What did wealthy people wear in the 1800s?
Rich women wore corsets under their dresses. At the beginning of Victoria's reign it was fashionable to wear a crinoline under a skirt. These hoops and petticoats made skirts very wide. Later in the period skirts were narrower with a shape at the back called a bustle.
The clothes people wore depended on whether they were rich, middle class or poor. Many wealthy Victorians wanted to be fashionable and some spent a lot of time and money on their clothes. Rich Victorians would have had lots of outfits and would have chosen material such as silk and satin for their finest clothes.
Over these basic layers, he would wear a shirt that tied at the neck in front, a petticoat and a long white dress. Both boys and girls wore long dresses. The richer you were, the longer the skirt! As the baby got older, his hem would be shortened to encourage crawling.
The fashion trend in the late years of the 18th and early 19th centuries was influenced by Classical Greece: high waisted gowns with long thin muslin skirts, heel-less sandals and long stoles. After 1810, skirts gradually became fuller and decorated at the hem with frills and ruchs.
Women. 1860s women's dress featured tight bodices with high necks and buttoned fronts. White lace was popular for collars and cuffs, as were low sloping shoulders that flared out into wide sleeves.
The very small and very wealthy upper class got its income (of £1,000 per annum or often much more) from property, rent, and interest. The upper class had titles, wealth, land, or all three; owned most of the land in Britain; and controlled local, national, and imperial politics.
Dancing and grand social parties were commonplace in the lives of wealthy Victorian women, and offered them a chance to mingle with other women of similar backgrounds and to show off their fineries.
In the early 20th century, a young woman would typically have started wearing a corset at about 15 years old, and live at home until she married around age 18. After the war, more young women sought an education, and in the Western world, marriage was delayed until they reached their middle to late 20s.
Life for Victorian children was very different from our lives today. Children in rich households had toys to play with and did not have to work, but children in poor households often had to work long hours in difficult, dangerous jobs. They didn't have toys to play with but sometimes made their own.
The main reason for keeping boys in dresses was toilet training, or the lack thereof. The change was probably made once boys had reached the age when they could easily undo the rather complicated fastenings of many early modern breeches and trousers.
Who were skirts originally for?
History. Skirts have been worn since prehistoric times as the simplest way to cover the lower body. Figurines produced by the Vinča culture (c. 5700–4500 BC) located on the territory of present-day Serbia and neighboring Balkan nations from the start of the copper age show women in skirt-like garments.
Women in the 1800s wore dresses with long, full skirts that reached the ground, but the exact style of the dress shifted throughout the century. If you're looking for a more general costume, go with a long, full skirt of plain fabric in a muted, solid color. Layer your dress with a petticoat or a bustle if you can.
Women were literally carrying around yards and yards of fabric everywhere they went. With the invention of the hoop skirt, ladies could still get the enormous bell shape to their skirts without all that extra fabric. Because they were so lightweight, hoop skirts got bigger and bigger.
Men's 19th Century (1800s) clothing items available include: Frock Coats (frockcoats), Morning Coats (cutaway), Tail Coats (tailcoats, tails), sack coat (sackcoats), great coats (greatcoats), dusters, capes, shirts (collared and collarless), detachable collars (linen, linene and celluloid), cravats, string ties, ...
Victorian men often wore a waist coat. Most wealthy Victorian men wore a top hat whilst poor men wore caps. The majority of Victorian gentlemen used a walking stick, or cane.
Women in the middle class usually wore dresses or gowns. The lower middle class wore simple dresses, and were plain. Usually, women would wear petticoats, corsets, or chemises under the gowns or dresses. During the 1860's skirts for women were flatten near the neck area and towards the back of the skirt.
Children from working class families | Children from rich families |
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had few luxuries. ate poor food worked long hours lived in damp, filthy conditions. Many children died of disease. | usually well fed, clean and well clothed. didn't need to work went on holidays had expensive toys had pets such as ponies. |