Hi, this is a bit of a shot in the dark on my end, but I have a fashion inquiry (and I apologize if I sound ridiculous at all; I��m a bit at my wit’s end).
Is there a good way to research forms of casual Victorian garb? I feel like I’m going a bad route by inserting the word ‘Victorian’ into any search because it results in rather fancy things (or modern twists on such that are purchasable). Would it be wiser to site dates in search? Is this going to fruitless?
Sorry for taking up any time if this is out of wheelhouse. But if you do answer, I really appreciate it.
I'll do my best! Focusing on womenswear, because...well, that's what I know best. But if anyone wants to chime in about the gentlemen, please do so!
So, casual Victorian doesn't always read as Casual to us nowadays. Standards of casual clothing- that is, clothing one wears for everyday life when nothing special is going on -were rather higher than we have today.
This is an illustration of matchstick-makers in London's East End c. 1871, done by one Herbert Johnson. The women have their sleeves rolled up and aprons on, but when they leave the factory (rolling their sleeves down, adding hats to go outside- which most of them would have done; it was part of looking Respectable) they might be indistinguishable to us from any other women of the same era wearing not particularly bustle-y skirts. Some of them probably have on the commonplace Matching Skirt And Bodice dress format of the era; others have on blouses made from the same patterns as those worn by middle- and upper-class women.
Also note that they have on ribbons, chokers, earrings...they're just like us. They like wearing things that make them feel Put Together, even though they're doing one of the lowest-valued, most dangerous jobs open to women at the time. Because people have always been people, regardless of time or social class.
And for middle-class women and up, Casual might be even harder to distinguish from "fancy" to us today.
This is a mid-late 1880s day dress with a skirt length suitable for lots of walking, from Augusta Auctions. Could not tell you the social status of the woman who owned it, genuinely. Probably not the absolute poorest of the poor, but beyond that...this is a dress you could potentially wear to run errands. Even to go to work, if your job wasn't especially physical. Because. I don't know. It's a Day Dress. You wear it for day things. It's not especially formal, because then it would be made of a more delicate material and probably have a longer skirt (unless it was a Serious Dancing ball gown). Possibly also a lower neckline and puffed sleeves, if it was exclusively for the most formal events.
The idea that a dress was "fancy" just because it had ornamentation wasn't really in their cultural vocabulary.
Here is a group of women playing croquet in what looks like the early-mid 1870s. They're just hanging out! Having a good time! They're probably middle or upper class, but that's what they wear to chill outside with friends- to play a lowkey sport, even.
So yeah, it can be hard to map Victorian everyday clothing onto our "jeans and t-shirt" understanding of what makes an outfit casual. They had skirts and blouses for most relevant decades, but even those outfits often end up looking formal to us nowadays because of what I call Ballgownification- the idea that, since we only wear clothes that look even vaguely like what they had for extremely dressy occasions, we assume everything we see of their clothing was dressy.
(Someone please ask for my rant about Ballgownification)
Searching for "day dress," "walking dress," "blouse," "blouse waist," and "shirtwaist" (the last for the late 19th-early 20th century when that term became commonplace) might help. Best of luck!
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Crochet Victorian Blouse Pattern, 1970s.
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[Legend of Zelda] Breath of the Wild - Happy (belated) 6th Anniversary!
In celebrating of the game that brought me into the Zelda franchise! And sparking a big explosion of creativity and inspiration in terms of art. This game means so much to me. And I look forward to Tears of the Kingdom's release in May!
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How to Create and Customize a Raglan Top or Dress Pattern [Beginner-Friendly]
In this post , you will learn how to self draft and hack sewing pattern for raglan dress or top.
A raglan top or dress is a garment that has sleeves that extend to the neckline, creating a diagonal seam from the underarm to the collarbone. They are flattering and comfortable styles that suit any body type.
In this post, you will learn how to create a raglan top or dress pattern from scratch.…
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I got married this summer!! And I spent the year leading up to it designing & patterning & making my dresses! So here they are; unfortunately my photo selection is pretty limited cause our photographer got almost no fullbody pictures of me alone from the front, but w/e
My wedding dress/outfit/what have you consisted of an Edwardian-ish blouse and a skirt which I drafted off of an actual Victorian walking skirt pattern except since I didn’t wanna obtain/wear a corset & bustle I took out the hip shaping so it just turned out to be a partial circle skirt that’s a little longer and fuller in back. Oh, and the front panel was actually two overlapping panels which could be folded back and attached to the inside of the skirt. I wore it closed at the actual marriage part which I didn’t get good pics of, and open at the ring ceremony, which is where all the above pics were taken. The pants were resale, but I did make my veil and bouquet!
The second dress was very inspired by this set of classic lolita OP’s (particularly the one in the first two pics) which I first saw back in 2021 and I’d been itching to make something similar ever since, so I picked up the fabric for it when it was on sale back at my old job and then pencilled it in as my reception dress so I would actually get around to making it. (Although fun fact both of these outfits STILL need more sewing done before they’re completely ready for regular wear lol. Someday) I got the cameo for the brooch off Etsy (it has a butterfly on it) and my grandma bought me the shoes for Christmas last year, though I added the bows to them (they’re removable and I also made a pink set) and also made the earrings and hair bow.
Anyway we recently got done moving and stuff so hopefully I will be able to do more art soon! (Also they/them preferred as usual 💜)
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