1887
I am so incredibly tired of the ads I’ve been seeing lately. I was looking through Theatre Annual, and I came across this add for new dresses and wigs. I absolutely despise the uncomfortable things, so I don’t understand how some women spend all of their day in an itchy wig and heavy dress! I don’t even want to begin talking about corsets. Why should anyone be forced into a device that restricts their breathing? Tightening a corset is unbelievably harsh on the body, and if I had my way, I would never wear one again. I bet if the men were made to wear corsets, the things would be banned almost immediately. Even in the summer, women are expected to wear layers upon layers of fabric yet not break a sweat. Oh, how I wish to dress like the men. They aren’t covered in power and lace, instead they get trousers. I wish to wear trousers! They look so comfortable and so light. I imagine that sitting down when wearing trousers isn’t a feat. There aren’t nine layers to smooth and adjust when taking a seat. Maybe one day, the other women in London will start to be fed up with their wardrobes, and we might see a change in women’s fashion. Then again, we are dressed up like this for the pleasure of men I suppose so maybe we won’t ever see a change. Perhaps the expectations for women’s clothing becomes more extreme instead! Perhaps we’ll be made to wear twenty layers instead of ten! I do truly hope it’s the former.
This entry is particularly interesting, considering this woman is commenting on the injustices that women faced during that time, but only through fashion. Just reading this, one can really feel the discontent and desperation that this woman is feeling. Just the sight of this advertisement sent her into some kind of rant about the unfair expectations for women in terms of clothing. Victorian women were held to very high expectations in every part of their life, and this little commentary shows that wardrobe was no exception. According to A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty by Mimi Matthews, “waists at the beginning of the 1880s were still corseted, giving a lady’s figure an hourglass shape, which in many cases, was not entirely her own” (Matthews 58). One could imagine, it requires a lot of tightening and a lot of restricting in order to achieve a body shape that a woman does not naturally have. Matthews also mentions that the “return of the bustle” occurred in 1883 and was “bigger and more dramatic that ever” (Matthews 60). All of the extra fabric towards the back of the dress likely made it much heavier for women to wear. On top of that, women wore similarly styled dresses throughout every season, because there was not a lot that a tailor was able to change in order to create a cooler gown that still held up with current fashion trends. Unfortunately, these were the beauty standards for Victorian women, and like women today, they wanted to fit in with those standards. It seems that this woman on the other hand, valued comfort over her appearance. This woman is speaking out against these terrible expectations for good reason.
Matthews, Mimi. A Victorian Lady’s Guide to Fashion and Beauty. Pen & Sword History, 2018. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=e700xna&AN=1848780&site=eds-live.
Scott, Clement. 1887. Theatre Annual, 1887. London: David Brogue. Available through: Adam Matthew, Marlborough, Victorian Popular Culture, http://www.victorianpopularculture.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/MH… [Accessed April 07, 2021].