To follow up with the Victorian Underworld I was investigating before, here I looked at the fashion that existed at that time. Came across a short essay on this subject, 'The secret world of Victorian underground fashion', and found some interesting facts and reasons of why certain things happened and became 'the trend'. The following are a few extracts I picked out from this short essay:History records several Union/Confederate 'soldiers', as well as cowgirls, pit lasses (female coal workers), sailors, and many another working girl for whom a long skirt was more a hazard than a fashion statement. So that it is, that people keep on finding a) women passing themselves off as men to be able to have sex with other women, b) women passing themselves off as men, for various political/religious/practical reasons, and c) women wearing various versions of semi-male attire, just because it happened to work out that way.
Aesthetic men tended to base their garb on the 17th-18th century, wearing breeches, big floppy hats, ruffly shirts, capes, and cavalier touches, although this, again, was considered more clothing to wear to an art gallery or a concert than to wear to work, although, as always, people in publishing or advertising were a bit more lenient in office attire! Eventually, this died down (among men) to 'the dandy look', which replaced Beau Brummell's breeches with modern trousers, with perhaps just a frock coat, a bunch of flowers (in place of a tie), a brocade vest or an unusual set of studs or cufflinks as trademark pieces. Again, not strictly women's wear, but nice to know...you might think of yourself as an eccentric maiden aunt....
The other big subject of Victorian costume legend concerns corsetry. Yes, little girls wore corsets, as did some men. Yes, you can find stories of women with waists no larger than a saucer. Yes, it did cause a lot of health problems, and potentially still can: do not, for instance, tight-lace if you smoke -- your lung capacity goes to almost nothing -- or have any reason at all to suspect you're pregnant -- for reasons I don't have to mention.
The Prince Albert ring has the elements of just such an urban legend: originally, it seems to have been a practice of dandies following Beau Brummell's lead wearing "ultra tight trousers" in 1825 and then got tagged onto the Royal Consort somewhen in the late 1980's.
The "bosom ring", was supposed to have been a pair of pierced nipples, held together with "a delicate chain, ornamented with little bows". The actual piercing was to be done by a special patent nipple-piercer, just stick in your chest, and they'd both be done at once, while the jewelry thereon was "to be found at high-class Parisian jewelers".
"I used to know who I am, but I've changed five or six times today."
--Alice's Adventures Under Ground
Read more here.
Thoughts: To getting to know the fashion of the Victorians is hugely important if I was to follow into this path. There are some interesting facts, and will help my development into the 'costume' area in this project. To add to this, is also amazing to see some of the trends are still relevant today. Although the period has disappeared but the fashion lives on.
