Today, we take a look at Victorian costumes. At one time, Victorian costumes were only requested in the lead up to Christmas, or to celebrate a Charles Dickens anniversary, but nowadays, with schools including the Victorian era as part of the school curriculum, Victorian is one of our fastest growing markets.
Ladies Victorian Costumes
Ladies fashion changed considerably during the Victorian era. After 1830 the fashion changed and the waistline dropped to its natural position. Corsets were worn again to emphasise a small waist and to support the bust. Skirts became fuller but also shorter, stopping at ankle length. Ladies wore elaborate boots and the shorter skirt length showed these off very nicely. Necklines were wide and the shoulders were sloped. A single hoop was worn and with the help of numerous petticoats, gave the skirts its full look.
Ladies would have worn many undergarments to get the desired look of the day. A typical lady would have worn long bloomers, a chemise, a starched petticoat, a crinoline (see next paragraph), a flounced petticoat, a muslin petticoat and finally the gown itself.
Crinolines were introduced around 1840. Initially they were two petticoats with a layer of horsehair sandwiched between to get the desired stiffness. By 1850, the crinoline cage became available. Made from steel or bamboo hoops, it made sitting down very difficult.
Issac Singer patented the mechanical sewing machine in 1851 making it possible for people on a lower income to create copies of their favourite styles.
By 1862 the crinoline had been flattened out at the front, first by only having half a cage (to the rear) and then becoming the bustle, a pad or small cage positioned to emphasis the bottom of the lady. Skirts became more elaborate and were drawn up at the back to reveal the petticoats underneath.
By the end of the century bustles had been replace by a padded roll.
No woman would go out in the summer without a parasol or to a function without a fan. Gloves were worn throughout the century.
Ladies Victorian fancy dress costumes are available to purchase, normally for a wealthier look. We also stock short gloves and parasols to help you to complete your Victorian outfit.
Ladies Victorian fancy dress suggestions:
Queen Victoria
Florence Nightingale
Anne, Emily & Charlotte Bronte
Scarlett O’Hara
Girls Victorian Costumes
Girls are required to dress up as a Victorian for school dress up days.
There are quite a few choices of girls Victorian costume that we stock, from the wealthier looking ‘Scarlett O’Hara’ costume to the poorer looking dress with pinny and mop cap. From our professional experience, most children tend to go in the poorer style of costume as this is more practical for a day at school, or out visiting a local museum etc.
We also now stock pinny and mop caps which are sold as a costume kit. This will help to reduce the cost and will create the Victorian look over a dark skirt and top.
Male Victorian Costumes
By mid century menswear had settled into what would be acceptable wear for the next century, namely a jacket, trousers, shirt and waistcoat. The colours were normally sombre and the fabric rich (if they could afford it!). Loosely knotted and bow ties were replacing the cravat. The tailcoat jacket was used for evening wear. In the earlier part of the century men would wear Top Hats (Stovepipe Top Hat) these begun to be replaced by bowler hats by mid 1800s. Straw boaters and panama hats were used in the summer and softer hats were in fashion for informal occasions.
Men wore their hair longer than in the early part of the century with a centre parting. After 1850 a moustache and large sideburns (muttonchops) became popular.
A well dressed man would wear short, lace up boots during the day and carry a walking stick. For the evening he would wear patent leather shoes and gloves.
Mens Victorian fancy dress suggestions:
Charles Dickens
Prince Albert
Alexander Graham Bell
Isabard Kingdom Brunell
Lewis Carroll
Charles Darwin
Thomas Edison
William Gladstone
WG Grace
David Livingstone
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Peel
Rhett Butler
Jack The Ripper
Boys Victorian Costumes
Boys are required to dress up as a Victorian for school dress up days.
From our professional experience, most children tend to go in the poorer style of costume as this is more practical for a day at school, or out visiting a local museum etc. The boys Victorian costume includes a shirt, waistcoat, shorts, scarf and cap. A waistcoat and cap version is also available to purchase to help you make up your own costume at home.
The Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born today in 1806. His most famous portrait has him in a resolute pose against a background of large industrial chains, and this symbolises the scale of his vision and numerous projects. Possibly best known for the Great Western Railway, he also built giant steel ships, bridged wide chasms (notably the Avon gorge at Bristol) and dug tunnels, including a couple under Thames. He typifies the Victorian spirit of innovation and enterprise and whilst ‘normal’ Victorian wear continues to be in regular demand here at Props & Frocks, we are also aware of the developing trend of ‘Steampunk’ styles. Here Victorian/Edwardian fashion mixes with the Sci-Fi visions of Jules Verne and HG Wells to create a ‘retro-futuristic’ look (most recently seen in the Oscar-winning ‘Hugo’ film but also ‘channelled in everything from Van Helsing to The Wild Wild West) with certain defining costume elements such as corsets and petticoats for women, waistcoats and tail-suits for men and, most symbolic of all, goggles!
We had to promote Dickensian costumes as today is the official day of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the writer Charles Dickens. We mentioned recently that Victorian costumes are proving popular at the moment. It used to be that most children (particularly girls) when dressing up for school history days would choose to be rich rather than poor. It may be a sign of the times, or it could be because many of Dickens’ characters were often way down on the social scale, but the majority of requests we have received over the past few weeks have been for chimney sweeps, poor school children and maids.
It could also be that the poorer child is easier for many parents to do than the richer one, with boys needing ragged breeches, old collarless shirts, waistcoats, neckerchiefs and cloth caps, whilst for the girls it’s down to long dresses, aprons, mob caps or bonnets. If you already have improvised part of the outfit, some of these items can be individually sourced. Although school history days may be the main reason for Dickensian style costumes, we also cater for the adult market, and offer a fantastic range of Victorian costumes for teachers, students and those getting involved with Victorian pageants during this year of celebration.
Due to popular demand we have recently starting producing Victorian costume kits so that parents, and teachers, do not need to purchase, or hire, an entire costume but may be able to put something together at home.
Have you been asked to dress yourself, or your child, in a Victorian costume?
When teaching history, children can often find it a very dull and dreary subject, especially as it does not relate to the here and now. Understanding the concept of any historical period can be difficult to grasp at the best of times. This is why many schools nowadays will have dress-up days where history is effectively brought to life and children can ‘become’ a character from a particular ‘moment in time’.
With our modern lifestyle of ‘off the peg’ and mass produced clothing, it may be difficult to understand that at one stage, everybody did not dress the same and the clothing that was worn identified one’s position in life. The first element of dressing up as a Victorian is to determine whether you are a poor or rich Victorian. Young boys, whether poor or rich, would often wear shirt and breeches. The difference between the types of classes would be identified by the materials used, and the fact that as far as the poor child was concerned, they would often be dressed in ill fitting, shabby clothing, which were effectively hand-me-downs from older siblings. The poor Victorian child is much easier to improvise at home although a few key essentials may be required, such as a mob cap and over-apron for girls and a neckerchief, waistcoat and cap for boys. The rich Victorian child is more difficult to cobble together, as they were often miniaturised versions of their parents, with bonnets, top hats and walking sticks all playing their part. At PNF we have costumes and accessories for both types of Victorian and we look forward to helping you out.
Ladies fashion changed considerably during the Victorian era. After 1830 the fashion changed and the waistline dropped to its natural position. Corsets were worn again to emphasise a small waist and to support the bust. Skirts became fuller but also shorter, stopping at ankle length. Ladies wore elaborate boots and the shorter skirt length showed these off very nicely. Necklines were wide and the shoulders were sloped. A single hoop was worn and with the help of numerous petticoats, gave the skirts its full look.
Ladies would have worn many undergarments to get the desired look of the day. A typical lady would have worn long bloomers, a chemise, a starched petticoat, a crinoline (see next paragraph), a flounced petticoat, a muslin petticoat and finally the gown itself.
Crinolines were introduced around 1840. Initially they were two petticoats with a layer of horsehair sandwiched between to get the desired stiffness. By 1850, the crinoline cage became available. Made from steel or bamboo hoops, it made sitting down very difficult.
Issac Singer patented the mechanical sewing machine in 1851 making it possible for people on a lower income to create copies of their favourite styles.
By 1862 the crinoline had been flattened out at the front, first by only having half a cage (to the rear) and then becoming the bustle, a pad or small cage positioned to emphasis the bottom of the lady. Skirts became more elaborate and were drawn up at the back to reveal the petticoats underneath.
By the end of the century bustles had been replace by a padded roll.
No woman would go out in the summer without a parasol or to a function without a fan. Gloves were worn throughout the century.
Ladies Victorian fancy dress costumes are available to purchase, normally for a wealthier look. We also stock short gloves and parasols to help you to complete your Victorian outfit.
Ladies Victorian fancy dress suggestions:
Queen Victoria
Florence Nightingale
Anne, Emily & Charlotte Bronte
Scarlett O’Hara
Girls Victorian Costumes Girls are required to dress up as a Victorian for school dress up days.
There are quite a few choices of girls Victorian costume that we stock, from the wealthier looking ‘Scarlett O’Hara’ costume to the poorer looking dress with pinny and mop cap. From our professional experience, most children tend to go in the poorer style of costume as this is more practical for a day at school, or out visiting a local museum etc.
We also now stock pinny and mop caps which are sold as a costume kit. This will help to reduce the cost and will create the Victorian look over a dark skirt and top.
Men Victorian Costumes
By mid century menswear had settled into what would be acceptable wear for the next century, namely a jacket, trousers, shirt and waistcoat. The colours were normally sombre and the fabric rich (if they could afford it!). Loosely knotted and bow ties were replacing the cravat. The tailcoat jacket was used for evening wear. In the earlier part of the century men would wear Top Hats (Stovepipe Top Hat) these begun to be replaced by bowler hats by mid 1800s. Straw boaters and panama hats were used in the summer and softer hats were in fashion for informal occasions.
Men wore their hair longer than in the early part of the century with a centre parting. After 1850 a moustache and large sideburns (muttonchops) became popular.
A well dressed man would wear short, lace up boots during the day and carry a walking stick. For the evening he would wear patent leather shoes and gloves.
Mens Victorian fancy dress suggestions:
Charles Dickens
Prince Albert
Alexander Graham Bell
Isabard Kingdom Brunell
Lewis Carroll
Charles Darwin
Thomas Edison
William Gladstone
WG Grace
David Livingstone
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Peel
Rhett Butler
Jack The Ripper
Boys Victorian Costumes Boys are required to dress up as a Victorian for school dress up days.
From our professional experience, most children tend to go in the poorer style of costume as this is more practical for a day at school, or out visiting a local museum etc. The boys Victorian costume includes a shirt, waistcoat, shorts, scarf and cap. A waistcoat and cap version is also available to purchase to help you make up your own costume at home.
Here at props & frocks we keep an eye on our trending fancy dress themes and one of the most popular in recent days has been the Victorians. This is not a new phenomenon as we often find schools wanting to dress up in all manner of costumes throughout the year. The two main areas requested are Story-book characters (for school book days and book weeks), and historical costumes of particular eras, such as Ancient Times, Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Medieval, Tudor, Elizabethan, Victorians and 1940s.
We always carry Victorian costumes in stock all year round, so take a look at our range. We have everything you need for all the family. If in doubt, why not give one of our team a call, or drop us an email. we can answer your Victorian costume questions.
It seems that Victorians are currently proving more popular than in previous years, but this could be attributed to the fact that next month, February 7th sees the bi-centennial birthday of the writer Charles Dickens. Fortunately, most of the requests we have for Victorians (at present) have been for general Victorian costumes, rather than specific characters from either the novels or the Victorian period. However, with a whole year in which to celebrate the bi-centenary, this could be subject to change.
By the way, do you know the difference between the clothing of a rich and poor Victorian? Tune in tomorrow to find out.
Yesterday, we were speaking about 2012 celebrations with our Kings & Queens fancy dress theme and next year sees the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens in February. Why do we mention it now? Well, one of the popular costume themes for the run-up to Christmas is Victorian, which of course is the social era that Dickens’ books are all set in. At the end of this week on Saturday November 19th, from 9.30am-3.30pm at the Princes Theatre in Clacton-on-Sea, is a Victorian Christmas Market, with stallholders dressed in appropriate costume. This is just one of several events happening throughout the country. In Kent there is the Dickens Festival in Rochester, which is held twice a year (May and December) whilst there is the Victorian Festival of Christmas in Portsmouth, a Christmas market in Wrexham and the annual Victorian Christmas Weekend in Matlock. Some stallholders may choose to just don the long skirt, blouse, shawl and mob cap or the rough and ready costume of a Victorian Costermonger or Chimney Sweep. However, others will go totally OTT with the full Victorian Crinoline and City Gent approach. Victorian costume is not just for the adults, here at P&F we get asked for both rich and poor Victorian boys and girls for school dress-up days.
If you do not want to go the ‘whole hog’ with an entire costume, why not just purchase a couple of our Victorian accessories including:
Christmas, or to celebrate a Charles Dickens anniversary, but nowadays, with schools including the Victorian era as part of the school curriculum, Victorian is one of our fastest growing markets.
