Retro Rack

A conversation on Twitter inspired this blog post, Fashionable Reader. I am so very immersed in the Victorian Era it often doesn't occurred to me to explain fashion. So, I thought this would be a good moment, with Prudence forthcoming, to talk about about the different silhouettes in my three book series.

Ivy and her hat, REM's character sketch

"The English attach too much importance to ceremonies merely conventional, and for which there seems no motive but the ever-changing decrees of fashion."
~ The Ladies' Guide to True Politeness and Perfect Manners or, Miss Leslie's Behaviour Book
by Eliza Leslie (American 1864)

  All 3 At A Glance

Before we start rgr. Soulless: Confession time, one of the reasons I chose the 1870s to start with is how ridiculous the fashions were during that time period, very bustled and frilly. Of course history also had a say in why the 1870s as we;;, I'm a fan of Queen Victoria's Little Wars. Then it seemed quite natural to chose c. 20 years before and c. 20 years after, for the next two series. Of course, this is primarily for various character age reasons, but also because of the change in silhouette. And, fortunately for me, the humor writer, all three time periods are fashionably ridiculous in their unique way: and each very different from one another, as I hope you will see.

 The Finishing School Series

1851 - 1853

1851 Wedding Dress, American Met Museum

For the author:
Main points of entry?
Sloping shoulders, low necklines, nipped in waists, increasingly wide bell skirts, puffy and wide sleeves. Younger ladies in pale colors.


What makes it silly?
Very wide a full skirts requiring lots of petticoats (as the cage crinoline had not yet been introduced).

1854  Ball Gown The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1855-1865  The Metropolitan Museum of Art

* 1854 saw the arrival of the cage crinoline in England. This is a skirt (or series of tape ribbons) with concentric circles of wire in it to make if poof.

Why for this series?
Good for espionage: the full skirts and wide pagoda sleeves hampered movement, but also are great for hiding things. Pockets could be put in and hidden everywhere. Fashion is rife with useful plot moments and vehicles for humor.

1853 The Empress Eugénie, famous for her elaborate toilettes, wedding dress

1855  The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The authroial drawback?
Hats were mostly confined to bonnets, not my personal favorite. Although hair was really quite ridiculous.

Bonnet 1854 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

What were the men wearing?
Some carry over from the Regency Era, especially for formal occasions. Trousers relatively tight but knee britches had been abandoned except for boys and the countryside. Jacket styles began to include a wider range of cuts.


What to watch for inspiration?
Cranford, North & South, Under the Greenwood Tree

What happened next?
Things got, if possible, even more ridiculous. Skirts just got wider and wider with the cage crinoline in play.

Wedding Dress  1864  The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cage Crinoline  1862  The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Want to learn more about the ever expanding hoop?

 

The Parasol Protectorate Series

1873 - 1876

For the author:
Main points of entry?
Many layers, lots of trim, many kinds of hats, full bustles, long sleeves, restricted movement, range of necklines and sleeve styles.



What makes it silly?
Big back bustles (although not so big as the 1880s revival bustles), way too much trim and ribbons and bows and whatnot. Extremely bizarre hats. New experimentation in color ranges and pallets. Access to new and amazing fabrics from India and China.

Summer Corset  1872  The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 
Why for this series?
The hats! The fabrics. The yardage. The restrictions. All represent a level of confinement and superficiality that Alexia, whether she realizes it or not, chafes against.

1872-1875  The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1870-1875 Wedding Bonnet   The Victoria & Albert Museum

The authorial drawback?
Too much fabric, way too hard to move. Challenging for cover art.


What were the men wearing?
Relatively somber colors in suits, flashy waistcoats and vests, some experimentation with fabrics.

Gustave Caillebotte- Portrait of Paul Hugot, 1878

What to watch for inspiration?
The Buccaneers, some of The Forsythe Saga, some of The Pallisters


What Happened Next?
Skirts started to come in closer and closer to the body, the lobster tale became fashionable, fabrics became (if you can imagine) even more elaborate.

 

The Custard Protocol Series

1895 - ????

For the author:
Main points of entry?
Experimenting in asymmetry, puffy sleeves, wide range of outfit choices, more freedom of movement, complementary fabrics, the biggest most outrageous hats ever (Queen Ivy's influence). Fashion houses appear, scions of fashion became brand ambassadors for a house to which they were loyal. (Prudence lives in Worth.) Iconic dresses given names as if they were art pieces. New Woman movement influences sportswear and major dress reform due, in part, to the ubiquitous bicycle.


What makes it silly?
Those truly bizarre sleeves, those enormous over-decorated hats equal a very top heavy look.

1895  The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Summer Corset  1895  The Victoria & Albert Museum

Why for this series?
The hats! The sleeves, the ridiculousness continues.


The authorial drawback?
I really think this period is ugly, it's hard to write characters swooning over dresses I think are hideous.

What were the men wearing?

Suit ca. 1894 via The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

1890s man via shewhoworshipscarlin tumblr

What to watch for inspiration?
Lark Rise to Candleford

What happened next?
If you can imagine, dresses became even more elaborate eventually bleeding into the massive hats and complex outfits of the turn of the century.

Ball Gown  Jacques Doucet, 1898-1902  The Metropolitan Museum of Art

"If you chance to find an authoress occupied with her needle, express no astonishment, and refrain from exclaiming, "What! can you sew?" or, "I never supposed a literary lady could even hem a handkerchief!"
 ~ The Ladies' Guide to True Politeness and Perfect Manners or, Miss Leslie's Behaviour Book
by Eliza Leslie (1864)

Retro Rack is also on facebook where I post additional images and fashion thoughts.