Victorian caricature by Alfred Grévin, which seems to express his personal opinion of the progressive degeneration of womens clothing styles over the first seven or eight decades of the 19th... 1811 dance dress 1811 illustration of underclothes, showing one form of Regency stays In the period 1795-1820 in European and European-influenced countries, fashionable womens clothing styles were based on the Empire silhouette — dresses were closely-fitted to the torso just under the breasts, falling loosely below. ... crinoline patented Cutaway view of a crinoline, Punch magazine, August 1856 Sequence of posed joke photographs of five stages of putting on a crinoline, ca. ... Hoopskirt from an 1857 patent application. ... Bustle apparatus (1881) For other uses, see Bustle (disambiguation). ... A hobble skirt is a skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearers stride, thus earning its name. ...

Charles Frederick Worth, the "father of haute couture" and the prototype of the fashion designer as the dictator of modes, was a London draper who relocated to Paris in the 1840s. His success led to the fall of Paris fashion houses as arbiters of style and the preferred clothiers for upper-class women in both Britain and US. Charles Frederick Worth (October 13, 1826 – March 10, 1895), widely considered the Father of Haute Couture, was an English-born fashion designer of the 19th century. ... Haute couture (French for high sewing or high dressmaking; IPA: ) refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted fashions. ... Brief introduction on the history of fashion design and designers Fashion design is the art dedicated to the creation of wearing apparel and lifestyle. ... Fashion House was an American telenovela airing at 9 p. ...

Reactions to the elaborate confections of French fashion led to various calls for reform on the grounds of both beauty (Artistic and Aesthetic dress) and health (dress reform). Arthur Lasenby Liberty challenged the dominance of French fashion when he showed English gowns in Paris at the end of the century. Jane Morris (The Blue Silk Dress) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1868. ... During the middle and late Victorian period, various reformers proposed, designed, and wore clothing supposedly more rational and comfortable than the fashions of the time. ... Arthur Lasenby Liberty (August 13, 1843 _ May 11, 1917) was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. ...

Men's clothing

Men's fashionable clothing was perhaps the least volatile, but there was still an enormous difference between the wasp waist and frock coats of the 1830s dandy and the sober sack suits and Norfolk jackets of 1901. During the 1840s, casual wear became popular. Casual clothing included neckties and scarves. Shirts were commonly made of linen and were black, grey and other neutral colors. Special occasion dress would often include tailored coats specific for the occasion. Formal black frock coat with silk-faced lapels, light grey waistcoat, striped trousers, button boots, gloves, ascot-knotted cravate, and necktie pin; April 1904. ... Suits from the 1937 Chicago Woolen Mills catalog A suit, with varieties such as a business suit, three-piece suit, lounge suit or two-piece suit , comprises a collection of matching clothing consisting of: a coat (commonly known as a jacket) a waistcoat (optional) (USA vest) — without this it is... Norfolk jackets A Norfolk jacket is a loose, belted, single-breasted jacket with box pleats on the back (and sometimes front), now with a belt or half-belt. ... Torn linen cloth, recovered from the Dead Sea Linen is a material made from the fibers of the flax plant. ...

Home décor

Main article: Victorian decorative arts

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. Dante Gabriel Rossettis drawing room at No. ... This page is about William Morris, the writer, designer and socialist. ...

Charles Eastlake's Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and other Details (1868) attempted to educate the middle class on the proper artistic decoration of homes, which required "taste" rather than lavish expenditure.poo.and the willys on the farm. For the 19th century English painter, see Sir Charles Lock Eastlake Charles Locke Eastlake (1836 - 1906) was an architect and furniture designer. ...

Contemporary stereotypes

Lytton Strachey writing to Virginia Woolf, November 8, 1912: Giles Lytton Strachey (March 1, 1880–January 21, 1932) was a British writer and critic. ... For the American writer, see Virginia Euwer Wolff. ...

Is it prejudice, do you think, that makes us hate the Victorians, or is it the truth of the case? They bungling hypocrites; but perhaps really there is a baroque charm about them which will be discovered by our great-great-grandchildren as we have discovered the charm of Donne, who seemed intolerable to the 18th century. Only I don't believe it... I should like to live for another 200 years (to be moderate).

(Cited in The Letters of Lytton Strachey, edited by Paul Levy, Penguin, 2005. ISBN 0-670-89112-6.)

Lytton Strachey's 1918 book of biographical essays, Eminent Victorians, is an amusing but acerbic attack on a constellation of attitudes that Strachey believed to be “Victorian”. He was expressing the attitude of his time, in which forward-thinking men and women despised the staid, prim, proper, and fusty era just past. To a great extent, contemporary stereotypes of "Victorian fashion" carry on the Strachey tradition of seeing the period as a whole.

Victorian prudery

"The proper length for little girls' skirts at various ages", from Harper's Bazaar, showing an 1868 idea of how the hemline should descend towards the ankle as a girl got older

For most, the Victorian period is still a byword for sexual repression. Men's clothing is seen as formal and stiff, women's as fussy and over-done. Clothing covered the entire body, we are told, and even the glimpse of an ankle was scandalous. Critics contend that corsets constricted women's bodies and women's lives. Homes are described as gloomy, dark, cluttered with massive and over-ornate furniture and proliferating bric-a-brac. Myth has it that even piano legs were scandalous, and covered with tiny pantalettes. Image File history File links 1868-skirt-lengths-girl-ages-Harpers-Bazar. ... Image File history File links 1868-skirt-lengths-girl-ages-Harpers-Bazar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Harpers & Queen. ... The term bric-a-brac refers to a selection of items of low value, often sold in street markets. ... a sock like item placed on the legs of pianos in Victorian times. ...

Of course, much of this is untrue, or a gross exaggeration. Men's formal clothing may have been less colorful than it was in the previous century, but brilliant waistcoats and cummerbunds provided a touch of color, and smoking jackets and dressing gowns were often of rich Oriental brocades. Corsets stressed a woman's sexiness, exaggerating hips and bust by contrast with a tiny waist.It was even thought that the big hips of a lady meant that she could properly carry a child. Women's ball gowns bared the shoulders and the tops of the breasts. The tight-fitting jersey dresses of the 1880s may have covered the body, but they left little to the imagination. A traditional waistcoat, to be worn with a two-piece suit or separate jacket and trousers A waistcoat (sometimes called a vest in Canada and the US) is a sleeveless upper-body garment worn over a dress shirt and necktie (if applicable) and below a coat as a part of... Orange cummerbund A cummerbund is a broad waist sash, usually pleated, which is often worn with black tie. ... A dark green velvet smoking jacket A smoking jacket is an item of clothing, now relatively rare, specifically designed for the purposes of smoking tobacco, usually in the form of pipes and cigars. ... A dragon robe from Qing Dynasty of China A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. ... Brocade can stands for: thick heavy fabric into which raised patterns have been woven. ... A luxury hourglass corset from 1878. ... Ball gowns of the 1860s A Ball gown is the most formal female attire for social occasions. ...

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 extreme social mobility, there were ever more nouveaux riches making a rich show. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Parvenu. ...

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 colors that didn't show soot quickly. When all washing was done by hand, curtains were not washed as frequently as they might be today. Soot, also called lampblack, Pigment Black 7, carbon black or black carbon, is a dark powdery deposit of unburned fuel residues, usually composed mainly of amorphous carbon, that accumulates in chimneys, automobile mufflers and other surfaces exposed to smoke—especially from the combustion of carbon-rich organic fuels in the...

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 Captain Frederick Marryat's 1839 book, Diary in America, as a satirical comment on American prissiness. A short grand piano, with the lid up. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... For other uses, see Pine (disambiguation). ... This article is about the timber. ... Captain Frederick Marryat (July 10, 1792 – August 9, 1848) was an English novelist, a contemporary and acquaintance of Charles Dickens, noted today as an early pioneer of the sea story. ...

Victorian manners, however, 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. Then of course there were the artists and bohemians, as well as the lower classes.

Victorian chic

Also see: Neo-Victorian

Some people now look back on the Victorian era with wistful nostalgia. They imagine a dream world of lacy dresses, lavish balls, country house parties, and charming cottages surrounded by old-fashioned flowers (see, for example, the paintings of Thomas Kinkade). Historians would say that this is as much a distortion of the real history as the stereotypes emphasizing Victorian repression and prudery. Neo-Victorian is an aesthetic movement which amalgamates Victorian and Edwardian aesthetic sensibilities with modern principles and technologies, many of which originate and are still centered in Japan. ... Dream worlds are a commonly used plot device in fictional works, most notably in science fiction and fantasy fiction. ... Kinkade with copy of his painting Heading Home presented to USO in October 2005. ...

Also notable is a contemporary counter-cultural trend called steampunk. Youth who dress steampunk wear Victorian-style clothing that has been "tweaked" in edgy ways: tattered, distorted, melded with Goth, Punk, and Rivet styles. Another example of Victorian fashion being incorporated into a contemporary style is the Gothic Lolita culture. For the comic book, see Steampunk (comics). ... Punk fashion is the styles of clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. ... Two girls in frilly, somewhat extreme Lolita dress that was popular around 2002 in Takeshita Street, Tokyo Gothic Lolita or GothLoli , sometimes alternatively (though incorrectly) Loli-Goth) has two definitions. ...

Gallery

A mid-Victorian interior: Hide and Seek by James Tissot c. 1877. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (733x789, 317 KB)Detail from Hide and Seek by James Tissot, c. ... James Joseph Jacques Tissot (October 15, 1836 – August 8, 1902) was a French painter. ...	Dress designed by Charles Frederick Worth for Elisabeth of Austria painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (568x866, 31 KB) Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Kaiserin Elisabeth File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Elisabeth of Bavaria ... Charles Frederick Worth (October 13, 1826 – March 10, 1895), widely considered the Father of Haute Couture, was an English-born fashion designer of the 19th century. ... There are many women who might be known as Elisabeth of Austria: the most noted of these is the Empress Sisi, whose article is found at Elisabeth_of_Bavaria Other Elisabeth of Austrias include: Elisabeth of Austria (1437-1505), wife of Casimir IV of Poland Elisabeth of Austria (1554 - 1592), wife of... The Empress Eugenie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting Franz Winterhalter was a famous Victorian, German speaking artist. ...	William Powell Frith's painting of 1883 contrasts women's Aesthetic dress(left and right) with fashionable attire(center). Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 518 pixels Full resolution (1029 × 666 pixel, file size: 1. ... Detail of a nude by Frith William Powell Frith (January 19, 1819 - November 9, 1909), was an English painter specialising in portraits and Victorian era narratives, who was elected to the Royal Academy in 1852. ... Jane Morris (The Blue Silk Dress) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1868. ...	Day dress of c. 1875 James Tissot painting. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 405 × 599 pixels Full resolution (676 × 1000 pixel, file size: 263 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) +/- File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Victorian fashion 1870s in fashion... James Joseph Jacques Tissot (October 15, 1836 – August 8, 1902) was a French painter. ...
Whistler's Portrait of Lady Meux 1882. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1256x2625, 243 KB) Description: Title: de: Nocturne in Rosa und Grau, Porträt der Lady Meux Technique: de: Öl auf Leinwand Dimensions: de: 193,7 × 93 cm Country of origin: de: USA und Großbritanien Current location (city): de: New York... Self portrait (1872) James Abbott McNeill Whistler (July 11, 1834 – July 17, 1903) was an American-born, British-based painter and etcher. ...	Evening gown of 1878 Image File history File links Size of this preview: 339 × 599 pixels Full resolution (613 × 1084 pixel, file size: 954 KB, MIME type: image/png) Pierre-Auguste Renoir Jeanna Samary, portrait par Renoir (1878) Saint-Petersbourg, musée de lHermitage Domaine public. ... An evening gown is a ladys dress worn to a formal affair. ...	Portrait by Alexander Melville of Queen Victoria, 1845 Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1008x1232, 179 KB) Melville, Alexander, Königin Victoria von England, 1845, Bild, Gotha, Schloßmuseum Schloß Friedenstein, Gemäldesammlung, SG 794 Source: www. ... Queen Victoria redirects here. ...	An artistic interior: Dante Gabriel Rossetti reading to Theodore Watts Dunton in the drawing room at No. 16 Cheyne Walk, 1882 Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 544 pixelsFull resolution (1280 × 870 pixel, file size: 326 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the rule in Bridgeman Art Library v. ... Dante Gabriel Rossetti (May 12, 1828 - April 10, 1882) was an English poet, painter and translator. ... Cheyne Walk (pronounced Chaynee) is the most historic street in Chelsea, a bit of picturesque old London. Most of the houses were built in the early eighteenth century. ...

See also

• Corset
• Tightlacing
• Bloomers
• Women in the Victorian Era
• Victorian morality
• Steampunk
• Neo-Victorian
• Charles Frederick Worth
• Victorian decorative arts

A luxury hourglass corset from 1878. ... Cathie Jung (born 1937), wearing a sterling silver corset, holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest waist of any currently living person, at 38. ... 1850s fashion bloomers 1851 caricature of fashion bloomers as being similar to Turkish attire An example of late 19th-century / Edwardian athletic bloomers: the Smith College class of 1902 basketball team 1890s caricature of athletic bloomers as leading women to adopt masculine habits Bloomers is a word which has been... The status of Women in the Victorian Era is often seen as an illustration of the striking discrepancy between Englands national power and wealth and what many, then and now, consider its appalling social conditions. ... Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria (reigned 1837 - 1901) in particular, and to the moral climate of Great Britain throughout the 19th century in... For the comic book, see Steampunk (comics). ... Neo-Victorian is an aesthetic movement which amalgamates Victorian and Edwardian aesthetic sensibilities with modern principles and technologies, many of which originate and are still centered in Japan. ... Charles Frederick Worth (October 13, 1826 – March 10, 1895), widely considered the Father of Haute Couture, was an English-born fashion designer of the 19th century. ... Dante Gabriel Rossettis drawing room at No. ...

Further reading

• Sweet, Matthew -- Inventing the Victorians, St. Martin's Press, 2001 ISBN 0-312-28326-1

External links

• DarkFashionLinks - community driven alternative fashion directory, including current Victorian fashion resources.
• Victorian fashion, etiquette, and sports
• 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