Victorian Clothing, part III- Gentlemens' Apparel

In the 1840's with the dawn of ready-to-wear clothing, gentlemen of all classes had better access to suits and ties and dress wear. In the Victorian Age where appearance and social standing posed of premier importance, a gentleman wore a suit. During the day, a three piece black suit served him in business, with a neck tie and white shirt. But in the evening, a more formal suit would be required. Following are some wonderful clothing and accessories from the period. Courtesy of Chemung County Historical Society's Fabrics of our Lives display.

Seen here are an officer's wool uniform worn by a local Elmiran in the 1860's, and two silk plaid dresses also from the 1860's, shown with hoops. These would have been considered Sunday best for a middle class woman. The officer's coat is presumably from the Civil War.

Pictured here are a man's silk top hat, 1870's, center, and clockwise from there: A lady's straw bonnet late 1800's, two velvet bonnets, late 1800's and 1880 respectively, and finally, an 1880's lady's wool hat with feathers.

This suit with tails and bowler hat, circa 1880, strikes a dashing figure with its white bow-tie and crisp white shirt and waistcoat. It accompanies a wedding gown from 1870, and a more ornate bodice of another wedding gown from 1890.

A frock coat from 1880 stands beside a satin white wedding gown circa 1880. What a handsome couple! The suit was worn by a local physician on his wedding day.

Finally, some photos of accessories which a Victorian gentleman would wear or carry for special occasions.

A pair of 1880's gentleman's white leather gloves, 1880's cufflinks, 1860's eyeglasses, invitations and tickets to a military ball, and an 1875 pocketwatch.

Calling cards from 1880. Note the vivid colors and beautiful graphics so typical for the era.

No wonder the Victorian Age is still considered one of the most romantic in history.

Victorian clothing, part II-Children

Several examples of children's clothing were displayed at the Chemung County Historical Society's featured exhibit, Fabrics of our Lives, Great Life Moments Through Clothing, 1860-1900.

This pair of Amethyst silk taffeta mother-daughter gowns inspired my imagination. Dated from the 1880's, they featured a bustle for the mother's gown, and the mid-calf length of a young girl's frock of approximately ten years of age. The buttons of these gowns resembled a cluster of tiny beads, rather like orange raspberries.


Here, a lad's navy blue zouave suit is pictured, modeled after the French zouave military uniforms of the era. Circa 1860's. It is of wool, and the black embroidery was almost mint condition. A handsome figure this little suit must have cut!

This Little Lord Fauntelroy-styled suit in dark green velvet reflects a style that enjoyed great popularity after the famed novel character. Note the eyelet lace cuffs, and the inset photo of the original owner of the suit. Boys' and girls' clothing was not differentiated until the age of three or four years, during which both wore white gowns. A boy was considered "breeched" once he had his first set of pants.

This pair of girl's dresses were owned and worn by Samuel Clemens' (aka Mark Twain) nieces. Clemens married an Elmira girl named Olivia, daughter of the notable Jervis Langdon family. These gowns date from the 1880's. The scarlet red silk gown boasts a print robe with a long train, and silk ribbons in startlingly pristine condition. This was my favorite article of clothing in the entire exhibit.

A small girl's dress and white cotton pinafore are shown here. The simplicity of the stitching and lack of embellishment indicate this little cotton frock was owned and worn by the child of a working class family, likely aged four to five years. From the 1860's.

Victorian Clothing: Fabrics of our Lives Part I

Chemung County Historical society in Elmira, NY currently features an exhibit of Victorian clothing called Fabrics of our Lives, Great Life Moments through Clothing, 1860-1900. Yesterday I had the pleasure of viewing the many dresses, suits and childrens' frocks with my husband, who took some delightful pictures.


These two gowns appear in a center display depicting the changing hours of a woman's wardrobe, from a morning dress to the two evening gowns seen here. The first is a golden yellow silk brocade from the 1890's, meant for wearing from 10pm to midnight. The second one is a creamy gold silk taffeta and brocade gown, circa 1880's, meant to be worn from 8pm to 10 pm.

Following is a rear view of this same exquisite piece.
The fine quality of the color and condition in which these dresses remained amazed me. And the utterly petite figure a Victorian woman must have had also made me marvel. These are small gowns, with shoulder widths more like a child's than the average modern woman's. Also noted were the layers of underpinnings beneath these dresses. From chemise, to petticoats to bustles or hoops, a Victorian woman wore a full twenty pounds of clothing on average.

The dark brown piece seen here is a late morning walking dress, meant for wearing out of the home for calling on friends or a trip to the post office or for running any miscellaneous errands. Note its longer sleeves and higher neckline. This would have been worn after 10 am up through the noon hour. I imagine with its tailored jacket it would have been meant for cooler weather. It strikes a somewhat formal image.

Next, this afternoon tea dress begins to relax the neckline and was meant for entertaining friends at home. This would be worn from one until four in the afternoon. Again, the fine condition of this fragile silk material was impeccable, and the colors of the chocolate and red medallions over the pale background just popped. It lacks some of the ornamentation of other gowns, and was displayed without bustle.

Finally, this last dress pictured is a most basic frock, a morning dress in which a working class wife would perform her household chores. Even the more well-to-do wore morning dresses as they prepared for the day. This would be worn from 8am until 10am.

This is part one of my series on Victorian clothing, covering the changes in a Victorian woman's apparel. A well-to-do woman of this age could change clothes up to six times in a typical day. Middle class women tried to emulate wealth with lavish styles, but the truly wealthy distinguished themselves by clothing with more ornamentation and finer fabric.


Next post, we'll view the childrens' clothing collection.