The fashion of the 19th century is renowned for its corsets, bonnets, top hats, bustles and petticoats. Women's fashion during the Victorian period was largely dominated by full skirts, which gradually moved to the back of the silhouette.
The Victorian era also marks a time of great economic growth, technological discovery, and industrialization. Many writers reacted to both the wonders of this Industrial Revolution as well as to the troubles of an industrialized society.
Fashionable men and women of the Victorian era were expected to be gloved in public. The Victorians were preoccupied by class, and fashion was one way of revealing—or concealing—one's status in society.
The typical Victorian dress shape was an elongated V-shaped bodice, and full skirts with the sides of bodices stopping at the natural waistline with sleeves that were tight at the top, but wider from the elbow to the wrist.
Victorian fashion consists of the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and developed in the United Kingdom and the British Empire throughout the Victorian era, roughly from the 1830s through the 1890s.
The Victorian Era was a time of vast political reform and social change, the Industrial Revolution, authors Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin, a railway and shipping boom, profound scientific discovery and the first telephone and telegraph.
"During the 1860-85 period generally colors were delicate, white, blue, gray, lilac, pink and pale brown; trimmings were often dark, such as black on soft pink and white, or bright blue on pale green-gray. Dresses of two colors and two textiles were typical.
But the term "Victorian architecture" actually refers to styles that emerged in the period between 1830 and 1910, during the reign of Queen Victoria. The Victorian era spawned several well-known styles, including Gothic revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, stick style, Romanesque style and shingle style.
Victorian is a visual aesthetic that comprises the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and developed in the United Kingdom and the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), which is known as the Victorian Era.
Victorian houses got their name from their era – the Queen Victoria era, which was 1837 – 1901. So the style is reminiscent of the style you'd see during that time, although today, they are almost an interpretation of periods even before the Victorian era.
Women wore dresses with corsets underneath. At the start of the Victorian era, it was fashionable to wear a crinoline under a skirt. A crinoline was made of hoops and petticoats, and was designed to make the skirt as wide as possible. Wealthy men wore suits, often with waistcoats underneath.
Gothic Revival was at its zenith from 1845 to 1890, and it was one of the most popular styles of the Victorian era.
Queen Victoria's influence began in the 1830's and continued through the early 1900's. The women of the Bringhurst family were certainly impacted by this and tailored their dress to the most elaborate fashions of the time.
The Victorian era saw revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, which shaped the world as we know it today. These transformations led to many social changes with the birth and spread of political movements, most notably socialism, liberalism and organised feminism.
Three main trends of Victorian thought: Utilitarianism, the Oxford Movement, and Romantic Protestantism.
Victorian era literature was characterized by depictions of everyday people, hard lives, and moral lessons. They were meant for more than just entertainment. Victorians were interested in the hero as well as folk art. Victorian novels often focused on these themes.
For the uninitiated, modern Victorian spaces are exactly what they sound like: homes that blend parts of the Victorian era with bits of the modern day. In a modern Victorian home, you can expect to see cement on the floors and chandeliers on the ceiling—or ornate mirrors juxtaposed with works of abstract art.
Features to Look For: Use of Gothic forms; pointed arches, tracery, grouped colonettes. Heavy stone and brick work, polychromy (contrasting colors) Bold forms; towers, massive hip and gabled roofs. Larger scale than Early Gothic buildings.
Victorian homes were originally a British architectural style. They originated during the reign of Queen Victoria in 1837 – 1901, which is where the name comes from. This style, although now so iconic in and of itself, actually borrows from many different architectural styles before it.
Rich fabric, voluminous drapes, lush upholstery, detailed woodwork, and inspiring rugs are all essential elements of Victorian design. When you're putting your room or home together, remember that adding a variety of textures creates just as much depth as adding different colors and patterns.
Truly Victorian patterns focus on historically accurate sewing patterns for corsets, bustles and underclothes for period dress of Europe in the mid to late 1800's.
Fibres used were all natural ones such as cotton, wool and silk. Making the very tight bodices and sleeves of women's dresses required far more skill than the straight-seamed skirt.
Fabrics such as muslin and dimity were used to create a fresh and clean design. The Victorians often combined these two curtain fabric types, with heavy curtains layered over frilly white net fabrics, all finished off with a massive curtain rod, and ornate brass curtain hold backs.
The traditional Victorian colour palette was dark and consisted of dark, rich and deep shades of maroon, red, burgundy, chestnut, dark green, brown and blues. Maybe this sounds a bit dramatic for your tastes but you can mix this possibly overwhelming colour palette with lighter shades in the following way.