Corsets In Victorian Era

Compared to the Victorian era, our modern idea of “dressing up” is laughable. The Victorian era timeline took place from 1837 to the 1890s and is named after Britain’s Queen Victoria. Victorian women spent hours putting on tight corsets, enormous hoop-skirts, and ridiculous sized bustles. Contrary to today’s society, women power was almost nonexistent as well as opportunity, depending on the man, whether it be their father or husband. They also were expected to be obedient to the wishes of these men no matter the situation; whether it be a party or other social event, their intelligence and wit were restricted to whatever they were instructed. Employment was also limited from anything to a simple governess to a factory worker. In 1837, emerged the new craze of a slim waist and attention to be drawn towards the lower half of the woman and the bust of a woman, usually with the help of a corset, hoop-ring skirts, and bustles. Whalebone was originally used to make corsets, but then was replaced with steel; corsets were considered extremely unhealthy because they could damage and rearrange internal organs, birth defects, cancer, anemia, and miscarriages with constant use. Even with these dangers, women continued to wear them throughout the 19th century because they were a means of status, represented youth, and were said to give women support. Hoop-ring skirts were also used to achieve an hourglass figure. Crinoline was a heavy, inflexible fabric made from horsehair (which was almost never clean) that was laid on top of the hoop-ring skirt domes; they were much lighter than the
previous method of just layering on petticoats. The cages were moveable and flexible. The look was so popular that every woman in every social class started wearing them, but the more hoops added, the more they costed, so the richer women had longer cages until shorter ones became more popular in the 1860s. The last thing that was used to achieve an hourglass figure was a bustle. The bustle was made of horsehair and was apart of the huge fad of a large rear end (the rear of a woman usually was favored when it took the shame of a shelf). The bustle was popular until the 1890s. A drooped shoulder was a trend that separated the wealthy from the poor. Dresses that were in soft, fine, pastels could be remodeled with detachable collars and cuffs, usually white. In the 1840s, the hourglass figure was radically dramatised with adding more layers of skirts, bodices turned into v shapes and the shoulder drooped even more. Women started wearing petticoats.
As the sun went down, so did necklines, shoulder droops, and corsets (the corsets lost their straps).
Sleeves on a ball gown were shortened. We say that women wore dresses, but the bodice and skirt were separated. Through most of the era, three quarter length sleeves were popular; near the end, bell shaped ruffles slowly started to rise in popularity. Bonnets started to become popular as
well.
You would never guess that a woman’s hair was long back then because the majority of the time it was pulled back in a tight bun with ringlets hanging down the sides of their face, or bangs. The 1870s brought crimping to popularity. Women started wearing hair extensions (as if their hair wasn’t long enough already) and other false hair pieces. They also wore “flower crowns” the consisted of anything from dried roses to beaded butterflies. Makeup was usually only worn by actors in the theatre, other than that, women were usually very pale and would sometimes smudge rouge on their cheeks for blush.
The 1850s not only brought sewing machines, it also brought synthetic dyes instead of the natural dyes being used prior to. The sized paper pattern was new as well, along with machines that could cut many pattern pieces at once, making the manufacturing and producing process a lot faster and cheaper. Charles Worth was a fashion designer in Paris, France; he created outfits worn by French Empress Eugenie, Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and Queen Victoria. He was eventually named “Father of Haute Couture”. One of his most celebrated designs was a lifted overskirt that had buttons and tabs to keep it back; this was to create a fullness of the rear.
There was also another popular fashion was the new “Princess Line”. It was a simple dress consisting of joined panels that went from shoulder to hem. It did the opposite of the hourglass style from the earlier part of the Victorian era, and slimmed the woman with simple colors with a white collar and loose skirt. Amelia Bloomer, a feminist of her time, had a dress named after her called “The Bloomer Costume”. It was a short but full skirt worn over trousers, making movement easier. At the end of the Victorian era, the Edwardian era emerged. Fashion turned towards Prince of Wales, Edward, son of Queen Victoria. His fashions were described as lustful. All in all, the Victorian era was a time full of new technology, new colors, and rising from heavy clothing that created a false hourglass figure to slim fitting clothing.