forum I know an unhealthy amount about Victorian clothing (plus some Edwardian & 50s)
Started by @jupiter-sun-of-sweater-town group
tune

people_alt 58 followers

@Someone_Called_zap group

Ok! Yeah! Could you help me here? Ok so I have a story set in the Victorian era, I would say later into it, ~1870's, in London. And like I know this is kinda dumb of me, but idk at all what they should really be wearing. Ok so here's the main cast of characters that I would love to know what they would really wear! A woman in her 30's (a widow if that helps), A young kid (maybe around 16) who's living on his own and tries to dress older, a barkeep in his late 40's, a local doctor ~50, and a guy in his 20's who's a total fop. Ah, sorry this is a mess, but if you could help that would be so wonderful and totally awesome!!! Thank you so much in advance and I truly hope you have a nice day!!! =D

@jupiter-sun-of-sweater-town group

Alright, so the 1870s were getting into the bustle era. That means that for women, the skirts were fairly narrow but with these giant lump things at the back called bustles (hence the name). They would be trimmed with a decent amount of lace or bows. I'd attach a picture but I'm not sure how to do it.
For men, the style was the same for most of the era: high-wasted dress pants, plain dress shirts, vests, coats, & hats. Overall, very similar to formal menswear today. Here's a link to an article that goes into a lot more detail than I could. https://vintagedancer.com/victorian/mens-victorian-costumes-clothing-guide/ (that site is really good in general and it's where I get most of my information.)
Hope this was helpful!

@ElderGod-Icefire

So I have a story wherein the fashion is approximately the late 1700's/early 1800's… and I have a question I guess that's less about clothing and more about attitudes, but if a dude saw a girl in what was basically just a long shirt that went to her mid-thighs, without a bra beneath…on a scale of one to ten, how scandalized would he be? If you have no idea that's fine, I just wanted to ask because I have no idea where else to get this information.

Although on that note: what might the fashion look like, if im taking inspiration from the late 1700's-early 1800's?

@jupiter-sun-of-sweater-town group

For @Icefire_married_two_people: that would be pretty dang scandalous, since during that time period, loose-bodiced dresses were considered quite the scandal, and showing your ankles even more so. It was also a huge faux pas to not wear a corset (that time period's bra equivalent) in public. Wearing something without a corset that showed practically the entire leg and wasn't even a real dress in front of a boy would be going against literally every fashion "rule" of the time.
For @The-Althalosian-is-a-Faithful-Cynic: I'm not sure how universal my information is, but it is mainly geared towards England, America, and maybe a little bit of France. ~ Okay I looked it up and a lot of this applies to Victorian-era Spain. I couldn't find too much info but what I did find seemed similar to the English-style things.

@ElderGod-Icefire

For @Icefire_married_two_people: that would be pretty dang scandalous, since during that time period, loose-bodiced dresses were considered quite the scandal, and showing your ankles even more so. It was also a huge faux pas to not wear a corset (that time period's bra equivalent) in public.

Ah thanks! Technically it wouldn't be in public, that's just how she happened to answer her door bc tired and not thinking straight lmao

@jupiter-sun-of-sweater-town group

For @Icefire_married_two_people: that would be pretty dang scandalous, since during that time period, loose-bodiced dresses were considered quite the scandal, and showing your ankles even more so. It was also a huge faux pas to not wear a corset (that time period's bra equivalent) in public.

Ah thanks! Technically it wouldn't be in public, that's just how she happened to answer her door bc tired and not thinking straight lmao

Why would that be me lol

@ElderGod-Icefire

For @Icefire_married_two_people: that would be pretty dang scandalous, since during that time period, loose-bodiced dresses were considered quite the scandal, and showing your ankles even more so. It was also a huge faux pas to not wear a corset (that time period's bra equivalent) in public.

Ah thanks! Technically it wouldn't be in public, that's just how she happened to answer her door bc tired and not thinking straight lmao

Why would that be me lol

Yup. Dude's a prince and also her unofficial fiance, so big oof lol

@Althalosian-is-the-father book

For @Icefire_married_two_people: that would be pretty dang scandalous, since during that time period, loose-bodiced dresses were considered quite the scandal, and showing your ankles even more so. It was also a huge faux pas to not wear a corset (that time period's bra equivalent) in public.

Ah thanks! Technically it wouldn't be in public, that's just how she happened to answer her door bc tired and not thinking straight lmao

I think she would have to be hella whacked out for this to occur.

@ElderGod-Icefire

For @Icefire_married_two_people: that would be pretty dang scandalous, since during that time period, loose-bodiced dresses were considered quite the scandal, and showing your ankles even more so. It was also a huge faux pas to not wear a corset (that time period's bra equivalent) in public.

Ah thanks! Technically it wouldn't be in public, that's just how she happened to answer her door bc tired and not thinking straight lmao

I think she would have to be hella whacked out for this to occur.

In her defense, she's also in mourning and doesn't give a shit, so there's a lot of other things going on. Plus she assumed it was the maid, not, y'know, the prince

@ElderGod-Icefire

Apologies for my meddling, by why would a person so high in ranking as to have a prince as a fiancé be opening her own doors?

OKAY here's the backstory: she's the last mage left, and basically she's a prisoner in the castle? The whole fiancé thing is part of a big complicated plot by the king, and since she's not technically royalty or anything, she only has a smaller set of rooms. In addition, this is the first time they meet and she hasn't yet officially accepted him as a suitor. He was under the impression that she would A) have more than like two maids and B) have, you know, clothes on. But she's a bit of a bitch, and so she only has two maids because the others are scared of her magic and just of her in general, and she also really doesn't give a fuck anymore. So Damian (prince) knocks on the door, expecting a maid, and instead gets a barely dressed young woman.
Does that make sense?