Genealogy Chat

Our perception of the Victorian middle classes' clothing is based largely on studio portraits and specially posed pictures which show extremely formal ways of dressing. But being photographed was a special event and so people would naturally have put on their best clothes for it. Occasionally, though, you can come across a photograph that does not fall into that category. /cont...

/cont.... I have come across pictures which I now wish I'd copied and kept. There's one on the Roger Vaughan Picture Library that I really should try and find again. It's a lovely looking young woman wearing a tight fitting, finely-woven sweater that wouldn't look out of place in Marks and Spencers today. She wears a thin belt around her waist and is perfectly groomed. We never see such items in film or TV dramas do we? Another picture I once saw was a family group in which the two teenage girls were wearing knee-length dresses. Shorter than the pictures of Alice in Wonderland - no bloomers, just white stockings. I think that day-to-day people dressed for comfort. Victorians were not starchy or stuffy. I bet somewhere we could find a picture of somebody wearing the equivalent of a teeshirt or comfortable trousers like jeans. I think woolen garments were in far greater use than we imagine. I think women wore open-necked blouses and rolled their sleeves up. I think children played in bare feet and wore their nightwear during the morning. I've never seen a victorian man in shorts but I am sure there's a photograph out there somewhere.

Like us, I guess the Victorians had clothes for best and clothes for everyday. I was recently reading a book set a little later than the Victorian period, which described working class (and those out of work) people who pawned their sunday clothes during the week for money to eat, then when they got paid, redeemed them to wear to church. Clothes would have been repaired far more than in today's throwaway society. Fashions lasted longer. Without washing machines, tumble driers, fabric softeners etc and stain removers, clothes wouldn't have been as clean as they are today either. Ugh! During WW2 my mother was shocked to find many children in the nursery where she worked still sewn into their underwear for the winter!

I know its a bit later in the era but maybe L S Lowery the Manchunian artists paintings would give a general idea. julie X

Hi Paul I came across a fascinating book 'The Art of Dress' by Jane Ashelford. It gives a host of information on, and I quote, ' clothes and society 1500- 1914' It is certainly worth looking out for if anyone is interested in the changes in 'fashions' over the centuries Dee ;-))

I agree Dee, I studied Art and Design at college and have looked at many books relating to Textiles and Fashion. I have a book on Fashion dating from 1066 to the 1980s and it is quite fasinating to look at how it was then to now. When you think of viviene Westwood and her punk fashion with plastic carrier bags to metalic body shields. Lol Julie X

The other thing I am fascinated by is shoes. They found several pairs when they restored the property I am a volunteer at, and it is interesting to see the pictures of how they might have looked Dee xx

The point I was trying to get across is that whatever survives in the published record I believe people dressed for comfort as much as we did, and day-to-day wear - casual wear - would have been very similar to our own. The 'working' classes won't count in this because they didn't have the option of changing their clothes, and the middle and upper classes would only have allowed themselves to be photographed in their best clothes.

Francis Frith postcards of the time show some every day people Local photographers have taken a wealth of pictures of working people. Freda Barton is noted for her photos of Kent and there are several books that are richly illustrated with pictures of the hoppers and agricultural workers in the Kent area. Not so sure if there are many available of the industrial areas, as it is not a subject I have looked into. Dee xx

Hello Paul I don't know about men but women would wear their old clothes, they would still wear stays but not so tightly laced. To keep warm they would wear knitted shawls crossed over the chest and tied at the back, these were usful if you had a baby as it woud act as a sling. if people were poor and cold they would wear one dress over another or more to keep warm. I don't think people had casual clothes as such but would wear their old and unfashionable clothes and their best clothes on Sundays and special occasions

Anyone interested in the lives of 'everyday folk' in victorian newcastle should read Kiddars Luck. Can't remember the author but if you google it you'll soon find out. Tell an interesting tale of why the ladies wore the skirts they did, with no bloomers. Just as well we've got public toilets these days!