Expository EDRG 3344 T/R

So this is what I have right now. It will have more detail to it as I am able to do more research for it.

Victorian Female Dress

The Victorian woman dresses for modesty. They are covered from wrist to ankle and never show much more skin than their hands and maybe their feet, this is the basic standard for middle class Victorian women. This unfortunately was not the case for working class women whose clothes were often times ripped and worn because they could not afford to darn their clothing.

For middle class Victorian women fashion was very important and the styles changed drastically through the mid to late Victorian era. Women went from wearing bustles to not wearing them at all. Hard Bustles were made from the same materials as a hoop skirt except it was just in the back of the dress and not all around as it once was. After a time bustles became nothing but fabric layered upon fabric which added weight to the dresses. Dressed changed to form fitting with no bustles and just a long train down the back often referred to as the Princess Line.

The undergarments are much the same as they were in the times before. Petticoats became more ornamental and more like lingerie. They came in different colors with flowers on them and more design to them. Corsets were worn because the 18 inch waist was still the ideal size, and having a synched waist was the in-style thing at the time.