Wives and Daughters

This text was chosen for the timeline in order to display the clothing worn by young women and children. It is a novel about a middle-class family and their relationships with the men in their town. In the section included, a main character, Betty, calls after her friend with a riding-skirt for his child. These were worn specifically when women were riding their horses, as other clothing in their usual wardrobe would not accomodate for riding. Ther novel displays (in mentions to fashion) the expected shapes and styles worn by everyday women at the time, hence the title: Wives And Daughters: an Every-day Story. Although the source does not fall within the confines of the 1890s, which this project focuses on, it gives us an idea of space for movement within women's clothes, which has existed far before the 1890s.

Text reads: "... he galloped home, had a fresh horse and Molly's pony saddled, and though Betty called after him with a riding-skirt for the child, when he was not ten yards from his own stable-door..."

Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865. Wives And Daughters: an Every-day Story. New ed. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1890.

Associated Place(s)

Event date:

circa. 1864