A Young Person's Introduction to Late 19th-Century Western Fashion

    The end of the nineteenth century covers the late Victorian era, the Gilded Age, the American "Wild West," and early Jim Crow laws.  Fashions of the time included the First and Second Bustle eras, the Natural Form era, and the Aesthetic Movement.

General information
    Banner, Bernadette. "Exposing Victorian Influencers Who 'Facetuned' Their Photos. (Photo Manipulation was EVERYWHERE)." YouTube. July 17, 2021.
    Cox, Abby. "Victorians were ✨Obsessed✨ with Ugly Children..." YouTube. August 13, 2023.
    Rowe, Kaz. "Did the Victorians Think Ankles Were Too Scandalous?" YouTube. September 8, 2021.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "How much clothing did they *actually* have back then?" YouTube. June 15, 2024.
    Zebrowska, Karolina. "Victorian Fashion Is Not What You Think It Is." YouTube. March 19, 2019.

Accessories
    Banner, Bernadette. "'Afro-Victorian': Bringing Historical Black Women's Dress into the 21st Century w Cheyney McKnight." YouTube. October 20, 2021.
    Beeman-White, Adelaide. "The SHOCKING Truth About Victorian Hats!!!" YouTube. March 6, 2023.
    Cox, Abby. "A Fashion Historian Explains the History of the Handbag." YouTube. January 26, 2023.
    Dyer, Serena. "Reacting to Bizarre Victorian Fashion Items (Part 2)." YouTube. November 26, 2022.
    Foyer, Jean-Charles. "I plead the Pith: a History of the Pith Helmet." YouTube. June 1, 2022.
    Foyer, Jean-Charles. "I say, jolly good, old boy: a history of the Bowler Hat." YouTube. April 1, 2022.
    Foyer, Jean-Charles. "The Good Old Summertime: a history of the Boater hat." YouTube. March 1, 2022.
    O'Neil, Margaret. "Busting Pocket Myths- A Short History of the Women's Pocket." YouTube. February 20, 2021.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "Dangerous Things in Victorian Pockets : Mens Pocket History." YouTube. March 2, 2024.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "The Myth of the Mad Hatter - Making a Victorian Top Hat." YouTube. January 9, 2022.

Bustles and hoopskirts
    Cox, Abby. "Did Oscar Wilde's Sisters ☠️ From their Skirts Catching on Fire? (Victorian Fashion Myth Busting)." YouTube. March 15, 2024.
    Donner, Morgan. "Weirdest Victorian Invention: The Bustle-Chair (and we made one)." YouTube. November 20, 2020.
    Lady Rebecca Fashions. "All About Bustles! A Deep Dive into 1870s Fashions." YouTube. December 26, 2023.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "Why were Victorian Hips Controversial?" YouTube. September 12, 2021.

Cosmetics and hygiene
    Birchwood, Vasi. "1800s Makeup Is Not What You Think." YouTube. July 21, 2023.
    Viljanmaa, Maria. "How did the victorian's deal with periods? testing a victorian menstrual pad." YouTube. April 14, 2023.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "The Controversial History of Color Season Analysis." YouTube. November 4, 2023.
    Zebrowska, Karolina. "How Did Victorian Women Deal With Their Periods?" YouTube. October 17, 2019.
    Zebrowska, Karolina. "I Used Only Victorian Cosmetics For a Week." YouTube. July 26, 2023.

Fabrics and materials
    It's Crochet O'Clock. "Yarn Tales: Rayon/Viscose! What is it really?" YouTube. July 5, 2018.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "Did Silk Spontaneously Combust in the Victorian Era?" YouTube. August 8, 2021.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "The History of Elastic." YouTube. July 4, 2021.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "The Truth About Arsenic in the Victorian Era." YouTube. January 24, 2021.

Gowns and formal wear
    Rowe, Kaz. "Why the Medieval Aesthetic Never Dies: The History of Medieval Revival Fashion." YouTube. April 27, 2023.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "Victorian Fast Fashion? The Truth about the History of Disposable Clothing." YouTube. February 6, 2022.
    SnappyDragon. "the House of Worth's Glass Escalator : Sexism in fashion history and haute couture." YouTube. January 22, 2025.
    SnappyDragon. "What to wear to a wedding, Victorian style? Fashion advice from the Victorians etiquette books." YouTube. June 26, 2024.
    SnappyDragon. "Were the Pre-Raphaelites painting accurate medieval dress . . . or Victorian fairtytalecore?" YouTube. April 26, 2024.
    Zebrowska, Karolina. "Disgusting and Creepy Victorian Fashion Trends." YouTube. October 17, 2018.

Hair care and styling
    Banner, Bernadette. "Following a Victorian Home Made Hair Care Routine (1889)." YouTube. September 11, 2021.
    Lady Rebecca Fashions. "Getting Dressed in an 1888 Daisy Costume // Easy Bustle-Era Hair Tutorial." YouTube. November 13, 2020.
    Lady Rebecca Fashions. "Getting Dressed in the 1870s & 1874 Hairstyle Tutorial." YouTube. February 23, 2020.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "Why did Victorian Women Cut their Hair Short?" YouTube. December 18, 2022.
    Wellcome Collection. "A Gentleman’s Guide to Victorian Grooming with Dominic Skinner." YouTube. November 22, 2023.

Outerwear and working wear
    Birchwood, Vasi. "What Irish Working Women Wore in the Late 19th Century | I Made the Clothing of My Irish Ancestors." YouTube. June 23, 2023.
    Stowell, Lauren. "It's Hot: Let's Look At Some Bathing Suits." American Duchess. August 18, 2023.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "The History of Jeans, T-shirts, and Hoodies: Time Travel 101." YouTube. March 20, 2022.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "Travel like a Victorian." YouTube. November 23, 2024.

Shoes and boots
    Rudolph, Nicole. "How to Make Regency & Victorian Shoes: Beginner Shoemaking." YouTube. June 27, 2021.
    Rudolph, Nicole. "The Myth of Tiny Feet "Back Then"." YouTube. September 26, 2021.

Undergarments
    Banner, Bernadette. "I Wore a (Medical) Corset for 5 Years. How do Victorian Corsets Compare?" YouTube. November 7, 2020.
    Banner, Bernadette. "Making Some Frilly Victorian Underwear || 1890s Combinations." YouTube. February 9, 2019.
    Birchwood, Vasi. "Men & Pregnant Women Wore Corsets Too?! | Debunking More Corset Myths ft. Reconstructing History." YouTube. April 15, 2021.
    Birchwood, Vasi. "What Victorians Wore to Bed." YouTube. May 5, 2023.
    Cox, Abby. "How Capitalism Shaped the Victorian Corset Industry." YouTube. June 20, 2024.
    Cox, Abby. "I made weird Victorian underwear (it's a knit onesie) & a pretty 1890s corset || historical sewing." YouTube. March 21, 2021.
    Dyer, Serena. "Pregnant Victorians Wore…Corsets?!" YouTube. March 13, 2023.
    Zebrowska, Karolina. "How Did Victorian Ladies Stay Warm in Winter? || THE EXPERIMENT." YouTube. January 22, 2021.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

D&D Thinkpiece: Holy Symbols

Image
    I've been pondering the nature of holy symbols in Dungeons & Dragons and similar fantasy tabletop RPGs.  They're instantly recognizable, with strong lines and bright colors, and can be hugely fun to sprinkle throughout a dungeon as clues or emblazon on a character's shield to show their allegiance.  Yet, there seems to be a distinct lack of real-world analogs for D&D-style holy symbols.  How did that happen?      Although D&D was created by a deeply Christian man, E. Gary Gygax seems to have neglected the real-world use of holy symbols in his own religion, much less outside of Christianity.  Let's look at how the cross is used as a Christian symbol.     The cross or crucifix is, essentially, the ancient Roman equivalent of the gallows.  As the instrument of Jesus' suffering* and death*, it is the quintessential Christian symbol.  It can appear with or without Jesus (or other hanged martyrs), and w...
Read more

1910s Drafting, Tailoring, and Hatmaking

    There are a lot of resources out there for period patterns from the era(s) in question, at least from the 1800s onward, so I thought I'd add yet another series of posts to my blog.  Publication of sewing manuals seems to drop off after the 1910s, picking up again in the 1940s, but I will try to do as many decades as I can! General information      Bryner, Edna. Dressmaking and Millinery . Cleveland, OH: Survey Committee of the Cleveland Foundation, 1916.     Foster, Olivia Hyde. Sewing for Little Girls . New York, NY: Duffield & Company, 1911.      Ginsburg, Marcus O. Chart of Bias Cutting . New York, NY: The Public Press, 1919.     Goodwin, Emma E. Goodwin's Course in Sewing: Practical Instruction in Needlework for Use in Schools and at Home . New York, NY: Frank D. Beattys & Company, 1910.      Van Rensselaer, Martha, et al. A Manual of Home-Making . New York, NY: The MacMillan ...
Read more

A Young Person's Introduction to 18th-Century Western Fashion

     This is an unexpurgated version of a Tumblr post which had to be cut for length.  It was intended to be for those just getting into the subject, or those looking for more on a specific topic.  Unfortunately, it really doesn't treat fashion outside of Britain, France, and their colonies, but for Anglophone readers, I think it's a good starting resource! General information     Cox, Abby. " I Wore 18th-Century Clothing *Every Day for 5 YEARS & This Is What I Learned (Corsets Aren't Bad!) ." YouTube . May 10, 2020.     Dyer, Serena. " How much did 18th-century women know about their clothes? | Fast Fashion v Georgian Dress ." YouTube . July 30, 2020.      Rudolph, Nicole. " 18th century Fashion 101 : how media messes up ." YouTube . May 20, 2023.     Viljanmaa, Maria. " 1780s dressing the different social classes, english fashion ." YouTube . March 30, 2023.      McKnight, Cheyney. ...
Read more