The Corsets And Crinoline In Victorian Fashion

“She is doomed to her position in society: a slave to fashion, cosseted and striving to be pleasing to men, whatever the cost.” (V&A date unknown?) -V&A http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/corsets-and-crinolines-in-victorian-fashion/ Fashion in the victorian era is described here as a moment of restriction for women and therefore a reflection of their place in society. Women’s ability to perform everyday tasks and engage in activities was jeopardised for the sake of the male invention of corsets, forcing women as the V&A labels them to be slaves of fashion. Imprisoned behind their clothes physically, resulted in their constrained role in society.

In the latter part of the Victorian era there were significant developments signaling the decline of the corset. The way garments were produced is perhaps the key factor in the move away from the corset. In 1839, a Frenchman by the name of Jean Werly patented a loom for the production of women 's corsets. This type of corset was popular until 1890, when machine-made corsets gained popularity. The development of the sewing machine in the early 1850’s gradually led to mass production, manufacturers could produce corsets in far greater numbers and increase the variety of designs available to women of all classes. These advances finally led the way to new designs in underwear in keeping with the changes to the fashions and silhouettes of the early Twentieth Century.

They had no intention of going for a natural, modest, or conservative look; they strived for elaborate, artificial, stylized, and striking: “As Elizabeth's wardrobe became more opulent and elaborate, with a more exaggerated silhouette, so did that of her courtiers” (Royal Museums Greenwich). It was imperative to be fashion forward; meaning, if the Queen was wearing it, so should everyone else (who could afford it). Queen Elizabeth’s dress was similar to men’s style with broad shoulders, wide hips, and slim waists as she tried to appear more petite than she actually was. Many women during this time followed in her footsteps. Not only did the Queen have a great influence on women’s fashion, but she greatly influenced men’s fashion as well. Before the Elizabethan Era, “Men's fashion was much the same as it had been under her father and brother, favouring a broad, square silhouette with layers of garments made of rich fabrics” (Royal Museums Greenwich). After Elizabeth took the throne, the customary dress altered. Men began to wear corsets to obtain a cinched waist and stuffed 'peascod' doublets to make their stomachs pop out and have a pointed shape. On top of this, men’s dress consisted of underclothes such as a shirt, stockings or hose, codpiece, and corset and over clothes such as a doublet, separate sleeves, breeches, belt, ruff, cloak, shoes, and hat.

The “Inner Corset” by the Laura Fraser is about how people in the United State from 1880 to 1920 start from being heavy to thin. At the beginning the women were sexy if they were heavy and it was a sign that they belong to a rich family that they could afford buying food, but since times goes people ideology start changing. Then society influences the women to be thin which makes them more beautiful, and man would love them more. In the twentieth century the image of thin started changing and the woman were facing some diseases. According to The Inner Corset “When many women ventured out of their homes and away from their strict roles as mothers, they left behind the Plump and reproductive physique, which began to seem old-fashioned next to

Imagine a woman rising from bed wearing heavy bedclothes of wool or cotton. Underneath she would be wearing a corset for sleep, made of cotton, wool or a mix of heavy linen. After brushing out long hair, which was rarely washed, she would be wrapped in a light cotton garb that would protect her skin from actually touching her formal corset. Often corsets would stretch from the mid-hip region to the breasts. Corsets were constructed of whalebone and metal stays, which shaped the ribs and stomach to form a fashionable waist of approximately eighteen inches. After the corset was tightly laced (which required assistance of at least one other person), then heavy wool or cotton stocking would be pulled on. Stockings were held up ties, girdle-like bloomers or special buttons in the petticoats. At this time, a woman would put on six to eight petticoats . She would put on a special top to keep the corset from touching her dress. At this point, a woman may have worn a large hoop skirt. The large metal device would allow the woman to keep proper social distance from her guests and potential suitors. Often the woman would have to be lowered into the hoop skirt. If the hoop was too heavy, a woman would be placed in the parlor room and she would remain there until after a dinner party or until such a time she could remove the hoop because it could render her immobile. In some rare cases, small rolling wheels were attached at the bottom of hoop skirts to aid women in moving

In the Victorian era, corsets became longer and became not only about supporting and lifting the breast, but creating a tiny hourglass waist. ‘Women were so tightly corseted that they could not bend over’ but to add to the strain ‘the corset was hung with an extraordinary amount of gear, a combined system of garters and suspenders.’

The Victorian Era depicted a traditional woman. Women were expected to be beautiful but conservative. A notable fashion piece to mention is the notorious corset. Krystal D’Souza states that corsets were meant to, “… accentuate a woman's breasts and hips, while cinching the body at the waist, and dramatically curving the back” (D'Souza). The corset was created to slim the waist and make the hips and bottom larger. This was meant to create the ideal, “Hour glass shape,” women were expected to have. In the Victorian Era, dresses were worn all the time and the skirt length had to be passed the ankles. Pagoda sleeves were essential to dresses to cover shoulders and high necklines were made to cover the women’s neck and décolletage. If the skirts were not touching the floor, skirts were closely worn over the hip and flared out just above the knee. (Joshi). The Victorian Age signifies a time period where women had to follow stringent dress codes. The thought of showing any feminine flesh was un-lady like and unrespectable. (Alchin “Women

The popular corset bodices, which were usually waist length and sleeveless had been replaced by one that was extending beyond the waist. This was mainly worn for an appearance of a slimmer body. Wide skirts with a modest decorative detail were also influenced from similar British portraits in that time period. Later, during the 20th century Canada began to have their local departments have their own designers. Popular Fashion Icons During That Time

These Corsets included 37 pounds of clothing in the winter and exerted 22lbs on the internal organs.(Hartman, “Women’s Role in the Late 19th Century”) She went into more detail describing everyday clothing as, “Elaborate dresses, with bustles and nipped waist and yards of heavy fabric and lace. ”(Hartman, “Women’s Role in the Late 19th Century”) Women were expected

The popular style of dress, modified for the occasion, was characterized by a full skirted silhouette. The look included form fitting bodices paired with long hoop skirts of washable linen, cotton or wool atop shifts and form fitting corsets (stays). Stays were the rage or curse for women's wear during the Colonial era and were inset with unforgiving whalebone...a feature that could tend to restrict the movements and activities of the wearers. Little wonder why. (Its been recorded that ladies of the day were considered quite the 'loose woman' if not wearing their stays when out in public.) A Stomacher, a bit of inverted triangular fabric that held the front of the gown together, was also part of the overall dress presentation (The Stomacher was carried over from the European representation in women's clothing.)

Source C clearly doesn’t support source B and this is proven at the start of the Gwen’s entry when she express her anger toward the way they had to dress; “The thought of the discomfort, restraint and pain which we had to endure form our clothes makes me even angrier now than it did”. It is very evident that Mrs Raverat didn’t agree that wearing a corset was an invigorating experience for the whole system.

People everywhere find self-expression through what they wear. Many people today are judged by what they wear. Although one doesn’t want it to, clothing can place you in a certain group or social class. Even 457 years ago, when the Elizabethan Era was recognized by its profound range of fashion, clothing showed wealth, inheritance, and social class. People today are allowed to wear what they desire, but during the Elizabethan Era many women were restricted from many fabrics or materials, colors, and patterns.

In the late 1800’s to early 1900’s dress among women was far more formal and conservative. They wore tulip bell shirts and dresses that came at least to the ankle if not past. Women were always wearing a corset whether it was a part of their blouse or simply placed under their top. A corset was meant to suck in their stomach and give the illusion of a more slim waist.

Corsets originated in France as early as the 16th and 17th centuries worn by men and women of the higher class during the Victorian era. Most middle and upper class women continued to compete

Men and Women’s clothes portrayed ranking in society. Wealthier people had more elegant clothes than others. Women usually tried to look like men when they wore outfits with big shoulders, wide hips, and a small waist. A woman's age also influenced what she wore. They wore two piece dresses, which was constructed of many individual parts to it. “The well to do Elizabethan woman might have looked something like this: make up base of white of lead and sulfur, various dyes on the cheeks, beauty spots drawn on, eyebrows plucked thin, lips thickly lipsticked, hair powered pinned and perfumed.” (Tomecek, Jan) These individual parts of the dresses that the women would wear included the bodice, partlet, sleeves, ruffs, kirtle and bumroll. Women usually always had their hair pulled back from their face and wore it in many different styles. Men’s clothes during this period included doublets, breeches, underwear, collars, ruffs, hats and