Victorian era

Victorian era is known by the name “Victorian” because it was the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837-1901. This era brought prosperity to the United Kingdom because of political reforms and strict cultural norms that greatly improved the stability in people’s lives and also influenced the Victorian fashion due to the great industrial revolution and technological advancements.

Victorian era’s social culture was based on the principles of gender, race and class.

In terms of Class there were three classes Upper class that were the extreme wealthy and were born into privilege. These classes were mostly aristocratic families. Middle class was a bunch of professional people like lawyers, business owners and doctors.

Working class was the labour class that worked to survive.

In terms of gender women were suppose to stay at home and take care of the kids, as they were a symbol of nurture. Men on other hand were supposed to go out and work handling business and politics.

Members of the upper class looked for ways to distinguish themselves from the middle or working classes. This meant that they would wear fancier clothes and shop extravagantly. British had stretched across globe hence the upper class would buy exotic things and display in their house to show their wealth around. This also made the Victorian architecture famous, as the wealthy people would decorate their houses extravagantly.

The Consequences of the upper class trying to outstand middle class resulted in consumerism as the middle class started spending more so that they could look like upper class. However this also greatly influenced the early literature as the drive to improve one’s social standing resulted in people reading different genres of novels to increase their chances of acting elite hence there was a whole genre of literature. Books ranged from titles such as “How to behave� and love novels catered towards women who stayed at home.

Emergence of modern nationalism evolved the fashion timeline during Queen Victoria’s reign as the fashion silhouettes changed almost every year with basic elements remaining the same. With innovations such as sewing machines, synthetic dyes, tailored made clothes, evolving trends and advancements in printing totally changed the clothing by the end of 1890’s.

In the beginning of 1800’s till 1830’s for women’s clothing romanticism theme was followed. Long slim torso, wide hips were achieved by wearing layers of petticoats

In the 1830’s straight necklines were being worn however in 1840’s low-neck lines emerged and as well as Gothicism. There was introduction of horse chair crinoline that became a symbol of status and wealth.

The looks of 1840’s were more conservative compared to that of early 1800s.

In 1850’s there were more fashion technological advancements such as the innovation of artificial cage crinoline that gave women an artificial hourglass silhouette this meant that women didn’t have to wear layers of petticoats anymore to achieve illusion of wide hips and it was also hygienic. Synthetic dyes were also introduced that added new bright colors to garments. These technological advancements gave women freedom and choices.

In 1860’s the crinoline became flatter and backs became voluminous by adding drapery pleats to the back train of dresses. Haute couture was also introduced as tailoring became more mainstream in years to follow. Charles Fredrick Worth a prominent designer in Paris became popular amongst the upper class. The designer had designed dresses for many Empresses and also for Queen Victoria. Voluminous dresses were the highlight of this era with everything being voluminous, pleated and ruffled including the sleeves. As we moved to the end of 1800s the silhouettes started to completely change and become more natural.

As we moved to the end of 1800s the silhouettes started to completely change and become more natural. In 1870’s women preferred more slimmer silhouette hence bodices grew longer and polonaise was introduced that was a skirt and bodice together.

Trains of dresses grew longer hence the 1870’s dresses were all about slimmer silhouettes. There was invention of Cuirass Bodice that is a piece of armour that covers the torso and functions like a corset.

In 1880’s tailoring became popular and some movements influenced fashion.

The Artistic Dress Movement and the Dress Reform Movement both focused on rejecting the idea of highly structured Victorian dresses. These Middle class women asked for more casual comfortable wear.

In 1890’s almost towards the end of Victoria’s reign the dresses became more natural and flared naturally. They were made to fit with necklines being high and sleeves pinned from shoulders giving a frill look. Tailored jackets were introduced that improved posture. The movements really led to early female liberation.

The styles of the dresses for all these years were same for the Upper class, Middle class and Working class women however there was a difference of materials used and how elaborate the work was done on dresses for example the upper class would wear dresses with extravagant lace trims and heavily worked silhouettes. Also the colors worn by upper class were bright as they could afford the synthetic dyes and other technological innovations.

Today many designers such as Simone Rocha and Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini are bringing back an essence of Victorian era as seen in the Spring/Summer 2017 collections. The ruffles, pleats, corsets, voluminous sleeves that we see at runways today all seem to have been inspired by the Victorian era.

At London Fashion week Erdem had put ruffles on everything from hats to the dreamy white laces with lots of frills. The silhouette seemed to be more inspired by the elegant Victorian era as was the combination of crisp pleats and intricate ruffles. The 80s era itself was hugely inspired by the Victorian era with different shaped sleeves from balloon to really long ones.

Burberry’s “See-now-buy-now” collection was a huge hit and everything was ruffled with feminine pussy bows and cinched waist belts on trousers.

Bora Aksu also showed a pastel ruffled collection with tops, jackets and skirts ruffled at different angles.

The silllhouettes were truly inspired by Victorian era by layers of volume coming down at the end and being cinced from the waist.