The Victorian Era refers to the time of the reign of Queen Victoria over the people of Britain and the British Empire from June 1837 to January 1901. The fashion trends, styles, and clothing of this era are known as Victorian Fashion.
Fashion in the Victorian Age witnessed many changes due to the Industrial Revolution, including improvements in fashion technology, printing processes, and distribution methods.
Advances in literature, architecture, and visual arts also had a significant impact on Victorian England Fashion. In this blog post, we will discuss the clothes, styles, dress codes, and jewelry worn in the Victorian times.
Economics, Leisure, and Fashion in the Victorian Times
This era saw tremendous growth in technology, especially communication and transportation. This made Britain one of the richest countries in the world. While the Victorian economy enjoyed great growth, there was a great contrast between the rich and the poor.
Due to the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, Britain had a massive increase in population, with people flooding into industrial cities. This resulted in overcrowding and lagging sanitation facilities, lowering the housing and standard of living of the working class significantly.
The Victorian age was a period of improvement in leisure activities. As the era of passive entertainment had not yet arrived, entertainment was often a shared activity that involved multiple people. Victorians had to make their fun by engaging in various outdoor sports or indoor games.
Fashion in the Victorian age experienced a lot of variety, from wide, bell-shaped skirts over the crinoline to tight-fitting styles in the later part of this era.
What was the General Dress Code for the Victorians?
Women Fashion
At the beginning of the Victorian era, a woman was expected to have a long, slim torso and wide hips. This shape was achieved using a corset, a precisely cut chemise, a figure-hugging bodice with a low waistline worn over the corset, and for the lower body, a long skirt with a layer of horsehair petticoats underneath. Victorian-era clothes during this decade used low and straight necklines to emphasize the narrow waist of the woman.
In the 1840s and 1850s, Victorian England fashion for women included collapsed sleeves, low necklines, longer v-shaped bodices, and rounder skirts. The horsehair crinoline, which increased the fullness of the skirt, was introduced in 1947 and became a symbol of affluence.
From the early 1860s to 1870s, fashion in the Victorian age was changing to fit a slimmer female silhouette and broad skirts were no longer trendy. Over time, overskirt was introduced, and then a polonaise which featured an overskirt and a bodice.
During the early 1880s, tailoring of Victorian-era clothes and styles to encourage the adoption of the natural silhouette started gaining popularity. By the 1890s, the over ornamented silhouette was completely abandoned and skirts moved freely and naturally from the wearer’s waist without crinolines or bustles to hold them up.
Mens Fashion
Men’s fashion in the Victorian age started with close-fitting frock coats that stopped at the calf, a single or double-breasted waistcoat, and a hat. The upper class wore top hats with wide brims and the working class used bowler hats. By the 1850s, shirts with high turnover collars and four-in-hand neckties tied in a bow became the popular Victorian men’s fashion.
Neckties in the 1860s were wider and were either tied in a bow or loosely knotted and fastened with a stickpin. Frock coats were now knee-length and mostly worn for business meetings while thigh-length sack coats were worn for casual meetings. The 1870s came with three-piece suits and ascot ties.
During the 1880s, Victorian men’s fashion for evening outings consisted of a dark tailcoat, trousers, waistcoat, white bow tie, and a shirt with a winged collar. By 1885, tuxedo was introduced, and starting from 1890, blazers became popular for sports and casual activities.
Hats, Shoes, and Gloves
Hats, shoes, and gloves were designed to complement the overall look of both day dresses and formal wear. There were varying types of hats worn by women, often elaborately decorated with flowers and ribbons. The most popular type of hat worn at the time was the bonnet.
Shoes at the beginning of the era were first made from satin but as time went on, leather became more prominent. The most common type was the button-up boot. They were also decorated with ribbons and delicate flowers.
Gloves were considered an important accessory for women as they signified refinement and etiquette. Gloves were made from various materials, such as leather, satin, and cotton.
What Jewelry was Popular in the Victorian era?
The types and collections of Victorian jewelry created were very diverse and can be categorized into three periods: The Romantic period (1837 to 1861), the Grand period (1861 to 1885), and the Aesthetic period (1885 to 1901).
Romantic Period 1837 to 1860
The Romantic Period, also known as the early Victorian period, featured Victorian Jewelry that showcased the love of Britain for its young queen and her romance and marriage to Prince Albert in 1940. Inspiration was mostly drawn from the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, and nature.
Popular jewelry: Acrostic jewelry, cameos, chatelaines, slide chains, girandoles, and hair jewelry.
Common materials used: Gold, seed pearls, ivory, tortoiseshell, coral, onyx, agate, diamonds, amber, amethyst, emerald, and quartz.
Popular Motifs: Anchors, crosses, arrows, clovers, love knots, garters, buckles, vines, and leaves
Grand Period (1861 to 1885)
This period is also known as the mid-victorian period and was influenced by the death of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, in 1861. Other factors that contributed to the sharp change in design from delicate to bold were the changing social roles and increasing opportunities for women in business and politics at the time.
Popular jewelry: Cabochons with embedded gems, mourning jewelry, micro-mosaic jewelry, bracelets, and lockets.
Common materials used: Colourless stones, silver, jet, ivory, and pearls.
Popular motifs: Acorns, bees, bells, birds, crescents, crosses, monograms, stars, shield shapes
Aesthetic Period (1885 – 1901)
Although Queen Victoria mourned her husband from 1861 until she died in 1901, her subjects returned to simple Victorian jewelry designs, which were partly inspired by arts and crafts. This period also saw women rise to power, forming their political organizations. As a result of this, women purchased significantly less jewelry within this period.
Popular jewelry: Mizpah jewelry, chokers or dog collar-style necklaces,
Common materials used: Amethysts, emeralds, and opals.
Popular motifs: Animal heads, barrels, bows, clovers, crescents, knots, oak leaves, owls, and quatrefoils.
What did Poor People Wear in Victorian times?
Lower-class families in the Victorian era had no money to purchase high-end clothes, clothing materials, or machines for sewing. This limited their options, as peasants, servants, market people, and beggars wore aprons, tight-fitting sleeves, and neck clothes made of cheap materials like muslin and wool.
Poor families did not pay attention to fashion in the Victorian age as their clothes had to be practical. Their clothes were durable and dark, so the dirt from the factories and mines where they worked would not show as much and the clothes could be used over time.
Only a few of them had the luxury of having more than one outfit, which they kept for church on Sundays. Many of them wore hobnail boots as footwear because these shoes had nails in their soles, making them very durable.
What did Rich Victorian People Wear?
The Victorian era was a time of abundance for people in the upper class, nobles, and royalty. This resulted in a high demand for fashionable clothing. They had separate dressing etiquettes for most activities during the day and they changed their clothes several times a day. Their outfits include day dresses, nightgowns, waking dresses, tea gowns, wrappers, and evening dresses among others.
Young women would adorn themselves in elaborate garments to show off their wealth and to attract a husband. These clothes were made of expensive materials, such as fur, velvet, silk, lace, and ruffs, which are fan-like collars.
Victorian Rich Girls/Women Dress
Victorian England fashion for rich women included large, extravagant dresses that showed their wealth and emphasized the narrow waist of the woman. Some of the items of clothing include corsets, chemises, petticoats, farthingales, stockings, bustles, gowns or skirts, sleeves, and neck & wrist ruffs.
Most of the Victorian-era clothes worn by women added fullness to their skirts and ensured an almost perfect hourglass shape. Upper-class women would often have a maid dress them as they required help to add all the layers underneath their skirts. Parasols were also carried around frequently to avoid sunburns.
Victorian Rich Boys/Men
Like upper-class women, upper-class men always wore their best clothes. As women’s fashion was largely dependent on Queen Victoria, men’s fashion was influenced by her husband, Prince Albert. The men wore shirts with winged collars, frock coats or suits with waistcoats, neckties, bowler hats or tops hats, and carried a pocket watch around.
Through the Victorian era, men mostly wore fairly short hair. This was usually complemented by different forms of facial hair including moustaches, side-burns, and full beards. Fashion in the Victorian age did not feature a clean-shaven face until the late 1880s and early 1890s.
Conclusion
Queen Victoria’s influence was heavily felt in Victorian England Fashion. The culture of making clothes, as well as the quality and types of clothes worn changed massively during this era.
Across the years of fashion in the Victorian age, clothes and jewelry made were of diverse styles and were worn to show status, social commentary, and personality.
