19th Century Women’s Dress: An Overview

When asked about the 19th Century many people’s minds will immediately jump to the period drama staples of Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott and the Brontë sisters. Others may lean towards Elizabeth Gaskell’s industrial towns or Mary Shelley’s gothic debut. The century, full of rapid changes in technology, science and trade saw many changes in society, culture and, of course, fashion. 

So, we may as well start at the beginning with the Georgian era slowly flowing into the Regency period and the reign of George IV. The first 20 years of the 19th Century evolves from the structured gowns of the 1790s into the eponymous empire line gown seen on so many period drama heroines sitting just beneath the bust. So, light the candles and collect your dance cards ready for the ball in fine silks and satins with delicate embroidery. Skirts had a narrow, yet elegant, delicateness compared to the previous century. Cottons dyed or printed would have been popular for daywear. The high waistline would have been supported by stays both long and short in length, featuring gussets to separate the bust, were fashionable at this point. At this point spiral lacing would still be the ‘norm’ with hand sewn eyelets. Shape was also emphasised by long flowing petticoats. The ensembles varied in length depending on the occasion, but were generally seen to shorten over the years to reveal the pumps and button boots worn beneath. Bonnets of a variety of styles emerged and were regularly satirised, but were nevertheless a staple of women’s wardrobes.

Petticoat, 1800-05, John Bright Collection.

Evening Dress, 1810, V&A Collections.

Les Invisibles en tête-à-tête (Tête-à-Tête with Poke Bonnets), c. 1805, National Gallery of Art.

Soon however, we found ourselves at the end of King George IV’s reign and into the time of William IV. Thus began the 1830s, an often overlooked decade that bridged the gap between the diaphanous gowns of the 1800-1820s and vast crinolines typically associated with Queen Victoria’s reign. The sleeves started puffing out quite considerably and the skirts gathered more volume through layers of petticoats. Fabrics were still using muted colours but were perhaps a touch bolder than the period before. The waistline has begun to glide back down towards the true waist of the wearer to accentuate their shape a little more. The hourglass shape here is where one might conceivably start referring to ‘corsets’, rather than ‘stays’, which used gussets to accentuate the hips and bust. Metal eyelets had been invented in the late 1820s and were slowly starting to appear, but hand-sewn eyelets were still common. Hairstyles at this point are an interesting thing to watch out for as the styles tend to be drawn up into elaborate styles at the top of one’s head with the addition of accessories including hats, ribbons, feathers, flowers… and even creatures like snakes (although one hopes that was a one off in the fashion plate I’ve attached!).

L'utile Mde. de corsets. Charles Philipon, Plate N°37, 1828-9, Paris Musée Collections.

Ball gown, British, ca. 1828, Met Museum.

Fifteen heads of women wearing fashionable head-dresses and hair accessories, 1830, Coloured engraving, Wellcome Collection.

The 1840s, the first full decade of Queen Victoria’s reign (who came to the throne aged just 18 in 1837) saw a shift in the clothing styles of Western women’s fashion. It is worth mentioning that the period of Victoria’s reign is not without its issues due to the next few decades forming the height of colonial Britain and the many issues that arose from it, particularly in the textile industry. However, the over-arching period of Victorian Britain is unavoidable when discussing Western fashion in this period. The waistline was on the move again and began to sit below a lady’s true waist, elongating the body and sloping the shoulders. Skirts became full, often with prints, embroidery or trims. The layering of stiffened petticoats became increasingly popular here to create the desired skirt volume.

Petticoat, American,1840–55, Met Costume Institute.

Women, La Mode, Plate 031, 1848, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.).

Dress, Mid to late 1840s, John Bright Collection.

By moving swiftly onto the 1850s we come across the design for the crinoline being patented in 1856 by Paris-based R.C. Milliet. As with the corset, much of society today views the crinoline with an air of disdain, or even horror, at the repression of women’s ability to move. In truth, whilst there were issues, the invention was rapidly adopted due to how lightweight it was in comparison to the many layers of petticoats in the 1840s! The age of invention is upon us here and we see William Henry Perkin patent aniline dyes… also in 1856! Bold, bright colours emerge through the new chemical dyes in pinks, blues, purples and greens in a way that was extremely difficult to achieve with the natural dyes of the preceding centuries. With the styles changing at this point the true waistline is back… again … due to the crinoline anchoring to the narrowest point on the waist. Sometimes a bodice may scoop into a point at the hem but the aim was a distinct hourglass shape with a full and rounded skirt. It is at this point that corset busks, the wide flat bone (or wood) at the front of one’s corset, parts and acts as a fastening called a ‘split busk’. This had several effects, the first being that the cross lacing style (which is still popular today) became popular as it allowed women to fasten themselves into their own garments with much more ease. As a result, the fact that corsets became much easier to put on made them much more accessible for women of lower ranks without the luxury of their own household staff.

Adverts, Der Bazar, Berlin, 1860, Issue No.12, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf.

Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn (1825–1860), Princesse de Broglie, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1851–53, Met Museum.

The crinoline stayed for a little while, but the 1860s saw the bulk of the skirt begin to sweep backwards into more of a train, and by the latter part of the decade the crinoline started to be surpassed by the crinolette. This shape continued to develop with skirt and jacket fabrics sweeping towards the back and emphasising a lady’s behind. The bold colours in gowns continued and diversified too, whilst sleeves saw a trend of widening at the cuff into a style known as a ‘pagoda’. Corsets continued to develop the structural shape, particularly as companies like R & W H Symington & Co Ltd developed steam moulded corsets which were formed into very particular shapes. The use of the bonnet at this point has been overtaken by hats featuring all manner of decoration, but it was not uncommon to still see little lace caps adorning the hair too.

Corset, Unknown Maker, 1864, V&A Collections.

Steam Moulded Corsets, Photographer Unknown, Harborough Museum.

Claude Monet, Femmes au jardin, Vers 1866, RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay).

The 1870s see the start of the fluctuation between bustles and sweeping skirts which, in this decade, are known as the ‘natural form’. The aim was to emphasise the natural curves of the body but keep the shape smooth and flat in the front. The structure of undergarments featured corsets and the smaller ‘ruffled’ or ‘waterfall’ bustles to help emphasise the posterior shape in a softer way than the upcoming bustle period of the 1880s. Gowns were often heavily trimmed, flounced or adorned with decorations ranging from lace to ribbons and beadwork. It should be noted that this is the point where photography starts to creep into popular culture more so, whilst photos might still be edited in similar ways photoshop is used today, the wealth of costume references still begins to expand much more rapidly than previous decades.

Princess Alexandra of Denmark, 1870s, Photographer Unknown, Found on the Grand Ladies blog.

Detail of The Ball, James Tissot, 1878, Wikimedia Commons.

Street Suit, Harper's Bazar, 1876, Victorian Fashions and Costumes of Harper's Bazar edited by Stella Blum [Book].

The penultimate decade of the 19th century saw the shift from the natural form into the structured, more rigid form of the bustle. The underpinnings were often seen to feature a spoon busk corset where the metal fastening plate in the corset widens at the bottom and bends around the stomach to create a rounded fuller figure at the front. This was accompanied by a bustle which resembles a segment of a crinoline and created the dramatic shape of the 1880s. Exuberant decorations on the outer garments, much like the previous decade, were still very much à la mode. Braids, ribbons and lace were accompanied by pleats and ruffles. Feathers were also commonplace, particularly on hats, to such a degree that the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) was established in 1889 in the UK!

Spoon Busk Corset, 1885, The Museum at FIT Collections.

Woman's Bustle, England, circa 1885, LACMA.

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat, 1884, Wikimedia Commons.

Then, finally, we reach the 1890s! The final decade of the 19th Century where we see yet another change in garment shapes, as the use of the bustle and structured underpinnings for skirts fade into the background once more. You may see small ‘bum-pads’ used to help emphasise the natural shape, but nothing more rigid. The focus was on the quickly developing S-Bend Corsets which inverted the spoon busk corset style by flattening the stomach and emphasised sweeping lines around the bust and posterior. Daywear was distinctly practical in terms of walking skirts, sometimes finishing higher up the wearer’s leg (provided they have long boots beneath). But by night, the fashion would transform into flowing skirts and carefully draped bodices for evening wear. The sleeves during this period were an interesting mix of narrow, or sleeveless in evening dress, mixed with the iconic ‘gigot’ sleeve – also known as a leg of mutton sleeve. These would be wide and full at the shoulders, often using padding or an internal net ruffle, which would then narrow at the elbow and form neat little cuffs. Hair at this point reached a particular high with full and voluminous hair piled up on one’s head and finished with a sizeable hat to match!

Evening Dress, House of Worth, 1898-1900, Met Costume Collection.

Illustration from the Ladies Home Journal, October 1900, Wikimedia Commons.

Susan Marcia Oakes in Holland, Photographer Unknown, circa 1894, Wikimedia Commons.

So, as you can see, the 1800s saw a vast amount of changes, both in society generally and in fashion. The shapes and styles tended to swing back and forth on a pendulum between full skirts and narrow flowing lines -  which can be quite a challenge to wade through when initially starting out! Hopefully this has provided a good starting block to understanding the era for both research, or even just identifying the era and inspiration for costumes in your favourite dramas! Rest assured there will be many posts in future focusing on specific elements of this century as it is a favourite of mine and there is always something new to learn.

Clotho Dress Historian, November 6th, 2022.