A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty

by Mimi Matthews

early to mid-1830s. In their place were pointed bodices, dome-shaped skirts, and long, tight sleeves which made it impossible for a lady to raise her arms above her head. These were fashions designed for women who were expected to be dependent on those around them.

Unmarried young ladies were discouraged from wearing lace caps indoors. However, if they were over the age of twenty-seven and still unwed, they were considered to have entered the realm of spinsterhood, thus making a demure lace cap appropriate for indoor wear.

Their giant crinolines were, at face value, a silly conceit, however those very garments made women formidable and difficult to ignore.

In the middle of the decade, pockets became a feature of many fashionable day dresses. The 1876 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book reports that some of these pockets were so large that they occupied the entire length of the skirt ‘from belt to hem’.

‘Who ever lost his heart for a woman in a bathing dress? We won’t pause for a reply: we hear it on every side, “No one, nobody.”’