Mens Fashion From the Late 19th Century

Double-breasted frock coat, unknown maker, 1871. Museum no. T.47-1947. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Men's Dress

By the early 19th century men'south fashions had also undergone a radical change. The glaze still finished in long tails at the back only was cut higher in front. The waist-length square-cut waistcoat showed beneath information technology. The lining of the shoulders and upper breast of the coat was sometimes quilted to improve the fit. In the early on 19th century some dandies wore boned corsets to give them a small waist.

Gradually men adopted long trousers rather than knee breeches. Trousers became increasingly fashionable in the first quarter of the 19th century. At first they were simply worn for mean solar day and informal apparel but past the 1820s they were adequate for evening habiliment. Breeches continued to be worn at court.

The tall chapeau from the late 18th century was withal worn and developed into the top hat which was worn for day and formal apparel throughout the 19th century. Pilus was carefully styled into a windswept look or worn curt and curled.

During the 2nd half of the 19th century men retained the white waistcoat and blackness tail-coat and trousers of the early 19th century for evening wearable. For day article of clothing they wore a frock coat with straight trousers, a short waistcoat and a shirt with a high potent collar. The unmarried- or double-breasted apron coat fitted quite closely to the torso and had a waist seam. The skirts were straight and finished at mid-thigh or below. The front of the coat was square cut. Hair was withal styled merely by the late 19th century it was short and cutting close to the caput. Many men had beards and moustaches.

Women'due south Dress

Every bit the 19th century progressed women'southward dress gradually revealed the actual form of the body. In the 1820s and 1830s the waistline deepened, returning to its natural position. As the natural waist returned the bodice required a tighter fit and in contrast the skirt became fuller and bell-shaped. There were several different sleeve styles but short puffed sleeves were generally worn for evening and long sleeves for day. Corsets continued to exist worn. These were lightly boned and quilted, with a deep busk. Several layers of petticoats with frilled hems, sometimes of horsehair, were worn to support the full skirts. Some petticoats of the 1840s were feather-quilted. Afterward examples of the 1850s and 1860s were made of 'crin' and steel hoops. The term 'crinoline' is derived from the French word crin which means horsehair.

This fashion plate from 'Ladies' magazine of 1801 shows the feature high waistline of the time. Museum no. E.249-1955. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Dress with a pattern that complements the shape created by the muzzle crinoline worn underneath it. Museum no. T.702-1913. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Bonnets or hats were worn outdoors and linen caps indoors. During the 1820s hair styles became very elaborate with raised top knots and the crowns of bonnets or hats were designed to accommodate them. By the middle of the century, past contrast, hairstyles had become polish with a central parting finished with ringlets on either side of the face and a small bun at the back or simply swept dorsum from the confront to a chignon (a mass of pilus arranged on a pad at the back of the head and held in place with a cyberspace or snood). Bonnets and hats connected to exist worn until the 1860s when pocket-sized, elegant styles appeared which just perched on top of the head. Even smaller hats appeared in the 1870s when hairstyles rose in the class of elaborate chignons. In the 1880s and 1890s hairstyles remained `up' but did not retain the heights or majority of the 1870s styles. Small hats busy with birds and feathers and artificial flowers were stylish.

In the 1860s the skirt was very full and worn over a cage crinoline, a petticoat supported by a frame of steel hoops that held information technology abroad from the legs. A boned corset was worn over a chemise. Large shawls were sometimes worn indoors or outdoors instead of a glaze or cloak.

The 1870s to 1880s introduced styles that revealed the natural silhouette. A popular style was the `princess line' dress, which was made without a waist seam to reveal the effigy. Skirts fitted tightly and required streamlined all-in-one underwear combinations. Corsets became longer and were more rigidly boned. The busk, known every bit the spoon busk because of its shape, extended to the stomach. Sleeves were tight. In the 1880s a bustle pad, or a tier of stiffened horsehair or fabric frills, was introduced. After 1887-1888 the hurry went out of manner. Pilus was curled on top and taken into a bun at the back. Often a ringlet was brought forward over the shoulder as a finishing touch on.

By the 1880s an elite group of women began to adopt simpler and easier styles that were known equally `artistic' wearing apparel. Artistic dress was cut much more loosely than conventional attire and did not require restrictive corsetry to be worn.

During the last years of the 19th century it was fashionable for women's hair to be arranged on the top of the head in a bun and puffed out around the face. A large-brimmed hat would be attached on with hat pins unless a simpler, smaller hat, such as the harbinger boater, was required for informal dress. The skirt was floor length with a slight train. The waist remained small-scale and a corset which either laced upwards or fastened with clips was generally worn. A small pad was worn at the back of the waist to support the skirt. In the 1890s the acme of the sleeves were sometimes puffed into an enormous leg of mutton' shape which required lightweight stiffening or padding. The neckline for day habiliment was very high featuring a stand-up collar in a lightweight fabric which was boned or wired around the edge to hold information technology upwardly under the chin. Women adopted a simple and rather masculine-looking shirt, jacket and skirt for day wearable.

Towards the end of the 19th century the rate at which the fashionable silhouette changed quickened. The increasing popularity of paper patterns and the growth of women's fashion periodicals encouraged domicile dress-making during the second half of the 19th century. The withdrawal of the paper tax in the middle of the 19th century had stimulated the growth of publications, especially magazines aimed at women. Information technology was during this period that magazines introduced paper patterns.

By the 20th century the step of change in the fashionable silhouette became ever more rapid as the expanding fashion industry, in conjunction with the media, became more effective at stimulating demand for a constant catamenia of new styles.

Photo of William Morris' daughter May wearing an artistic dress, Frederick Hollyer, 1884. Museum no. 7816-1938. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Corset, (front), 1883. Museum no T.84-1980. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

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