1860-1910

PART 1:
THE
VICTORIAN
AGE

Our period of study begins in the Victorian age, when Queen Victoria ruled
England. She became queen in 1837, when she was 18 years old, and
married Albert in 1840. It was a love match—rare for Royals—and Victoria and
Albert had 9 children. They were strict parents and ran an extremely formal,
disciplined household. Albert died in 1961 at age 42. Victoria went into
mourning for the rest of her life. She died in 1901.

According to royal.gov.uk: “Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great

age of industrial expansion, economic progress and, especially, empire. At her
death, it was said, Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun never set.“
During the Victorian Age Britain gained colonial presence in Africa, India, and
Australia. She was named Empress of India.

So, culturally this resonates because Britain was the leading power in the
Western world. Queen Victoria was the face of this power and her severity and
propriety was reflected in social mood of the time. (In many places—not
everywhere, as we will see). Also, because this was the industrial age, there
will be advances in manufacturing and production that affect dress and dress
practices. As well, there will also be movements objecting to the
mechanization of the industrial age…many of these movements promote dress

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reform as a way to reflect their beliefs. This will be covered later.

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 Victorian
mourning gown
1880/1860

VICTORIAN MOURNING GOWNS

•Mourning had long been a formal ritual, especially for the wealthy. Each
country had specific rules for mourning. In England, deep mourning generally
lasted one year. In deep mourning widows were expected to wear costumes of
black, with a flat texture, and to cover their faces with a veil—for a year. Crepe
strongly associated with mourning. Even their accessories were black.
•In the second year of mourning grey and violet were introduced.
•There was mourning jewelry...often made of jet (which is black)…another kind
of mourning jewelry incorporated locks of hair from the dead. (You’ll see it in
an upcoming slide)

A couple of interesting facts:

•Black wasn’t only worn for mourning. It was also becoming a fashionable
color, especially as the dirty, coal infused skies of London’s Industrial Age
threatened light colored garments.
•Mourning dropped off during WW1, when so many men were dying at war
there was no room for the formal ritual of mourning.
•Finally—and don’t miss this—as virginity was prized, men were attracted by

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widows in mourning…in this sexually repressed age, a widow was a seductive
presence as she was a woman with “experience.”

•IF INTERESTED: for more info about mourning: a

http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/video/lectures/women-in-black

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 More Mourning…

• (middle) Purple velvet Victorian mourning gown (right) Spider web buttons.
• Victorians were obsessed with death, with themes of death destruction and
decay, haunting and imprisonment. This continues to influence gothic
movements today.
• Victorians often called fashionable mourning dress of young widows the
“trap rebaited”. Just because one was in mourning, didn’t mean she
couldn’t be fashionable. Mourning dress styles were the same as the
fashion of the day. Was a widow a femme fatale, whose embrace lead to
her lover’s death?
• In addition—keep in mind that the Victorian age was a very proper time for
women…premarital sex wasn’t acceptable for “nice girls.” Therefore—
widows garb was often attractive to men…as it reflected this truth of the
woman who wore it: “I am alone. I have experience in the bedroom.”

IF INTERESTED: for more info about mourning: a

http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/video/lectures/women-in-black

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 Memento Mori

More on the Victorian obsession with death: memento mori ("Remember you
will die," "Remember that you are mortal") jewelry, are a reminder of mortality.

•This tradition did NOT begin with the Victorians, however, it thrived during this
time.

•At far left and bottom right, broaches decorated with the hair of the dead.

•Middle image: man’s watch fob braided with hair of the dead.

IF INTERESTED: more on memento mori: http://io9.com/love-after-death-the-

beautiful-macabre-world-of-mourn-1498829544

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•SARAH BERNHARDT, 1882
•This reflects the Victorian obsession with death—Bernhardt, a great actress of
the age, is pictured sleeping in the coffin she kept at home. This is considered
a “playful” image!
•Victorians seemed to enjoy the concept of death.

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 In
FRANCE:
The Demimonde
or Courtesan

Nana
Edouard Manet, 1877

This painting, Nana, is by Edouard Manet, 1877; Artists were newly interested
in showing the reality of life, not just the elite
•Nana is a courtesan, a member of the demimonde (half world)…This is where
the social world looses all the propriety established by Victoria!
•Courtesans are not necessarily prostitutes, but made a living from sleeping
with men of importance
•They are professional mistresses, and they could make a fortune
•Epitomized the extravagant expenditures of the day: wives were expected to
be more demure
•Wives were expected to uphold the moral center of a household and
family…mistress/courtesans were known for great expenditures and showing
off—in fact, this is another way men would show off their wealth—by how
much their mistress spent! Public evidence of their lover’s wealth
•Also, it was the courtesans (also called grand horizontals) who could show off
fashion’s most up-to-the-moment trends. Again, wives were expected to be
well dressed but conservative; not the courtesan…they went all out!

•A lot of great literature covering these women, especially Nana by Emile Zola,
published in 1880—which was serialized in newspapers before.

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Refused at the Salon of Paris in 1877; considered immoral
Emile Zola also published book of the same name in 1880.

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 Cora Pearl

• Cora Pearl was one of the most famous courtesans of the period; in her
memories, describes a scene in which she presents herself as a final
desert, covered in cream. On the other hand, she once opened her house
to a hospital for wounded soldiers.
• Pearl was English but followed a lover to France, liked it and stayed.
• In black and white: Cora Pearl in a dress by Worth—the latest style!
• A good description of the courtesan’s place: “The career of a courtesan was
often short as she got older and her looks faded, and younger, fresher
woman took her place. So many courtesans tried to make the most of their
time, racking up jewels, houses, and expensive wardrobes. As Alexandre
Dumas fils put it, "Women were luxuries for public consumption life hounds,
horses and carriages."

IF INTERESTED: more on Cora at

http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com/2008/11/cora-pearl-english-beauty-
of-second.html

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 In AMERICA:

“The” Mrs. Astor

And, at the other extreme: THE MRS ASTOR, 1890

•With “The Mrs. Astor” we return to stern propriety of the age. Mrs. Astor was
the leader of New York society from the second half of the 19th C until her
death in 1908. She was called “The Mrs. Astor” because she had a sister in-
law who was also Mrs. Astor…but this sister in law was not important.
•She was extremely proper, extravagant, regal, uninteresting, uninterested in
anything outside of society
•With her cohort, another social snob Ward McAllister, The Mrs. Astor created
“The 400” a list of who was of worth in American society. Some say it was 400
because 400 people would fit in her ballroom. Others point out that Britain had
more than 400 people with titles, and American society felt competitive with
English society and therefore Mrs. Astor created a list that was even more
exclusive than that of England.
•She represents the kind of advice women received about being a lady: “Equip
[yourselves] in a shining armor of conventionality. A faint smile and a formal
bow are all that the most refined lady accords to the visitor of her family when
she passes him in her walks or drives,”

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•Ladies were to act as a family’s “moral core”
•In America, wealthy women had only recently had a place to go outside the
home. As women were to be the “keepers of morality” within the home,
previously they only entertained at home, or visited the homes of their friends.
With the opening of lavish hotels such as the Waldorf Astoria in the late 19th
century, there were finally places considered appropriate for a group of women
to meet without the presence of a man.
•Seniority and class were prime basis for social respect, dowagers major
movers on the fashion scene

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 Cartes de visite

How did people get their fashion news in the 19th century?
•One way was the fashion plate, fashion illustrations that had been in
existence since the late 15th century.
•There were also fashion journals.
•However, one way that was new and exciting in the 19th century was the
cartes de visite. It was made possible with the advent of photography. The
photograph, the size of a calling card, was created by Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri
in 1854.
•There was a collecting craze for the carte de visite—the photography allowed
for clear vision of garments that people could copy.

At left: Carte-de-visite by Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri of the Princess Bonaparte

(at left)

At right: Carte de visite (demi-mondaine), c. 1855 Adolphe-Eugène Disderi

IF INTERESTED: More info on the history of the fashion plate:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34472/34472-h/34472-h.htm

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 Carte
de visite

This is an interesting example of how the cartes de visite reflected fashion.

This, likely, would have been the card of a tailor, showing off the work on both
sides of a garment.

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 PART 2:
CHARLES
FREDERICK
WORTH…
“The Father of
Haute Couture”

• Charles Frederick Worth is known as the Father of Haute Couture because

he standardized the way the couture industry worked. Before Worth, women
would work with their seamstresses to create design. They might take
advice from respected seamstresses, but, generally, the women would
direct the style of the garment. Work was done by hand—not mass
manufactured. Also, garments were reused, sewing girls would be hired to
stay with a family for up to weeks at a time and update a wardrobe.
• What Worth did was take the client input out of it. He established himself as
an artist/creator. He created the dresses, and the women could come in and
chose from what he had done. Of course, he would still work on individual
dresses with esteemed clients.
• During the 1860s haute couture –the presentation of a collection of models
from which could be selected a complete gown or appropriate parts—came
to replace dressmaking for the individual. House supplied design ideas, not
the clients.

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Charles Frederic Worth,
•An early photograph of Worth playing with a new caged crinoline

•Worth relocated from England to Paris in 1845.

•He found work with Gagelin, a prominent firm that sold textile goods, shawls,
and some ready-made garments. Worth became Gagelin's leading salesman
and eventually opened a small dressmaking department for the company, his
first position as a professional dressmaker. He contributed to the reputation of
the firm with prize-winning designs displayed in the Great Exhibition in London
(1851) and the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1855). The designer opened
his own firm with a business partner in 1858.

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 1892

1870s
•Convinced Princess Pauline von Mettrnich to wear dress, which she wore to
Napoleon’s court, and turned Eugenia on to worth.
•After decades of unrest in France, Bonaparte’s nephew took over as
Emperor in 1852—eager to reestablish look of power, status; Eugenie,
Bonaparte’s wife, encouraged Worth’s use of sumptuous and lavish fabrics.
•Grew from staff of less than 20 in 1858 to more than 1,200 in 1871
•Introduced the house label in the 1860s in order to identify his garments from
copies. Of course, the label was ultimately knocked off as well.
•Adopted the physical persona of an artist, wearing velvet beret, floppy tie; bad
taste in his house, over the top “new money” “resembling the interior of a
kaleidoscope”
•Worth, unusual because man, most dressmakers women.
•Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne founded in 1868; came to be
today’s Federation Francaise de la Couture, which sets the rules about who
can call himself/herself a courtier
•worth known for extravagance and historicism. Inspired by Middle Ages and
Renaissance

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 Princess
Pauline
Metternich

• 1854
• Wife of the ambassador of Austria (also her uncle)
• “I may look like a monkey, but I’m a fashionable monkey”
• Smoked cigars, sang show tunes, inappropriate comments—mischevious
• Empress Eugenie’s best friend
• First in society to take up Worth’s cause, when his wife brought sketches to
her home
• She introduced Worth to Eugenie

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 Empress Eugenie
1853-1871

Empress Eugenie, 1870

•Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, married 1853
•Popularized the cage crinoline in 1855…all of Europe followed the fashion.
•When Worth convinced her to abandoned crinoline, the silhouette of women's
dress followed her lead again.
•After the second French empire was overthrown, Eugenie and her husband
took refuge in England…Her husband died in 1873; she died in 1920.

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•Winterhalter, her favorite painter, began an official portrait of Empress
Eugénie shortly after her marriage in 1853 to Napoleon III, emperor of France,
but it was not exhibited until 1855.
•The present work is, in contrast, relatively intimate in scale and effect. It
shows the empress in a Second Empire adaptation of an eighteenth-century
gown.
•Her interest in the previous century, especially her fascination with Marie
Antoinette, queen of France from 1774 to 1793, is well documented—and
reflected in this painting.

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 “Some of them are great spenders…and I
like to dress them, for, as I say occasionally,
they have faith, figures and francs. Faith to
believe in me, figures I can put into shape,
francs to pay my bills.

Yes, I like to dress Americans.”

--Charles Frederick Worth

From the beginning, Americans were important customers for the French
couturiers!

Although, for most elite—and thus conservative—American couture clients

(like The Mrs. Astor), up-to-date fashion was too flashy. Mid century, these
clients would buy a new gown and keep it for a couple of seasons before
wearing.

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 Crinoline
1855

This is the fashionable silhouette at the beginning of our period of study

The fullness at the bottom is created by a crinoline,
•throughout the 1840s the skirt became more voluminous, supported by quilted
starched and flounced petticoats as well as the crinoline made of woven
horsehair;
•this evolved into a much lighter solution in the 1850s, the caged crinoline-
made of fabric covered steed springs.
•This dress has pagoda sleeves and flounces with decorative borders on each
tier, trend at the time.

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 1859
Evening dress

•Skirts increased in fullness and waists were natural positions in the 1850s
•Tiered skirts were typical of the time
•Fabrics were woven specifically for the pattern piece for which they were
intended.
•For example, here the stripes woven into fabric to land at the end of the hem.

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People were bored by crinoline, a satirical drawing titled “again crinoline!”

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•It was time for a fashion change. Eugenie Princess Metternich and Worth
worked together to develop a new silhouette
•Eugenie was hesitant to rid herself of beloved crinoline, but had to move with
the times in order to keep herself reigning queen of fashion
•This was their first collaboration, the crinoline is flatter in front, and shorter in
front as well; allowed feet to show, and for easier walking. Eugenie liked to
walk
•Other collaborations between Metternich and Worth included the naming of
the color “magenta” after a battle Napoleon III won against Austria. Mexican
blue was named after French victory in Puebla, Mexico.
•Eugenie and Metternich organized contemporaries to go out walking in this
dress, which was first scoffed at, then soon accepted

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 1860s
day dress

•1860s day dress

•Same silhouette as previous
•Arms and chest covered. Very feminine.

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 1860s Worth

•Monocromatic style popular in 1860s

•Ruffles create texture rather than contrasting color
•Very covered up style at the time

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1860s
day dress

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 1865

•American
•Military detailing could imply dress created for patriotic civil war event
•Created with analine dye, synthetic dyes first put to use in 1858

History of analine dye from Victoria and Albert Museum:

“Sir William Henry Perkin (1838-1907), discovered the first famous artificial
color by accident in 1856 when he was a student at the Royal College of
Chemistry in London. While experimenting with a synthetic formula to replace
the natural anti-malarial drug quinine, he produced a reddish powder instead of
the colourless quinine. To better understand the reaction he tested the
procedure using aniline and created a crude black product that ‘when purified,
dried and digested with spirits of wine gave a mauve dye’. This dye created a
beautiful lustrous colour that Perkin patented and which became known as
‘aniline violet’ or ‘mauveine’.

Perkin’s discovery led to a revolution in synthetic colour from the late 1850s
onwards. Textile manufacturers soon turned to his aniline process and the
resulting fabrics were characterised by an unprecedented brilliance and
intensity that delighted the consumer. Women’s dresses acted as a perfect

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advertisement for these rich hues, especially as trimmings usually matched the
colour of the gown. In August 1859 the satirical journal ‘Punch’ described the
craze for purple as ‘Mauve Measles’, a disease which erupted in a ‘measly
rash of ribbons’ and ended with the entire body covered in mauve. Soon other
synthetic dyes were being produced with evocative names such as ‘acid
magenta’, ‘aldehyde green’, ‘Verguin’s fuchine’, ‘Martius yellow’ and Magdela
red’ to match their gaudy appearance..”

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 1865

1865

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 1868

•1865/1868
•Very full. Aniline dye. Difficult to manipulate
•Day-dresses had low-cut armholes, giving impression of extended shoulder
line.

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 1869

•1869
•Example of new shape, more fullness at back, and popular aniline dye color;
magenta—named by worth and metternich after a french victory at Magenta
Austria
•History: in 1870, Napoleon III’s reign fell and Eugenia went to Queen Victoria.
During combat on the streets of Paris, worth opened his showrooms and
workrooms into a field hospital, probably avoiding being taken over during the
revolution; the Commune began, and Worth left, returning after its end

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 1872
bustle;
synthetic
(aniline) dye

•1872 worth.
•First phase of bustle, skirts flatter in the front fuller in back.
•Bustle distended skirt below the waist, overshirt or apron trimeed with ruffles,
fringes or ribbon bows further emphasized the silhouette.
•Separate bodice.
•Color palate previously unheard of with the appearance of the first synthetic
dyes, which began in 1858 with Perkins mauve and increased.
•Vibrant color.

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 1873

Per V&A: “This dress is coloured with a chemical dye which closely resembles
the aniline violet and purple fabric samples dyed with Perkin and Sons Colors
shown in the ‘Practical Mechanics Journal: Record of the Great Exhibition’,
1862”

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 1876
Princess dress

•PRINCESS DRESS
•Princess dress, closing in front; with petticoat; later, smaller bustle: One piece
dress with continuous vertical seams from bustline to the hip or lower without a
waistline seam.
•Earlier development of Worth for Princess Pauline von Mettrnich, where it got
its name

•FROM V&A: “1870s women's fashion placed an emphasis on the back of the
skirt, with long trains and fabric draped up into bustles with an abundance of
flounces and ruching. The waist was lower in the 1870s than the 1860s, with
an elongated and tight bodice and a flat fronted skirt. Low, square necklines
were fashionable. Hair was dressed high at the back with complicated twists
and rolls, falling to the shoulders, adorned with ribbons, bands and decorative
combs. Hats were very small and tilted forward to the forehead. Later in the
decade wider brimmed 'picture hats' were also worn, though still tilted
forwards.”

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 Princess line

•At right: “Mrs. Newton with a parasol” by James Tissot who often painted the
world of style.
•Mrs. Newton was Tissot’s “female companion” who lived with him and
modeled for him and died at 28 of consumption.
•Both dresses are examples of the princess line, bodice longer and more fitted,
required a longer corset;
•skirts narrow, and back drapery dropped to hip level or below.

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 1882

•1882 WORTH
•Debutante dress, from the Brooklyn Museum
•Women’s fashion changed quickly, and there were garments appropriate for
each time of day.
•Corset constant throughout the times. Hourglass shape.
•Daytime, sleeves long and high collars.
•Low necklines and short sleeves okay in evening.
•Fair complexions, mark of gentility: parasols, gloves on social occasions.

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 1884

•1884 SILHOUETTES
•Final, largest bustle “shelf like”
•bustles

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 1883
Worth

•1883 Worth Reception dress; high bustles fashionable again in the 1880s—
largest in 1885—”shelf like”
•Consider the drama of the female figure, presence, dignity—this style reflects
these qualities that were attractive…not youth, but stature.

•1880s women's dress featured tightly fitting bodices with very narrow sleeves
and high necklines, often trimmed at the wrists with white frills or lace. At the
beginning of the decade the emphasis was at the back of the skirt, featuring
ruching, flouncing, and embellishments such as bows and thick, rich fabrics
and trims. The middle of the decade saw a brief revival of the bustle, which
was so exaggerated that the derriere protruded horizontally from the small of
the back. By the end of the decade the bustle disappeared. Hair was worn in
tight, close curls on the top of the head. Hats and caps were correspondingly
small and neat, to fit on top of the hairstyle.

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 1888

•Mix of modern and historic

•Historic seen in back draping similar to 17th century manuta
•Modern seen in lily pattern evoking artistic dress movement. (More on that
later)

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 PART 3:

UNDERGARMENTS

Or

HOW DID THOSE

SHAPES HAPPEN?

We peek under the

skirts.

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 Petticoats

• Before the invention of the crinoline, women wore multiple petticoats under
their skirts to create fullness and shaping. Petticoats could be of cotton,
linen, silk, even wool.
• The layers necessary to create fullness could be very heavy and
uncomfortable.

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The cage crinoline was created in 1850s, it replaced heavy petticoats; the
cage crinoline was an understructure created by concentric hoops that could
be produced in every size and shape

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 1860s
hoop crinoline

•The 1850s cage crinoline was round but the hoop crinoline was a new
shape—wide and elliptical.
•Early to mid 1860s hoop crinoline was a new shape. Wide elliptical hoop
crinoline Drawers were longer because of the possibility that the hoop would
move and expose legs. Also, low heeled ankle boots covered up, too.
•1866 crinoline: Most characteristic feature of fashion in early to mid 1860s,
wide eliptical hoop crinoline. Difficult to walk in, to sit in

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 1868

•Another new shape: flatter at front, fuller at back. Tailoring changed to use
gores in construction of skirt so it would have fullness without puffiness at
front.
•Department stores happened in this time.
•Garments were reused, reshaped according to understructure needs

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 1870s bustle

•more graceful than what developed later

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 1870s bustles

•1870s bustle
•1872 BUSTLE (WORTH SEEN BEFORE)
• Interest focused on back

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 1877:
petticoat

1877 petticoat
Worn with Princess dress.

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 PART 4: Reform Dress

REFORM DRESS
A number of different reform dress movements occurred during the second
half of the 19th C. Each reacted to the confines and artificiality of popular
fashion, but were inspired by different goals.

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 RATIONAL
DRESS

Bloomers

•1862 BLOOMERS
•Popularized by Amelia Bloomer and women’s rights activists such as
Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the early 1850s.
•long baggy pants narrowing to a cuff at the ankles (worn below a skirt),
intended to preserve Victorian decency while being less of a hindrance to
women's activities than the long full skirts of the period
•They were worn by a few women in the 1850s, but were widely ridiculed in the
press, and failed to become commonly accepted

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 Amelia Bloomer

• Image at right: Amelia Bloomer c. 1852-1858

• In the 1850s the American Mrs. Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894), caused
quite a stir when she wrote an article for her feminist publication 'The Lily'.
• She tried to promote the idea of women abandoning their petticoats for a bi-
furcated garment later known as the bloomer fashion.
• She suggested that woman would find trousers like those worn by Turkish
women easier to wear than their voluminous heavy skirts.
• The baggy bloomer trousers she liked reached to the ankle, were frill cuffed
and worn with a simple knee length skirt and bodice. She thought it a
sensible and hygienic option to the boned fashion bodices and long weighty
skirts of the time.
• The baggy trouser outfit was worn by a minority, including the Rational
Dress Reform Society. It never gained popularity until after Mrs. Bloomer's
death.
• Mrs. Bloomer abandoned trousers in 1857 when she admitted she found the
cage crinoline comfortable compared to the weight of petticoats.

Bloomer later stated,

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 "As soon as it became known that I was wearing the new dress, letters
came pouring in upon me by the hundreds from women all over the
country making inquiries about the dress and asking for patterns—
showing how ready and anxious women were to throw off the burden of
long, heavy skirts.”

Yet I persevered and kept on the dress nearly all the time till after the
introduction of hoops. Finding them light and pleasant to wear and
doing away with the necessity for heavy underskirts (which was my
greatest objection to long dresses), and finding it very inconvenient as
well as expensive keeping up two wardrobes—a long and short—I
gradually left off the short dress . . . .
There were other questions of greater importance than the length of a
skirt under discussion at the time, and I felt my influence would be
greater in the dress ordinarily worn by women than in the one I was
wearing.”

If interested, you can find more on Amelia Bloomer at:

http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/wori/shs4.htm

47
"Bloomer Costumes or Woman's Emancipation," early 1850s.
Bloomers were widely lampooned, as in this cartoon, which inks them to male
accessories and behaviors. Those who tried the bloomer costume reluctantly
have it up as it brought them so much unwanted attention that they were more
rather than less restricted in their freedom of movement."

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WOMENS EMANCIPATION
•Image from the British magazine Punch in 1851—poking fun at women “role
reversal with men”
•It was generally believed that women belonged in home, men in public sphere.
•Men’s worst fears, women taking over
•Bloomer was an insult made up by the newspapers of the time.

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•The costume was called the "American Dress" or "Reform Costume" by the
women's activists who wore it.
•Most of the women who wore the costume were deeply involved in dress
reform, abolition, temperance and the women's rights movement.
•Although practical, the "bloomers" were also an attempt to reform fashion
since the majority of "bloomers" were also in upper to middle class and also in
the public eye.

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 Requirement of a Perfect Dress
(1883)
• Freedom of movement
• Absence of pressure over any part of body
• Not more weight than is necessary for
warmth, and both weight and warmth
evenly distributed
• Grace and beauty combined with comfort
and convenience
• Not departing too conspicuously from the
ordinary dress of the time.

• Rational dress Association had an exhibition in 1883, above, this eventually

influenced athletic dress.
• Some of the tenants of Rational dress were influenced by the Bloomer
fashion.

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 ARTISTIC DRESS
The Pre-Raphaelite
Brotherhood

ARTISTIC DRESS: THE PRE-RAPHELITE BROTHERHOOD

•The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoood was a group of young artists and writers
who met in the late 1840s. Although their group had officially disbanded by
1853, they remained in great part friends and inspired by similar goals.
•The leader of the group was Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Also connected was
William Morris, who went on to create the arts and crafts movement, which
was stimulated by the same goals as the Pre-Raphaelites—a return to the
home crafted, high standards of quality, for everyone.

More into on PreRaphaelites at

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/collections/preraphaelites/index.aspx

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 Pre-Raphaelite Principles
• To have genuine goals to express;
• To study Nature attentively;
• To sympathize with what is direct and
heartfelt in previous art, to the exclusion of
what is conventional and self-parodying
and learned by rote; and
• Most indispensible of all, to produce
thoroughly good pictures and statues

The PreRaphelite Principles

•The goal of this group was to return to nature;
•following teaching of John Ruskin, who instructed artists to turn to nature and,
“rejecting nothing, selecting nothing, and scorning nothing.”
•They also rejected the current industrial age, and found inspiration in romantic
medieval subjects.

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 Jane Morris

JANE MORRIS
•These artists treasured both the natural in their backgrounds and in their
beauties. Called them “The stunners.” Quirky beauties instead of the wan
perfections of the time.
•They dressed their models in long flowing gowns loosely inspired by styles of
the Middle Ages. These styles were then adopted by the wives and models for
everyday dress.
•Dresses were loosely fitted and comparatively plain, often with long puffed
sleeves; they were made from fabric in muted colors derived from natural
dyes, and could be ornamented with embroidery.
•Artistic dress was an extreme contrast to the tight corsets, hoop skirts and
bustles, bright synthetic analine dyes, and lavish ornamentation seen in the
mainstream fashion of the period. It celebrated the body’s natural form, and
the ability to move with natural grace.
•In the 1860s, artistic dress became popular in intellectual circles and among
artists for its natural beauty; it also reinforced their social ideals of quality
materials, respect for the work of the hands, and the purity of medieval design.

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1865
•Jane Morris was both the wife of William Morris and the girlfriend of Rossetti.
Married in 1859.
•Considered the “Queen of the Stunners” by the group
•William Morris, who later became an ardent socialist, ultimately supported her
relationship with Rossetti, and would take her to the summer house she would
share with her lover. It would not be appropriate for her to travel there alone.
He, of course, had other girlfriends as well. But believed in open marriage—
although his love for her seemed greater than that of hers for him, and might
have been convinced of this position because of her affair.
•Jane Morris was not known to be a particular anarchist on her own—she
merely married into the group, though seemed to fare well. She was the
daughter of a stableman; and her marriage to Morris did very well for herself.
He was educated and very financially well-off, as were others of the group
(although Morris was the wealthiest)
•One thing of note about this group of men—they were romantics. Although it
was common for upper class males to have affairs with lower-class women,
these men went to far as to marry them—unheard of in acceptable society.
•Jane Morris did present a certain aspect of middle-class womanhood in the
period: the neurologic. She ultimately spent most of her time in bed or the

55
couch complaining of ailments; or being treated at the waters in Bad Ems
Switzerland.

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FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH, 1874
•The artistic dress movement was not just an experiment in dress, but in
lifestyle.
•The couple shared the Red House for a number of years, an almost
commune like existence where all of the friends would gather and work on art
together.
•It seemed an idyllic existence, until money problems and Morris’ ongoing
experimentation with publishing forced a move to London, which Jane didn’t
really like.
•Though as she continued wearing her artistic dress, she caused a fashion
furor in London. The style was ultimately connected with freethinking artistic
women—or, simply, those who wanted to appear so.
•The children also wore artistic dress, and were chastised at school for doing
so.

56
Photographs of pre-Raphaelites by Julia Margaret Cameron;

• The Rosebud Garden 1868

• Pre Raphaelite study 1870
• Pomona 1872

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1857
day dress

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 Oscar Wilde
Aesthetic dress

“I can resist anything except temptation.”

•Irish author known for his acerbic wit

•While at Magdalen College, Wilde became particularly well known for his role in the aesthetic movement. He began
wearing his hair long and openly scorning so-called "manly" sports, and began decorating his rooms with peacock
feathers, lilies, sunflowers, and blue china.
•Wilde to wear clothing encouraged by the French Renaissance King, Francis I. Wilde adopted the pre-Raphaelite’s philosophy
on dress to reflect his pursuit of the beauty of art pioneered by these followers.
•Gave lectures on aestheticism, art for art’s sake, living a life of beauty
•Mode of dress velvet coat, long hair: dandy; some considered him immoral
•Wilde's effeminacy would influence the behaviour of men and women, arguing that his poetry "eclipses masculine
ideals [..that..] under such influence men would become effeminate dandies". He also scrutinised the links between
Oscar Wilde's writing, personal image and homosexuality, calling his work and lifestyle 'Immoral'.
•The artists and writers of the Aesthetic movement tended to hold that the Arts should provide refined sensuous
pleasure, rather than convey moral or sentimental messages. They believed that Art did not have any purpose; it
need only be beautiful. The Aesthetes developed the cult of beauty, which they considered the basic factor in art. Life
should copy Art, they asserted. They considered nature as crude and lacking in design when compared to art. The
main characteristics of the movement were: suggestion rather than statement, sensuality, massive use of symbols,
and correspondence between words, colors and music.
•Aesthetic dress of the 1880s and ‘90s carries on many of the external characteristics of Artistic dress (rejection of
tightlacing, simplicity of line, and emphasis on beautiful fabrics), even though, at its core, Aestheticism rejected the
moral and social goals of Pre-Raphaelitism.
•Aesthetic dress encompasses a range of modes, from the Japonnaise gowns and and Liberty & Co smocks to
velvet jackets and Oscar Wilde’s knee breeches in his "aesthetic lecturing costume" for his speaking tour of America
in 1882.

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 “Oh I feel just
as happy as a
sunflower”
Punch 1881

“Aestheticism is a search after the sign of the beautiful. It is science of the beautiful
through which men see the correlation of the arts. It is, to speak more exactly, the
search after the secret of life.”

Tour of America in 1880s, to publicize the aesthetic play, Patience. On January 31,
1882, Wilde had an encounter in Boston: a creative demonstration by some Harvard
University boys. Wilde lectured on the English Renaissance to a full audience at the
Music Hall in Boston. As reported in Boston Daily Advertiser on February 1, 1882 a
procession of sixty Harvard students, dressed to resemble Wilde wore embellished
neckties, wigs and “emblematic sunflower”. After a twenty-minute delay, probably
caused by a need to change dress, Wilde appeared before the audience in an
uncharacteristic ensemble which included trousers and an orthodox coat. Wilde,
during the lecture, addressed the disappointed and outsmarted students as his apostles
and assured them that “there is something more important in this movement than
knee-breaches and sunflowers”. The lecture was a success and the audience
applauded loudly when he finished.
Anonymous, The Boston Daily Advertiser, February 1, 1882.
Ibid.

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 1887

Wilde embraced a truly natural feminine ideal for women. He discouraged artificial
adornments like the corset and elaborate hairstyles polished off with a fancy and
decorated bonnet or hat. He encouraged natural flower-inspired colors like lavender,
pink and white for clothing. Wilde wrote in New York World on November 7, 1882:
“In the old days, when dress were decorated with beautiful designs and
worked with exquisite embroidery, ladies rather took a pride in
bringing out the garment and wearing it many times and handing it
down to daughters.”

The Aesthetic dress particularly influenced women because it brought them back to
the handicraft of dressmaking and the nostalgia for a more simple time. The
industrialization of the nineteenth century took that handicraft away in many
instances; such items could be purchased in the new and very entertaining department
store. In a lecture of Wilde’s entitled The Practical Application of the Principles of
the Aesthetic Theory to Exterior and Interior House Decoration, with Observations
upon Dress and Personal Adornment Wilde stressed the importance of bringing back
the “notable and joyous dress”.
“There would be more joy in life if we were to accustom ourselves to
use all the beautiful colors we can in fashioning our own clothes. At
present we have lost all nobility of dress and, in doing so, have almost
annihilated the modern sculpture”.
Wilde, Oscar. Art and Decoration. Page 7

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AESTHETIC LOVE IN A COTTAGE
•Aestheticism was widely ridiculed in the press.
•Instead of fashionable fabrics like taffeta, aesthetic gowns were supposed to
flow along the body, requiring softer fabrics like fine cottons, velveteens, and
untreated silk
•Lillies, sunflowers, peacock feathers became iconic aesthetic items
•Arthur Liberty opened Liberty in London in 1875, known for its attention to
fabrics—created especially for them—which followed the aesthetic dress ideal.
Own dress department in 1884

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 “The Two Ideals”

[the old]
…tresses hung in tendril-
tangles down, like poor
Ophelia about to drown.

[the new]
…with frizzled flamboyant
hair…her cheeks were
cavernous, her form was
spare.
--Punch, 1879

•This shows the relationship between Artistic dress and Aesthetic dress.

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64
Dress
Liberty & Co. Ltd
London
1895

FROM THE V&A:

This dress has many of the features associated with the dress reform trend of
the late 19th century. The trend ran parallel with the Arts and Crafts Movement
and advocated a radically new approach to dress in an effort to free women
from corsetry.

The clothes were homemade or produced in commercial studios. They used

natural and artistic materials and often included hand-embroidered decoration
inspired by the countryside and wild or garden flowers. Smocking too, seen
here at the waist, on the sleeves and at the neckline, evoked an imaginary
rural simplicity. It sometimes featured on dresses designed and sold by the
London firm of Liberty & Co, who sold gowns in the Arts and Crafts style.

65
 c. 1900

66

•Corset 1901
•Corset 1890s

•This is what it took to achieve the fashionable figure

•Corsets laced up the back—had to be done by someone else

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 \

The bustle disappeared in the 1890s, and the skirt became slim. As skirts grew
plainer, the bodice became the focus of an ensemble.

Bodices were highly decorated with contrasting fabric, lace, braids, puffs, frills,
gathers, tucks, pleats, and fancy collars.

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-By 1892, the shoulder and skirts begin to expand. Frills and collars widen the
shoulder, while hems are padded and held out with layers of petticoats.

-Sleeves are stuffed and boned, and various means are created to hold a good
shape. Below the elbow, the sleeve remains fitted. The 3/4 length sleeve
virtually disappears

At left, Ball gown by Worth, 1893.

At right, gown by Paquin, 1895
middle, a sleeve support!

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By 1896, the skirts had reached their widest limit, as did the sleeves. Many
skirts were wider at the hem than hoop skirts of old, up to 6 yards around.
Often, fullness was added to the bodice at the bust. Tight lacing corsets were
needed to achieve the fashionably small waist.
In 1897, sleeves lost the fullness at the elbow, retaining a puff at
theshoulder. In 1898, the shape of the skirt changed. the new disigns were
closer fitted at the hips, flairing slightly at the knee to the hem.

Dress: Magy Rouff, 1897

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 Tailor-made
Shirtwaist
Leg-of mutton sleeve

70

And now to the everyday…

This is an iconic look of the 1980s: the TAILOR-MADE/SHIRTWAIST

•Tailor-made, two piece suit: initially made by tailors (influence of
menswear…easier to wear)
•The blouse is the “shirtwaist”—again menswear inspired
•The tailor-made became the go-to dress of women from all classes—it was
one of the early ready-to-wear ensembles. Adopted by women who worked.
•The jacket at right has the leg o mutton sleeve—these sleeves were largest in
the middle of the decade. (Picture is from 1897)

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More leg-of-mutton sleeves;

Here’s a link to a short article on this style in anOther magazine:

http://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/8295/a-brief-history-of-the-leg-of-
mutton-sleeve

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 Charles Worth,
1898

• The fashionable reverse S-curve silhouette of the dress and the dramatic
scroll pattern of the textile reflect the influence of the Art Nouveau
movement.
• In order to achieve this effect, the textile was woven à la disposition, with
the intent that each piece would become a specific part of the dress. With
this technique, the design of the fabric is intrinsic to the design of the dress.

• https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wrth/hd_wrth.htm

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1896

73
 The Gibson Girl

74

GIBSON GIRL
The Gibson Girl was the icon of American youth. Created by Charles Gibson in
1890, she remained an influencer of the active, young, daring woman.
Embodied the style of the time, shirtwaists, big hair, S-curve
Shirtwaist: for working woman: skirt and ready made shirtwaist—blouse style
based on men’s shirts that allowed more freedom than a boned bodice

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 Gibson girl/
Shirtwaist

75

GIBSON GIRL 2
•“braver, stronger, more healthful and skillful,” than the average woman of her
generation.
•She played sports, chess, she seduced men and she wore shirtwaists. While
mischievous, she also displayed a certain imperiousness in the tilt of her head;
was she a society girl, or from the working class?
•During her heyday, debate raged as each side attempted to claim her as its
own.
•she embodied a young country brimming with vigor and hope
•Popularized shirts and skirts—”tailor mades” ready made garments
accessible by all classes and good for working class women

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 Additional (optional) Resources
• V&A History of Fashion 1840-1900
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/h/history-of-fashion-1840-
1900/
• “Women in Red” Fashion and Morality in 19th Century Dress
(lecture); Professor Lynda Nead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8hCW_lNdGw
• “The Girl of the Period” Fashionable Women in 19th Century
(lecture); Professor Lynda Nead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU-428sULho

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