Purple satin dress, England

<p> Purple satin dress, England, c.1880. Museum no. T.113-1964</p>

Purple satin dress
English
c. 1880
Satin
Museum no. T. 113-1964
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The dress fastens at the back from the narrow band collar to the hips with silver-plated buttons in a Florentine design. The tight, three-quarter sleeves are entirely gauged and trimmed at the cuffs with two rows of pleated bands. The front is fitted to the figure as far as the hips, and is designed to suggest a jacket. It is trimmed round the edges with motifs in iridescent beads and worn over a pleated and ruched stomacher front with a mock lacing. At the hips it is draped back into paniers which knot over the train. The skirt is ruched as far as the knees, where it is arranged in pleated tabs with pendant chenille tassels mounted over crenelated tabs and bands of pleats. The sleeves and the bodice (which is boned) are lined with white glazed cotton, the skirt with mauve polished cotton. The back breadth is lined with stiffened cotton and held in place with tapes.

Woman's underwear in the 1800s. V&A collections.

<p> Woman&#39;s underwear in the 1800s. V&amp;A collections.</p>

Woman's underwear.
English
1800s

Combinations: white cotton with Bedfordshire Maltese lace trimming around the neck, sleeve and leg. The front is trimmed with hand-made insertion and white work embroidery, seamed to fit the body and fastened down the front with cotton washing buttons used to fasten the rear flap.
Museum no. T.15-1958

Corset: red sateen with bones covered in yellow leather, fastened with a spoon busk.
Museum no. T.131C-1919

Steel wire bustle: the bustle was constructed to compress when the wearer was sitting down.
Museum no. T.84-1980

© Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Dress and jacket ensemble, England

<p> Dress and jacket ensemble, England, c. 1870. Museum no. T.152-1966</p>

Dress and jacket ensemble
English
c. 1870
Brown silk, satin ribbon, silk fringe
Museum no. T. 152-1966
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The dress consists of a loose, waist-length bodice which fastens in the front and is worn inside the waistband of the matching skirt. It is lined with glazed linen and held in position with tapes at the waist. The sleeves are a short wrist-length with a trimming of ruching and fringe for the cuffs. The skirt is gored, fitted to the hips with darts and tightly gathered at the back. Inside are tapes and loops to adjust the length and drape. The jacket is a short hip-length and loose in front. It is longer at the back and is semi- fitted with a central vent. It has a round neck trimmed with ribbons and fringe and fastens with covered, embroidered buttons. The loops and tapes within the skirt are a simple but effective way of adapting a skirt to a bustle.

Fashion plate: A Bridal Costume, France

<p> Fashion plate: A Bridal Costume, France, 1872. Museum no. E.2221-1888</p>

Fashion plate: A Bridal Costume
France
1872
Print
Museum no. E.2221-1888
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Fashion plate: A Bridal Costume France 1872 Print Museum no. E.2221-1888 © Victoria & Albert Museum, London Fashion plate: A Bridal Costume, showing two women, one in her wedding dress complete with floral garland in her hair and a long veil, with pleated edging to the many layers of her dress, and large bustle. The other lady is dressed in a dark green dress, also with layered skirt with pleating, tassles and large bustle and a floral bonnet. She is adjusting the cuffs of the bride to be. Behind the bride is a little girl mimicking the bustles of the older women by pushing up the back of her pale blue dress, and looking into the small mirror on the floor. The designers now dictated what was to be worn and the very wealthy would go to them for custom-designed clothes. As more and more fashion magazines were published, the new fashions were seen sooner and by more people who then copied the designs. The advances in textile machinery and, above all, the sewing machine, meant that many more people could have new clothes. Early machining, however, was in chain stitch and unreliable, and fashionable ladies still preferred to have their clothes made by hand.

Bustle pad, England

<p> Bustle pad, England, 1880s. Museum no. T.57-1980</p>

Bustle pad
England
1880s
Woven and padded horsehair
Museum no. T.57-1980
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Bustle pad, woven and padded with horsehair with eight separate padded bands, all in striped and black checkerboard pattern going vertically, the band at the bottom striped horizontally.

Evening dress by Worth, France

<p> Evening dress by Worth, France, c. 1880. Museum no. T.63A-1976</p>

Evening dress
Designed by Charles Frederick Worth (1825 - 1895)
Paris, France
c. 1880
Pale pink and cream satin, machine-made lace
Museum no. T.63-1976
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The bodice is made in the Princess line, and is seamed and gored for a moulded fit. It fastens with laces at the front and has a deep, square neckline trimmed with pearl-embroidered machine- made lace. The sleeves are elbow-length and narrow but slashed, with the openings filled with lace. The bodice extends into drapes at the hips, merging with the train which falls in inverted pleats from the seams of the bodice. The border of the train is scalloped, trimmed with machine- made lace and mounted over a pleated band. The skirt has a front panel of cream satin with a formal floral pattern machine-embroidered in silk and chenille in shades of pink, bronze and green, the centre trimmed with bead tassels. The dress is lined with white silk, the bodice is boned and the skirt is hooped at the back with tapes for adjustment. Label: Worth, Paris is machine-woven on the waist-tape.

Marketing and manufacturing were changing rapidly. The first haute couture dressmaker, the Englishman Charles Frederick Worth, had opened a house in Paris in 1856 and others quickly followed suit. The earliest dress known to be by Worth is an ivory silk evening dress of 1881.

Evening dress ensemble, England

<p> Evening dress ensemble, England, 1895 - 1900. Museum no. T.625-1999</p>

Evening dress ensemble
Festa & Co
London, England
1895 - 1900
Silk satin, gross grain and tulle
Museum no. T.625-1999
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London

This evening dress ensemble is from the late 1890's and is made of silk satin and gross grain trimmed with tulle. Lined with cotton, whale bone and starched gauze. The front is cream with pink trimming around the bust and panels on each side of the skirt and bodice.

Costume in wool check, France

<p> Costume in wool check, France, c.1897. Museum no. T.139-1961</p>

Costume in wool check
France
c.1897
Wool, trimmed with ribbon, braid and machine-made lace; bodice lined in cotton
Museum no. T.139-1961
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Bodice and skirt in wool check. The waist-length bodice is designed to suggest a bolero jacket, to which is applied bands of black silk braid edged with a black and white fringe. The sleeves are long and tight with a slightly puffed and tucked sleeve-head. The bodice is mounted on and fastens over a front-fastening cotton lining, boned at the main seams. The skirt fits closely and is made from two cross-cut main panels, with a double box pleat at the centre back hem and faced round the bottom with lilac silk.

Women on bicycles, 1898

<p> Women on bicycles, 1898, England. Museum no. E.2283:191-1997</p>

Photograph - Women on bicycles
England
1898
Photograph
Museum no. E.2283:191-1997
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Photograph showing three smartly dressed young women sitting upright on bicycles, supporting one another by holding on to the handlebars. It seems a perfect metaphor for sisterhood and the emancipation of women. The names of the women have been inscribed beneath the photograph - Mabel Asser, Lily Carver and Laura.