Victorian Dress For Every Occasion - 1890s Edition
The Victorian period was much about appearances and very specific etiquette, especially when it came to clothing. They had dressing etiquette for literally every activity during the day and people changed their outfit many times a day, especially in upper class circles. It honestly gets very convoluted so I decided to look into it more deeply. Not understanding the dress etiquette of the times creates a lot of weird costumes in period drama for example, where a dress might have elements of real extent garments, but they are combined in ways that would make no sense to Victorians.
To limit this post and my research I’m looking into 1890s. I also think it gives better idea about the differences between the outfits if they are all from the same decade. I’ll also limit myself to upper class and women’s clothing. I think it would be interesting to look at men’s dress etiquette and etiquette of the lower classes, but alas it has to be another post.
The broad strokes are that from the turn of the 19th century to WW1 during the day you would wear long sleeves and little to no cleavage and in the evening you could show more skin, except when dining. The specifics shifted from time and place.
Nightgown, as you might guess, was worn for sleeping. They started as basically shifts, the very basic under dress worn next to skin, but during the Victorian Era they became increasingly elaborate and when 1890s was reached they were profoundly extra. You would never show yourself in your nightgown alone. For them it was probably pretty much the same as wearing only your underwear. Even in your bedroom or dressing room you would cover it up, which leads us to…
Dressing gown was exactly what was used to cover nightgown. In some sources I’ve seen this called wrapper. But basically it was a glorified bathrobe. It was not used outside your own private chambers, but inside them while you got ready for the day. It was usually long and loose comfortable robe, often tied by waist with a cord. During summer they were light and in winter they might have been woolen or from quilted fabric for warmth. They were heavily inspired from especially Japanese kimono as Orientalism was very in in Europe during 19th century. Under it a ribbon corset or morning corset could be used, but that was not necessary. Ribbon corset was made entirely of thick ribbons and ended under the bust, with only couple of bones to keep it in shape, and morning corset doesn’t have cording and instead is just wrapped around the torso. They were made for comfort and bust support and didn’t shape heavily or reduce waist.
Wrapper or morning dress was used during the morning in the comfort of home. The terminology around this type of clothing is murky and they had a lot of overlap with tea gown and dressing gown. Some primary sources described wrapper as something you can wear on top of a dress to keep the dress clean and others as plainer and looser version of the day dress. Most extent garments, I found from 1890s, were the latter type. The former sounds something that could be used as a dressing gown too, which would explain, why the dressing gown was called wrapper in some sources. What I have gathered, is that earlier in Victorian era wrapper meant something similar to dressing gown, but maybe more presentable or dress-like, worn over a morning dress of just the undergarments. I think by the 1890s the whole outfit worn in morning had begun to be referred as wrapper, since I had a hard time finding morning dresses dated to 1890s. Regardless of the terminology, in 1890s wrapper was used in home outside personal chambers. It was acceptable to receive early visitors in it, but it was very informal and mostly reserved for very close people. It was plain and practical, but when it comes to rich people it became increasingly elaborate during Victorian era. It’s a theme here. It was often loose, but it could be more or less structured (often less). Under it you would usually wear all the typical undergarment layers (combinations or shift with drawers, corset, corset cover and petticoat), though morning or ribbon corset could be worn instead of the normal one.
Tea gowns started as house dress, basically an open presentable wrapper worn over a fancier petticoat or morning dress, but by the 1890s it became somewhat of a statement piece. At first it was seen as tacky to be too dressed up in your own home, even when receiving guests, but I think we have established that 1890s Victorians were very, very extra. Tea gowns were worn for receiving house guests during the day and in the late Victorian era, as tea gowns had become so extravagant, they were also used in the evening for receiving casual gatherings of close friends or family. Similar to wrappers, they were looser than clothing worn outside, but could be structured or lack any structuring at all. Except they were made from more expensive materials and had much more detailing. They also often had drains and a real or fake open robe-like thing, which I assume was a nod to house dresses. All the undergarments were worn under it, but morning or ribbon corset could be used under it, if very close friends were visiting. Very loose tea gowns (like the pink one on the right) show well the roots of the tea gown which are in the Victorian counter culture fashion movement, Aesthetic movement, which rejected the rigid Victorian silhouette.
Day dress or afternoon dress was formal and elaborate, as it was used outside of home and meant to be seen. Unlike the gowns reserved for home usage, it was generally made from two pieces, bodice and skirt. But of course, you would always wear matching pieces. It had long sleeves and high neckline. As the name reveals, it was worn during daytime. It could be worn for visiting and then, especially when visiting close friends or relatives, it could have slightly shorter sleeves or lower neckline, but not as low as with evening wear. It was also worn for promenading outside. When used for carriage rides train was acceptable, when for walks, shorter one was seen as preferable, but as we know Victorians were extra and sometimes still wore a train. Since weddings were (and are) held during the day, a day dress was used for that too. The finest day dress was used of course and after queen Victoria’s wedding white became the most popular color. People who weren’t rich, might have still opted out from it, as pure white dress was very expensive.
Walking dress was, you guessed, used for walking. Victorians were really into city walks and would use a walking dress for looking around in cities. It was a type of day dress but much more practical and less elaborate. It was usually made from sturdier materials and the skirt was short enough to reveal shoes. It often had a skirt, blouse and a coat, sometimes a waistcoat too. Because of it’s practicality, it was often used for travelling too.
Dinner dress was used in evening, but unlike other evening dresses, more skin coverage was appropriate. Sleeves could be as short as elbow length and neckline could be more open than with day dress. As the name suggests, it was used for dining and dinner parties.
Evening dress was the fanciest of them all and the most official. It had short sleeves or only straps (in the middle of the decade huge sleeves very very fashionable) and low and wide neckline. It was used in fancy evening occasions when presenting yourself for the high society. Balls were of course the main events of high society, there every one would put on the best they had, there was no holding back. For opera people also dressed to be seen and would dress up, but for theater a little toned down look was more appropriate.
It was very common to have bodices for different occasions (day/evening/dinner) made for the same skirt, so same material and style, but different sleeve lengths and necklines. Clothing were very expensive and the skirt had the biggest amount of fabric making it the most expensive part, so it was very economical to use the same skirt for different occasions.
