200 years: Women of Summer
IT’S SUMMER HERE IN AUSTRALIA, STEPPING ASIDE FROM THE TERRIBLE FIRES THE COUNTRY HAS ENDURED OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS - IT’S BEEN HOT WEATHER. CLIMBING UP TO 45 DEGREES IN MELBOURNE, I’VE BEEN OPTING TO WEAR THIN DRESSES OR SIMPLE SHORTS WITH A TANK TOP. ON THESE HOT DAYS I’VE FOUND MYSELF THINKING ABOUT HOW WOMEN FACED HOT WEATHER BEFORE IT WAS ACCEPTABLE TO WEAR TODAY’S LIGHT-WEIGHT CLOTHING. THIS LED ONTO ME RESEARCHING WESTERN WOMEN’S FASHION FROM VICTORIAN TIMES UP UNTIL THE FIRST PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY, WHERE CORSETS WERE AT PLAY AND LAYERS WERE A MUST - I JUST COULDN’T IMAGINE WHAT A WOMAN WOULD GO THROUGH IN TIMES WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, AKA - NO AIR CON!
I REMEMBER WATCHING GONE WITH THE WIND, WHERE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FILM SCARLET AND THE OTHER GIRLS ARE TOLD TO GO UPSTAIRS AND SLEEP FOR THE AFTERNOON. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SUMMER’S DAY AT THE PARTY, THE YOUNG LADIES ALL LOOKING FOR POTENTIAL HUSBANDS, WEARING AN INSANE AMOUNT OF LAYERS - CHEMISES, CORSETS, PETTICOATS, DRAWERS, STOCKINGS, HOOPED SKIRTS THEN THE FULL GOWN ON TOP! BUT THEY WOULD NOT MENTION THE HEAT OR HOW IT FELT TO WEAR ALL THOSE LAYERS!
WHAT A TYPICAL WOMAN FROM THE VICTORIAN ERA WOULD WEAR:
FASHIONS AND SILHOUETTES CHANGED THROUGH THIS PERIOD. WEALTHY WOMEN OF THE ERA WOULD OFTEN HAVE VARIOUS CLOTHING CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE DAY FOR DIFFERENT TASKS - VISITING, RIDING IN one’s CARRIAGE, welcoming visitors to ones house, strolling down the PROMENADE, running errands on the STREET AND MORE. BUT GENERALLY THE LOOK THAT WAS DESIRED CONSISTED OF THE BELOW ITEMS OF CLOTHING:
CHEMISE (UNDERWEAR), STOCKINGS, DRAWERS (UNDER TROUSERS), CORSET, CAMISOLE (WENT UNDERNEATH TO PROTECT THE EXPENSIVE DRESS), PETTICOAT, CRINOLINE CAGE, SKIRT, OVER SKIRT, THEN LONG SLEEVED BODICE. THE SKIRTS alone WOULD USE MANY METRES OF FABRIC!
MUCH MORE COULD GO INTO THE OUTFIT, tHERE WERE SO MANY RULES WITH DRESS THAT WOMEN FOLLOWED - BUT I KEPT THE ABOVE SIMPLE SO YOU GET AN IDEA. THE LESS WEALTHY WOMEN WOULD PERHAPS NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD ALL THESE GARMENTS or embellishments, BUT SIMILAR SILHOUETTES WERE ACHIEVED TOO, BUT THE FABRICS THEY WOULD USE WERE DULLER COLOURS LIKE BROWNS. A LOT OF DRESSES FOR LESS WEALTHY WOULD BE HANDED DOWN AND PATCHED UP WITH TIME.
WHAT A TYPICAL EDWARDIAN WOMAN WOULD WEAR:
THE SILHOUETTES CHANGED TO A SLIMMER FIGURE, NOT AS BULKY AS THE PREVIOUS YEARS. THE ITEMS - CHEMISE (UNDERWEAR), STOCKINGS, DRAWERS (UNDER TROUSERS), CORSET (LONGER LINE THAN VICTORIAN), SMALL PAD TO WEAR AROUND THE POSTERIOR, PETTICOAT, CORSET COVER (HIDES THE CORSET), LONG SLEEVED BODICE AND A SKIRT, TOPPED OFF PREFERABLY WITH A BELT.
I COULDN’T HAVE IMAGINED WEARING BIG DRESSES ON A HOT SUMMER’S DAY, BUT UPON RESEARCHING THIS TOPIC, I FOUND SOME INTERESTING POINTS….
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FINDINGS WAS THAT THEY USED NATURAL AND BREATHABLE FABRICS, SO FOR EXAMPLE FABRICS SUCH AS COTTONS AND LINENS WERE USED IN THE SUMMER MONTHS, WHICH ARE A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE TO WEAR IN THE HEAT COMPARED WITH OUR MODERN DAY MANUFACTURED FABRICS - POLYESTER, RAYON AND ACRYLIC. I HAVE JUST LOOKED AT WHAT I’M WEARING TODAY WHILE WRITING THIS, AND SURE ENOUGH I’M WEARING A POLYESTER SHORT SLEEVED TOP AND SHORTS. I WONDER IF I HAD on VICTORIAN GARB IN COTTON TODAY INSTEAD….THAT MAYBE I’D FEEL A LITTLE COOLER. SO NATURAL BREATHABLE FABRICS ARE A MUST, AND THEY HAD THAT. IT WAS MORE EXPENSIVE IN THOSE DAYS TO BUY MATERIALS COMPARED TO NOWADAYS, BUT ALTHOUGH CHEAPER - MANMADE FABRICS SUCH AS POLYESTER CAN TAKE UP TO 200 YEARS TO BIODEGRADE…ANOTHER COST ON THE ENVIRONMENT -EVEN IF IT’S CHEAP INITIALLY - IT CAN AFFECT THE PLANET for years to come.
I MAY HAVE TO LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT WHAT I BUY IN FUTURE.
COVERING UP:
SUNCREAM IS SUCH A DAILY NECESSITY HERE, PARTICULARLY FOR MY SKIN TYPE, I NEED FACTOR 50! I HAVE EVEN MANAGED TO GET “BURNT” ON CLOUDY DAYS, MY SKIN JUST CAN’T BE IN THE SUN FOR LONG, SO I CAN’T IMAGINE HAVING TO ENDURE EXTREME HEAT WITHOUT SUNCREAM/SUNSCREEN. HATS WERE PRETTY IMPORTANT TO THE VICTORIANS AND EDWARDIANS. WIDE BRIMMED BONNETS WOULD BE WORN TO BLOCK OUT THE SUN, OR A STRAW WIDE BRIMMED HAT WAS WORN RIGHT UP TO THE TURN OF THE CENTURY - SOMETHING I TRY TO WEAR MYSELF ON HOT DAYS….ALONG WITH SUNSCREEN! PARASOLS WERE AN IMPORTANT ACCESSORY TOO AND I ACTUALLY HAVE ONE MYSELF, BUT ITS A BIT CUMBERSOME IN TODAYS SOCIETY, AS IT CAN’T FIT AWAY IN YOUR BAG LIKE A SMALL UMBRELLA CAN. I FOUND THAT I RARELY TOOK IT OUT ON SUNNY DAYS AS MUCH AS I SHOULD’VE. BRING ON PARASOL BAGS!
SWIMWEAR
IN WEALTHY CIRCLES, WOMEN AND MEN WOULD HAVE THEIR OWN SECTIONS OF THE BEACH TO CHANGE INTO THEIR SWIMMING GEAR AND SWIM WITHOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX GAWPING AT THEM. I CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT THE “NORMAL” PEOPLE WOULD DO - MOST LIKELY JUST SWIM NAKED? BUT FOR THE WEALTHY, AND FROM VICTORIAN ERA IT WAS FASHIONABLE TO GO TO THE SEASIDE. I WOULD CERTAINLY BE IN THE FRONT ROW EAGER TO GET IN THE WATER, AS I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE IF IT’S HOT WEATHER ALL I WANT TO DO IS BE IN THE SEA! SO BACK TO VICTORIAN WOMEN, AS THEY WOULD WEAR NATURAL FABRICS, THEIR SWIMMING SUITS OR “BATHING DRESSES” WOULD OFTEN BE MADE FROM WOOL OR FLANNEL. FROM THE 1800S AND INTO THE EARLY 1900S, THE BATHING DRESSES WERE WORN AND THESE CONSISTED OF DRAWERS/TROUSERS/SHORTS AND A ROBE STYLE DRESS OVER THE TOP. NOT AT ALL APPEALING IF THE DAY WAS HOT AND THE WATER INVITING, OH YES I’D LOVE TO COME IN BUT “HANG ON I NEED TO JUST PUT ON MY WOOL DRESS!”
SO THERE ARE A FEW THINGS I’VE LEARNED AND WOULD LIKE TO TAKE INTO THE 21ST CENTURY. WE NEED TO USE MORE NATURAL FABRICS, ESPECIALLY IN TODAYS’ WORLD OF FAST FASHION, WE NEED TO BUY CLOTHING MADE FROM NATURAL MATERIALS - LINENS AND COTTONS ARE GOOD FOR SUMMER AND WOOLS GOOD FOR THE WINTER. ALSO THE FACT THAT THEY COVERED THEIR SKIN IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD LOOK AT MORE. LET’S FACE IT, PALE SKIN IS NOT SEEN AS ATTRACTIVE, (WELL NOT IN THE WESTERN WORLD). A GOLDEN TAN IS DESIRED, AND promoted ON FASHION MAGAZINES, BUT NOT EVERYONE HAS THE SKIN TONE TO ACHIEVE THIS, AND WITH SKIN CANCER SOARING IN RECENT YEARS, PEOPLE NEED TO COVER UP MORE - MORE HATS, SUNSCREEN AND MORE PARASOLS I SAY!
THOSE THINGS BEING SAID - SUNBATHING IN A WOOL BATHING DRESS WOULD NOT DO. NO IT WOULDN’T DO AT ALL! I DON’T SEE THAT COMING BACK - VICTORIANS YOU CAN KEEP YER WOOL BATHING DRESSES!
OK, THOSE WERE MY THOUGHTS ON LADIES WEAR IN SUMMER, A LOT TO LEARN FROM, BUT ALSO A LOT TO LEAVE BEHIND. UNTIL NEXT TIME…..
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