VICTORIAN

ER

A CLOTHING

INTRODUCTION
One of the most famous eras of fashion was the
Victorian Era. But when you hear Victorian Era, you
probably think of skinny waists and fancy clothing
right? Well for most of Europe, that was not the
case. Many poor people were jealous of the upper
class and the clothing they wore. But as you will
read; they were lucky to be poor in the first place.

RICH WOMENS CLOTHING

Rich women were known to wear extravagant gowns that were as a side
note extremely uncomfortable and hot. This is because people at that time
believed that a small waist would make a woman beautiful, so they wore a
piece of clothing called a corset; the corset is designed to when tightened
shrink the size of a womans waist.
A proper woman would never leave the house without a proper dress. The
dress consisted of typically four layers. The first layer contained knee
stockings (black or white) held up with garters covered by cotton drawers. The
second layer consisted of the corset and steel hoop skirt. The third was made
up of a camisole over the corset that hid perspiration. Then a cotton covering
over the hoop skirt. The fourth layer entailed of... The actual dress. The fifth
was optional; accessories. And also, they could not take it off inside their home
unless they were going to bed.

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gstatic.com

Corset

SIDE EFFECTS OF THE CORSET

Rich women in the Victorian Era would constantly pass
out, and/or be hospitalized. Why was this happening? Well
doctors in the early 1900s began to ask that same
question. They found that tightening the corset pushed
womens ribs in so much, that their lungs would be
compressed, causing a shortness of breath. Also, the
corset caused women to feel sick after eating. Why did this
happen? As you probably guessed, corsets also shrank
stomach size, so during meals, food would pile in the
esophagus causing women to throw up. In some rare
cases, abdomen atrophy, and even organ deformation
would occur. Yikes.

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RICH M ENS CLOTHING

A rich mans clothing was not as profligate as a
rich womans, although they were very impressive.
Men would wear leisure suits made of silk wherever
they went. The coats and trousers they bought were
always tailored. They wore suspenders (since belts
had not been invented yet). The sleeves were fitted,
and their buttons were oversized. They wore ascots
made of silk, of whatever color. They had silver
cufflinks, heavy watch chains, and walked around
with canes... With silver knobs.

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www.victorianchildren.com

POOR WOMENS CLOTHING

Poor women made their own clothes. They wore
the same thing every day since they could not afford
to make another dress. Poor women wore bonnets
outside no matter what. They would wear handknitted stockings made of wool. Their clothing was
usually tatty. Until there were large holes throughout
their dresses, they would wear the same thing every
day. Clothing was usually too big for poor women
and poor men alike because the clothes they
received were usually hand-me-downs.

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www.katetattersall.com

PO O R M E N S C L O T H IN G
Poor men basically wore the same thing rich men did,
but poor mens clothing were more tatty. Instead of
wearing top hats however, poor men wore caps which
were also tatty. The clothes were tatty because of all the
times the clothing had been worn by other people who
frayed and tore holes in it. The coats poor men wore (if
they had them) were often too big for them because when
they bought a coat, it was from 3rd or 4th hand shops, and
they did not try it on to see if it fit. Poor men also could
only afford one covering for their feet: socks or shoes. So
poor men would either only wear shoes, or only socks.

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emaze.com

CONCLUSION
As you have read, there is much more to Victorian
clothing than just simple dresses and corsets. There
are strict rules about what to wear, when to wear
them, and in what order you have to put certain
layers of clothing on. Victorian clothing is still
popular around the world, but people today tend to
not want to risk passing out or getting sick. And
most people do not want to look like... This:

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kime, Savannah. "Clothing
Styles During the Victorian Era.
(1816-1855)."Prezi. Prezi, 25
Mar. 2011. Web. 4 May 2016.
G., Masie. "Victorian
Clothes."Standard Blog. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 4 May 2016.