Victorian and Elizabethan Fashion
By: Brooke Chrysty and Maribel Pagan
Victorian Fashion
The Victorian era was mainly about the woman when it came to fashion. The styles were constantly changing which made it difficult, as well as expensive, to stay in style.
Women
Women and girls followed the same guide lines when it came to clothing. The girls were usually less extreme, however. Upper and lower class both wore the same things, but made with different materials biased on what you could afford.
Petticoats
Petticoats were the first big thing in the Victorian era.
Women would wear layers of petticoats to achieve a fuller look to their skirts
They are still popularly used today to add volume to quinceanera dresses.
Hoop Skirts
In order to achieve a perfect circular look, dress makers created a hoop to wear underneath the skirts. Most hoops were padded to avoid excess discomfort.
Despite the pads, the weight of the metal hoop as well as the weight of the fabric from the many layers of the dress itself left scars on the waste of the woman wearing it.
Hoop skirts are still used today in gypsy culture because when getting married, it is popular for the woman to wear a huge wedding gown. The only way to achieve the traditional look is with a hoop.
Bustle
The bustle came soon after replacing the hoop skirt
The look that women wanted was a thin waste and shelf like derriere.
In this photo, you can also see the puffed out sleeves that were extremely popular at the time, along with the greatly exaggerated back end
Tight and form fitting
tight, form fitting dresses became in style
During this time in history, the beauty standard was to be thin and tall. The only way for women to show off their bodies while still being conservative was through tighter clothing.
Dresses that follow this guideline are still popular today. The 'Victorian' style is still widely used in wedding dresses.
Pannier
A complete 180 from the previous style, women now wanted rectangular hips. The look was completely exaggerated.
Even Marie Antoinette rocked the rectangular esque at her wedding.
The rectangular look around the hips is making a comeback in modern fashion
Pigeon breast
The desired look for women at this point was resembled by an 'S'
The new fad was 'Pigeon breast' which pushed out the bust of the woman. Combined with the bustle, it made the woman look like an 'S'.
Frills and excess fabric was used to further the illusion of bigger breasts.
Men
Men and boys followed the same guidelines
Double breasted jacked and outerwear
Men usually wore double breasted coats that were at knee length. They paired that with top hats and canes. Men would wear black and boys usually wore blue.
A white vest and straight trousers were usually worn with the long jacket.
Elizabethan Fashion
In the Elizabethan Fashion Era clothes and colors represented social classes. Strict laws were put in place to insure that the social classes were stable. Wearing clothes outside your social class were often punished by anything in between fines and also death. The laws were very strict so you could tell the social status of the person immediately when you look at them.
Women
Gown
Women that were in the lower classes wore gowns as their clothing. Most gowns were flowy and were not tight.
Undergarments
This was worn under their clothing.
Hats
Most women wore hats with their gowns.
Ruffs
Ruffs were worn around a woman's neck.
Collar
Collars were worn for elegant occasions.
Heels- High Class Women
High Class women wore high heels with their
Petticoat- High Class Women
These were worn to make the skirts the women wore more poofy and full.
Men
Doublets
Men usually wore Doublets as everyday clothing.
Undergarments
Men wore undergarments under their Breeches.
Breeches
These are worn over their undergarments.