whatever shall I wear?

[marycatelli]

The list of clothing changes a Victorian lady could make in a single day was -- quite formidable.


Were I writing comedy of manners, or like Jane Austen, I could safely assume they were off-stage, and everything waits for the characters to attire themselves properly.  (For one thing, they're changing themselves.)  And once the Action and Adventure start, the heroine gets to wear what she had on for however long it takes.  The heroine who favors artistic dress for contributing to her eccentric reputation also finds it handy in that respect.

It's the in-between stuff, where she is still feeling out the lay of the land and fathoming where to trigger the action and adventure that makes it questionable.  To be sure, it gives her an iron-clad excuse to be off by herself, but still it can be awkward trying to slithering in spying and discoveries when you need four changes of clothing a day.

Comments

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

If I was wearing all those layers of garments, many of them constrictive, I'd be sweating like a pig just to walk down those long hallways, let alone haul laundry or lift tea trays with full pots or try anything like scrubbing or scullery work. I'd have to change just to get dried out!

[marycatelli]

That's why, if you were a Victorian lady, you would have at least one housemaid to do that kind of thing.

[rhinemouse.livejournal.com]

So . . . at the risk of being annoying, are there any books/websites you'd recommend for researching Victorian fashion? (I have suddenly found myself in need of researching Victoriana, and it's pretty daunting.)

[marycatelli]

I mostly picked it up from books on daily life in Victorian times, and high life in the same era -- but I know someone who might know, and have forwarded the questions.

a direct quote from the source

[marycatelli]

"Victoria was on the throne for 2/3 of the nineteenth century! I can give more focused advice if there's a more-focused question. Erm--one-stop, but good. I'd probably recommend Norah Waugh's Cut of Women's Clothes, the chapters that cover the appropriate period. The book has patterns, but I'm recommending it for the summary of the period's clothes, the contemporary pictures, and the quotes from the period. Also, it's likely to be found at a library (or ILL), so the price is good. I'm in the midst of re-researching quite a lot of the clothes of the nineteenth century, and I still don't have one source. Me, I'm going back to primary or at least contemporary sources, by searching archive.org with subject:tailoring ,subject:dressmaking , subject:"Garment cutting" , but those tell a lot more about how the tailoring & dressmaking trades went about their business than about just regular people felt about their clothes"

[headnoises.livejournal.com]

What on earth is an artistic dress? I've seen it mentioned, but I'm a little cautious about definitions from a wiki that don't even enlighten me all that much.
If I read that right, they're just generic dresses with loose sleeves? Not really a specific style, just the kind of thing you'd make for a doll, or if you've got my level of sewing skill? (Contrast with the holy-cow confections of lace and buttons and whatnot elsewhere that even I can classify loosely.)

[marycatelli]

It was a fashion trend in the Victorian era, started by the women associated with the Pre-Raphaelites -- they took the sorts of dresses the artists had had them model in and wore them in every day life. It was characterized by simplicity of design and rich material, in opposition to the fancy trimmings and bustles and corsets of more ordinary fashion.

For reasons she can not disclose publicly, my heroine is in fact particularly fond of the no-corsets part.

This shows women in artistic dress to either side -- the women in the middle wear more typical fashions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frith_A_Private_View_detail.jpg

[headnoises.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[marycatelli]

Glad I could explain it.