Victorian Era: Corsets, Lace, Ruffles and Big Skirts

The Victorian era was a time full of extravagant styles when looking at women’s fashion. The Victorian era was also a turning point for the field of fashion, with the invention of the sewing machine and the use of vibrant dyes in clothing to create exaggerated colours for the garments.

Early Victorian fashion was less extravagant, with straight long silhouettes and plainer styles. As the years went on the Victorian style evolved into large round hooped skirts ands ruffled sleeves worn mostly by the rich, who thought the clothes to be practical for everyday use.

Unlike the clothing we wear today, Victorian clothing took time and a lot of effort to put on. Each Victorian outfit consisted of layers of garments, which had to be put on under the dress in order to make the outfit complete. First the pantallettes were worn, which was the Victorian version of underwear, only a lot longer and much less flattering. The pantalletes often passed the knees and had ruffles or lace on them. The women also wore a chemise, which is a lose undergarment worn under the corset. Next is the corset, which was designed to create a shapely waist and hips as well as an enhanced bust. The corset was adorned with feminine designs and had ties in the back. After the corset, the petticoat was worn, which was a long lacey skirt worn under the dress to enhance the volume of the dress. Finally the dress is put on, and to complete the outfit many women wore bonnets (a sort of frilly and lacey hat) and gloves.

Victorian fashion may be hard to pull off these days, but certain aspects are being applied to modern styles. Although much of today’s fashion has evolved, Victoriana is still making a comeback in the runways of all the fashion capitals of the world, with current designers using Victorian inspired themes in their collections.

Although Victorian fashion is for the most part extinct, certain aspects of the grand attire is being used in today’s fashion world. Individual pieces, such as corsets, and frilly laced shirts and skirts are being seen more and more.

The corset is a piece of Victoriana that is making a big comeback.Corsets were used as body enhancers warn under a dress in the Victorian era, but in contemporary society, a corset would be warn on its own, with some nice form fitting jeans and stiletto heals to complete the look.

Not only are we seeing more female Victorian styles being applied to modern designs, there is also an incorporation of male Victorian designs being added to modern female outfits. Such as the coats worn by the militia and riding outfits of that era.