Fashion in Victorian Era

The fashionable materials in the Victorian Age

Throughout the years, fashion influenced societies especially the clothing patters. With the voyages of Christopher Columbus, who discovered the West Indies, and Marco Polo, travelled in the Middle East and especially in Antique China, European empires appeared new products.

In fashion, the bug change was in terms of materials in order to design clothes. However, these materials were not widespread during the Renaissance Era but the late 18^th century and the Industrial Revolution enabled merchants to sell these materials through the European continent and also in America with the Triangle Trade.

During this period, Victorian fashion became an important matter in the upper classes. Wealthy people tended to spend their money in order to find fancy clothes with rare materials whereas some materials were handmade and the designers needed a lot of time in order to create these materials. Moreover, the result was that these designers did not earn a lot of money.

Silk

Silk was well-known in Asia especially in the Antique China for many years. Afterwards the Emperor Justinian sent two monks in order to bring back some silkworm eggs but the big summit was when Marco Polo got back from Asia and shared his stories about his trips.

In the 19^th century, it existed two types of silk: the first one had a good quality and the other one had a bad quality. The first one was made in order to resist about dirt, but also it enabled women to maintain a good temperature when they wore the materials. Wet silk could dry much faster if the quality was there. There were some medical proprieties like silk could prevent women from being sick (the material could stop insects and parasites).

The origins of the silk weavers came from the city of Lyons and many lived in the cities of Derby, Dublin, Manchester, Coventry and Macclesfield. About the process of the fabrication of silk, in England, the industry employed a system of home manufacturers. They employed several hundred weavers and each person had his won loom and workshop. However, the climates conditions were not compatible for the culture of the material so they had to import from their colonies like India or Bengal.

In the Victorian era, if people wanted to have a quality about silk, they had to spend a lot of money in order to own. Hence only the upper class could afford this material and this material became a sign of wealth. However, the decline of silk happened when the cotton appeared because they were completely different in terms of production and costs.

Cotton was produced in factories and they required less human labours and also less time in order to sell it whereas silk needed to have more time and more human labours in order to produce it. Therefore, the profitability was more superior in the cotton industry than in the silk industry.

Lace

During the 19^th century, there were a multitude of new materials which were brought in the Victorian society. It was due to the colonisation of the European countries like France or Great Britain. When these colonies were under their control, some persons travelled through these places in order to learn about their society, their resources, their languages etc. About the lace history, we could distinguish two types of lace which appeared in the 19^th century during the Victorian Era. First we will discuss about the English lace and then we will talk about the lace who was and is still produced in the North of France.

• English Lace

The English lace was firstly discovered when the English settlers put their pace in Asia more specifically in India. When they saw this new material, they were fascinated and enhanced. This new discovery was considered as a perfection of this lands. Some samples of this new material were shown in London on a fine pillow. It was coloured with gold and silver and people noticed that there was cotton. Afterwards Great Britain imported this wonderful discovery in the country and it is at that moment when the profession of lace maker was born. In the book written by George Elliot, Mill on the Floss, Maggie received a dress by her aunt and she noticed that the lace would look beautiful on her arms. Here is the passage: « Oh, never mind that, aunt; send us the dress," said Lucy. "I don't mean Maggie to have long sleeves, and I have abundance of black lace for trimming. Her arms will look beautiful. »

In this passage, lace was described as a beautiful material for women dresses. However, the profession of lace makers was not profitable because it was handmade and it needed a lot of time to finish a template.

The main place where lace, which was produced in England, was the city of Nottingham. This city was the leader in the lace market during the 19^th century and also this area was well-known. Following that, William of Calverton invented the knitting frame in order to facilitate the work of the lace makers. That is why by the 1840s the production of lace was turning to a point. At first it was supposed to be a domestic industry and turned into an international export hence there was a peak of the production because of the fame of the material.

However, there was some smuggling in the lace market because it existed a competition between the English lace and the lace made in France.

• French lace

The French lace was fashionable in the 16^th century during the Renaissance Era. Only the wealthy people like the lords or the ladies could wear lace because they could afford it. When Louis XIV reigned on the country, his minister, Colbert, travelled in Italy and convinced some Venetian lace makers in order to teach people to make. They also built schools in order to speak they know-how. About the way they produce lace makers, it was handmade by thousands of people in their own houses and workshops. However, throughout the years, as the French lace was only bought by the rich persons, there was some smuggling of France. They imported from England because the material could not be commercialised in France.  Because of the several wars and embargos between France and England in the 19^th century, a lot of lace makers had to flee to France in order to save their business. The demands of lace reached a big peak because women were interested in this materials. So they had to establish some lace fabrics in order to produce it.  However, as the numbers of the fabricants increased and the development could not follow the markets, there was a overproduction so the workers smuggled this material: it was called the Luddit Revolt. The increasing numbers of the small production, in the centre of Calais, forced the new fabricants to move close to the city in the neighbourhood of Saint-Pierre-les-Calais.  In 1860, Napoleon III made a treaty with the British Prime Minister, Cobden, in order to put some taxes on lace.

Conclusion

Fashion especially the new materials, which were coming from other continents, influenced.  These new materials did not influence male fashion but mostly female fashion because women coming from the upper classes had the tendency to be very extravagant and they wanted to have the last new material or the new trend. Hence the birth of the consumption society appeared because it created new needs and also the wealthy women needed to be entertained. The new materials contributed to the history of the Victorian age.  Most of them were jobless so they had to find a way to spend time while their men were at their jobs, earning this money in order to buy more and new clothes. 

Work Cited:

http://www.katetattersall.com/early-victorian-undergarments-silk-hose-chemises-camisoles-and-pantelettes-part-1-an-introduction/

 ‘Early Victorian Undergarments; an introduction and about slik by R.S Fleming, 2012

http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/lace-makers.html

 ‘Lace makers’ by Sandra Byrd, 2015

http://www.experiencenottinghamshire.com/the-lace-market

‘The Lace Market’ by the official tourism website of Nottinghamshire

http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/lace.htm

‘Lace – history of lace-making by hand and machine’

http://www.silk.org.uk/history.php

‘The history of silk’, The Silk Association of Great Britain’

http://www.smith.edu/hsc/silk/papers/baird.html

‘Silk in England’ by Alison Baird, 2002

http://www.cite-dentelle.fr/?lang=en

The website of the museum of Calais on lace

Images

Figure 1: Handbag, about 1870, England, Velvet and silk.

                                

Figure 2: Bodice and uncut length, France, Jacquard-woven silk. 

Figure 3: Collar designed by Josef Storck, Vienna, Raised needle lace.

Figure 4: Wedding Veil, needle and bobbin lace, Brussels.

     

The Dietary Divide Between the Rich and Poor in the Victorian Era

          During the 19th century, more than 25% of society operated at or below the proper nourishment level, 15-20% earned barely enough to survive, and 10% were unable to sustain themselves with the essential requirement of healthy, wholesome food. Translation: while Queen Victoria routinely feasted upon suet puddings, savory roast beef, and delicious ice cream, the less fortunate contented themselves with eating scraps, rotten vegetables, and potato peelings. Such was the dietary divide between the rich and poor in the Victorian era.

Food Availability 

          The Victorian era saw the advancements of the industrial revolution, such as new agricultural methods (which improved the quantity and quality of food) and the development of the railway system. This allowed a vast amount of food to be transported across the country, resulting in an increase in choice, with food of a higher quality for those that could afford it.

          Unfortunately, food was costly within the Victorian period. Content and well cared for, the rich consumed an unfathomable amount (some diets included more than half a pound of bread daily) and at times wasted even more. In contrast, a middle class family could anticipate spending over half their salary on food, while a considerable percentage of the population faced unemployment or a meager income, surviving on bread, drippings, tea, scraps, etc. With limited currency for food, certain luxuries were substituted by more affordable versions. For example, before low-cost margarine was offered, dripping (animal fat) was utilized as a popular imitation.
          Regardless of class standing, the lack of refrigeration was a burden shared by all in the Victorian period. Because long-term storage was not readily available, food was usually bought from local producers such as the butcher or grocer, or from nearby street markets, and then consumed within a small period of time. Depending upon how obtainable they were, specific foods were especially favored, such as bread, pork, rice, oatmeal, cheese, beef, milk (despite the fear of it being watered down), flour, potatoes, and tea. These choices would then serve as the staple of many diets, with meals becoming based off of them. This culminated into a set menu in which food was planned to follow a pattern week after week.
Oftentimes the choice of food, mainly fruits and vegetables, varied according to what was in season, as well as whether or not it was locally purchasable. While certain vegetables such as onions, broccoli, and cabbage (which were considered the cheapest vegetables) were easily accessible year-round, other vegetables’ were limited in their availability. For instance,
watercress was only attainable from April-February, beans from July-September, peas from June-July, while turnips and carrots proved to be low-priced edibles throughout the bleak winter months. In a similar manner, fruit was also confined to exact months of the year. While apples were cheaply obtainable August-May, cherries were only purchasable from May-July, plums from July-September, and gooseberries from June-August. With fruit consumption narrowed predominantly to the summertime, unless families preserved them in autumn, families yearly dined on vegetables they could manage to afford or grow themselves.

Meat Consumption 

         Meat consumption was one of the many differences that separated the rich from the poor. In the Victorian era, the amount of meat consumed reflected one’s income. Daily consumption of meat indicated a higher income, while consuming limited amounts of meat was linked to strict poverty. Joints of meat were considered a rare treat for the poor. Thus, the amount of meat served during meal times decreased throughout the classes, beginning from the upper

class, who would have had meat daily. Those with lesser wages could expect meat on the table two or three times a week, alongside potatoes and vegetables. Those within the urban and rural working class would also utilize the scraps and leftover chunks of butchered meat in order to create sausages. The expectation of meat would continue to decrease down the classes until the lowest, most destitute level was reached, where the poor would consume potatoes as the sole food without any meat upon the horizon. For families with whom meat was a luxury, some chose to substitute eggs by housing hens within their backyards, which could result in up to a dozen eggs per week.

Lower Class 

          The quality of food consumed by the poor was exceptionally low; its quantity limited. Those unfortunate enough to be born into the lower class often had their growth severely stunted from eating only bread, tea, drippings, potatoes or potato pairings, and spoiled vegetables daily. Children in particular were victims of this poor diet, eating whatever their parents ate.
          If you were a poor farm laborer however, there was a light at the end of the tunnel as you had a chance of eating a better diet than those in the city. This was due to the fact that those within the farming industry had easy access to meat, fresh milk, and vegetables (which could be conveniently saved year-round in root cellars; impossible to do in cities). Hence, children in rural areas often had the essential nutrients their bodies desired for advancement and improvement.

Breakfast: The lower classes, whose jobs involved abundant manual labor, burned 50-100% more calories than present-day society due to their physically active routine. Suffice to say, obesity hardly existed within the lower classes, although they did in fact require more food, especially in the mornings before work. A common breakfast might have included one or two pieces of bread spattered with drippings (animal fats composed from the greasy, worthless parts of pig or cow carcasses), tea, and a bundle of watercress. Not to be outdone, the urban poor regularly devoured delectable items such as broxy (sheep that were often diseased), slink (premature calves), and tripe (the first or second stomach of a cow).

Lunch: For the lower class, lunch consisted of hot or cold meat, soup, and a bit of cheese. Instead of soft cheese, hard cheese was the more preferred staple because whenever the heel of a cheese proved too hard to eat, families would toast the ends to facilitate consumption. Those residing in rural areas had simple access to birds and other game for their tables come lunchtime.
Dinner: Dinner shared many similarities with lunch. Another option would have been to make a broth or a stew, which would have lasted one family a whole week. But as you can imagine, the meat within such a stew wouldn’t have endured the entire week, so it would’ve been very thickly salted. And, once the stew appeared not as nourishing or thick as it was from the outset, people would have added additional items to thicken the stew, such as barley, porridge oats, lentils, etc. In comparison, those unfortunate enough to be living in workhouses could expect gruel, cheese, potatoes, and bread for dinner.
                                                                Upper Class 
Breakfast: To begin their glorious day, the upper class consumed animal proteins such as eggs and bacon (a classic), but also fish, grilled tomatoes, or even deviled kidneys and smoked herring (considered rich British delicacies). Hence, compared with countless poor children, the rich were usually bursting at the start of each day.
Lunch: Lunch was comparable to breakfast, but included more meat. With the introduction of afternoon tea (which involved additional food such as cake, scones with jam and clotted cream, and tea sandwiches), lunch became light in quantity, while dinner was served later than usual.
Dinner: For the upper class, dinner was considered the most colossal meal of the day. Those dining alone could expect an average of five courses. Those entertaining guests could anticipate as many as twenty dishes served in two grand courses, while incredibly extravagant parties might include up to sixty dishes. Tables were often laid with exquisite dishes such as appetizing soups, fish, roasted poultry, various cheeses, meats, and vegetables. Light, sweet dishes such as pickles, fruit preserves, cake, puddings, rolls with cream and jam, coffee, citrus or lemon ice, and wine would either follow suit or were offered in between the richer courses. One may conceptualize that the mark of obesity proved more frequent among the rich. Now, if this seem a bit extreme in the portion and calorie regions, bear in mind that dinner parties were viewed as an opportunity to elevate one’s social status by a display of one’s wealth in the form of food, tableware, staff, etc.

Want to find out more about how the upper class ate? Check out this link! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5dr8WSPhzw
Nutrition Note: As you can infer from the mention of grilled tomatoes, vegetables, pickles, and fruit preserves in the previous section, the upper class possessed higher levels of crisp, natural fruits and vegetables, which they ate locally and within their appropriate season.

Works Cited

Clayton, Paul, and Judith Rowbotham. "How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate, and Died." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 6.3 (2009). NCBI. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672390/>.
"History Cookbook." Victorians - Food Facts - History Cookbook - Cookit! Cookit!, 2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/23-116-victorians-Food-facts.html>.
Mendoza, Justin. "Eat This, Not That?" Eat This, Not That? Beekman 1802. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.  <http://beekman1802.com/eat-this-not-that/>.
Lambert, Tim. "A Brief History of Poverty in Britain." A History of Poverty in Britain. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://www.localhistories.org/povhist.html>.
The Supersizers Go... - Victorian (Full Documentary). Perf. Giles Coren and Sue Perkins. The Supersizers Go... - Victorian (Full Documentary) - YouTube. YouTube, 25 Mar. 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5dr8WSPhzw>.
Victorian Food Documentary. Victorian Food Documentary - YouTube. YouTube, 24 Feb. 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FNNrBjDpQo>.
"Victorian Food." Victorian Food For The Rich & Poor Children. Victorian Children, 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://www.victorianchildren.org/victorian-food/>.
Vildaer, Tessa. "Food and Drink in England and Scotland, Victorian Era." In the Victorian Era, Both Middle Class and Upper Class Fami....Prezi, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http s://prezi.com/t8az9pafnp0t/in-the-victorian-era-both-middle-class-and-upper-class-fami/ >.