—𝐀 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐔: 𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐔: 𝐀 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐅 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
The word trousseau is a borrowing from the French, loosely translating as “small bundle”. It was expected that the bride’s family paid the dowry (a payment frequently in the form of money, but in rural areas could also be presented as livestock and, in wealthy or titled houses, lands and other important assets), and that the bride herself would bring her wedding gown, clothes, linens and sometimes even crockery, so that the future home would be furnished upon her arrival. Of such things was composed the trousseau.
Earlier instances of the bridal trousseau are commonly found in the Middle Ages, where Italian brides would bring with them a cassone, a gilded and richly decorated chest that kept their possessions. Fast forward to the first half of the 20th century, 40s and 50s may know the continent of this objects as a “hope chest”, and one of the more popular ones was the Lane hope chest, built in cedar wood; during the 30s, the brand secured immense popularity following their successful campaign that gifted their hope chests to graduate girls.
With the shift in traditional gender norms and the increasing entrance of women in the workforce, the idea of grooming young girls into waiting for marriage became increasingly obsolete. Today, the custom of the trousseau lives only in very secluded rural areas and in deeply religious communities like the Amish, who still handcraft and paint their own hope chests, and also in symbolic events, like the Spanish “bodas vaqueiras”, in which furniture and other goods are brought for the trashumant shepherds from Asturias.
The Trousseau, by Charles Webster Hawthorne (1910). We are witness to the confection of the trousseau of a young lass; an older woman is seen behind her, seemingly taking the bride-to-be’s measures, while a younger one works quietly on the corner, stitching which appears to be a wedding dress. The girl, stripped to her chemise, stands distant.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐔 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐑𝐀.
The Victorian era is an historical period which covers the whole British Empire, but is mostly focused in England, and took place between the years 1837 and 1901, in which Queen Victoria reigned. Regarded as a lengthy stretch of history which oversaw many changes, it nonetheless exhibited a stiff fixation in etiquette and tradition.
It is generally accepted that Queen Victoria set the precedent of the white wedding dress when she married Prince Albert in 1840. There had been white wedding dresses before her, of course; but historians have by large attributed the young sovereign with the popularity and subsequent establishment of the colour white as the staple for the brides of the nobility and the bourgeoisie. Working women, much more practical, would retain the custom of using their best dress for the ceremony, reusing it further for special occasions.
Tradition dictated that the wedding apparel should be constituted, as the rhyme goes, “something old, / something new, / something borrowed, / something blue, / and a [lucky / silver] sixpence in her shoe”. Likewise, the popularisation of the white wedding dress led to the creation of rhymes such as “Married in white, you will have chosen all right”; the bridal jewelry was, in many occasions, gifted by the bridegroom himself. Handkerchiefs were often embroidered with the bride-to-be’s initials.
It was expected for young girls to commence the preparations for their trousseau since their teens, collecting linens and items of clothing; however, during the 19th century, fashion changed dramatically, and not only from decade to decade, but every few years. So to say, a woman who married at age 22 in 1871, would probably find of little use the dresses she had started gathering in her early teens, since the fashionable shape had shifted from the full skirts supported by the crinoline of the mid 1860s, to the trailing silhouette of the bustle of the 1870s, and this if we do not take into account the rise in favour of the artistic dress.
The marriage of Queen Victoria, by sir George Hayter (1842). Surrounded by such illustrious personages such as an elderly Duke of Wellington, the queen dowager Adelaide and her beloved uncle the Duke of Sussex, Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1840; her silk satine and Honiton lace dress, which is widely credited to have sparked the preference for white as a bridal colour, has survived to our days.
The bride, by Abraham Solomon (1856). By the year this painting was finished, the white had been consolidated as the colour of the bride, and the crinoline —collapsible and bell-like— had been patented by Milliet in Paris, giving the skirts of the fashionables of the time the desired fullness of appearance without the heaviness of the many petticoats that had been required until then.
THE TROUSSEAU (1866), A FAITHFUL EXAMPLE.
This eponymous article, belonging to a 1866 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book, conscientiously lists the recommended contents of a lady’s trousseau, going as far as to cite an unnamed English paper to support this. The suggestions were:
a wedding dress “of some rich white material, and trimmed with lace; a low bodice will, of course, have been made”.
a white lace veil and orange blossoms.
half a dozen trimmed cambric skirts.
four morning wrappers “two of white cambric, and two of some woollen material of dull tint trimmed with shawl border or silk”.
a travelling dress “of some neutral tint, with a cloak, sack or mantle, of the same material, simplicity being most desirable”.
three silk dresses “a mauve moiré with black lace bournous; [another dress] a silver gray, with trimmings on the skirt of blue silk; a silk of broad black and white stripes.”
evening dresses “a light blue satin [dress] bouillonnée with tulle and trimmed with blonde; a maize-coloured silk [dress], with black lace flounces and cerise trimmings”.
dinner dresses “[one dress made of] a moiré of the new shade of blue, worn with a wild wreath of roses [and another made of ] white silk with bouquets of flowers embroidered, made to open in front, over a white quilted satin petticoat.”
morning wear “two or three pretty muslins [dresses], a black foulard with yellow spots, a steel-coloured alpaca with paletôt of the same [colour], worn with a black straw hat and a black and white feather.”
half a dozen of white muslin and white net Garibaldis.
a blue silk postillion jacket “trimmed with black lace or steel.”
two Marie Antoinette scarves “one in white, one in black lace.”
a Paisley or Indian shawl.
paletôts “[one of] seal-skin and [the other of] black velvet”.
bonnets “a white tulle bonnet, trimmed with green grasses, a white crêpe bonnet, trimmed with blue, a pink silk bonnet.”
a set of sable, and a set of ermine.
a set of Honiton point in white, and [another] Spanish lace in black, if required.
By the mid 1860s, Garibaldi blouses has become a household name for many well-dressed ladies. Named after the hero of the Italian Unification Giuseppe Garibaldi, who pwas in the habit of wearing a loose, red blouses (camicie rosse), they are thought to have been popularised by the fashionable empress Eugénie.
Three fashionable bonnets in an issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book from October 1864. From left to right, they are described thusly “white silk bonnet, with a double cape of Eugenie blue silk; a white silk drawn bonnet, edged with black velvet and white drop buttons, […] the trimming is composed of crimson tulips and white feathers; a black Neapolitan bonnet, with a white crêpe cape covered with white blonde. The trimming of the bonnet is black lace, black ribbon, and salmon-colored flowers”.
A contemporary engraving depicting the wedding between Baron Alphonse and Leonora de Rothschild in 1857, as presented by Harper’s Weekly. The wedding gown was thus described: “the robe was of white satin covered with real Bruxelles Point of a very rare description; trimmed with marabouts, and decorated with bouquets of orange blossoms and lilies of the valley”. That wouldn’t be the last great Rothschild to be seen in Victorian England; in 1865, Ferdinand James de Rothschild would marry his cousin Evelina. However, it would remain one of the best remembered.
Portrait photographs of princess Helena of the United Kingdom and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein upon their marriage in July, 1866. The bride —unflatteringly described by her mother as “plump, dowdy, unambitious and without charm”— wears a white satin dress and both a veil and deep flounces made of Honiton lace, decorated with roses, ivy, orange blossoms and myrtle. Despite 15 years worth of an age gap and the fierce disapproval of the prince and princess of Wales, the couple is credited to have lived happily.
A TROUSSEAU BY MME. TILMAN (1866), AN APPAREL FOR A POSTBELLUM BELLE.
Another issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book dated 1866, discussed the recent additions to Madame Tilman’s, and exemplify them with a trousseau made by her maison. This trousseau featured:
a white wedding dress “covered with lace, forming a full double skirt”.
a poplin dress “of a luminous green, called vert malachite (“malachite green”), […] trimmed with velvet a shade darker”.
a dress of Mexique silk “[of] a lovely shade of blue […] tastefully decorated with lozenges (rhombus) of cluny guipure over blue velvet”.
white cambric morning robes “finished with Valenciennes or cluny inserting, intermingled with delicate ribbons”.
It must be remarked that poplin had been particularly in vogue for some three years at that point, more precisely since 1863, when Alexandra of Denmark arrived in England to marry the prince of Wales, dressed in a mauve-coloured travelling dress made of Irish poplin. Unfortunately, the issue did not include any fashion plate representing Mme Tilman’s trousseau.
The Landing of Princess Alexandra at Gravesend, by Henry Nelson O’Neill (1864). Received amidst cheers, 18 years old Alexandra wears a mauve dress under a velvet fur-trimmed jacket; the predominance of dark and purplish hues in her apparel can be related to the mourning for the death of Prince Albert, her betrothed’s father, whose passing had taken place not quite two years before. Three days later, in Windsor Castle, she will become Princess of Wales.
A fashion plate representing five élégantes in Godey’s Fashions for February 1866, the very same issue in which Mme Tilman’s trousseau is described. While not the dresses made by the maison Tilman, these contemporary fashion plates bear a certain resemblance in the fabrics used and the fashionable silhouette that they exhibit.
“THE ART OF DRESSING WELL” (1870), AN EXTENSIVE TREATISE ON THE TROUSSEAU.
Perhaps one of the most full and trustworthy descriptions of a trousseau can be found in Sarah Annie Frost’s 1870 book “The art of dressing well”. The authoress commands that the trousseau of a well-dressed woman should be composed of the following:
six linen chemises “of very fine Irish linen, made with yoke of band, and handsomely trimmed” and six muslin chemises “trimmed with embroidered bands, cambric ruffling, tape trimming, or pretty edging”.
six pairs of linen drawers and six pairs of muslin drawers.
six fine night dresses “made of cambric, with deep yokes” and six plain night dresses.
three fine corset covers “fine cambric or thick nainsook muslin” and three plain corset covers.
one pair of embroidered white corsets, two pairs of plain white
corsets, and one pair of colored corsets.
one dozen pairs of “heavy cotton” hose, and one dozen pairs of “fine thread” hose. A dozen of “fine merino” may be added too.
six tucked and trimmed skirts, and six plain ones.
two Balmoral skirts “one rather dressy, and one plain for stormy weather”.
six short tucked skirts, and six short plain skirts.
three embroidered flannel skirts, and three plain ones.
two white dressing saques “made of fine brilliant or stripped cambric, with broad ruffles of the same” and two flannel ones “to replace the breakfast shawls”.
a breakfast shawl “knit of fine zephyr, with a handsomely shaded border”.
two loose wrappers “made of fine French chintz or cashmere, according to the season”.
two walking-boots “one pair of waterproof leather, with heavy soles […] the other of fine French kid, according to the prevailing fashion”.
one pair of dressing slippers “of embroidered kid or cloth”.
one pair of kid slippers “with rosettes, for house wear”.
two pairs of evening slippers “of white and black satin”.
two pairs of gaiter boots “one pair with light soles for house wear, and the others with thick soles for the street in fair weather”.
six sets of linen collars and cuffs “for morning wear, travelling and other occasions where the dress is simple.”
six sets of lace or embroidered collars and cuffs.
handkerchiefs: a dozen hemstitched, another dozen plain, and half-a-dozen embroidered or lace trimmed.
dresses: two morning dresses, two afternoon dresses, two walking suits (one for returning bridal calls and one for promenade), two evening dresses, one travelling-dress and one water-proof suit.
headdresses (namely hats and bonnets).
veils “one of fine black lace, another from thick barege for travelling”.
A July 1870 pattern for a chemise, likely belonging to Godey’s Lady’s Book. Throughout the 19th century, the chemise —worn beneath the ever present corset— remained the quintessential undergarment of the Victorian woman. While almost permanently unseen behind layers upon layers of clothes, fashion dictated it they should be trimmed with lace, Valenciennes being preferred.
An advertisement for E. Butterick’s fashions for winter 1869 to 1870. By the last years of the decade of 1860, the distinctive bell silhouette of the crinoline era had began to grow out of fashion, as a shape with a trailing train but flatter sides began to be more favoured, thusly evolving into the crinolinette and later being replaced by the bustle, which would characterise the silhouette of fashion during the earlier part of the 1870s.
WEDDING CLOTHES (1884), OR A WORD AGAINST OVERPACKING.
Written by Florence B. Hallowell for Demorest’ Monthly Magazine, this article was not meant to list the ideal clothes for a trousseau, but to warn the young lady readers against the evils of overpacking their trousseaus, by offering a handful of examples in which this proved to be prejudicial for the brides-to-be —from a young woman who fell ill with fatigue after countless months of sewing her trousseau every night, to another who, forced by her husband’s debts, had to flee to the countryside, not being able to use her finer dresses. While not providing the reader with a single list of items, the text itself offers a number of different garments which proved to be too extravagant or numerous of their owner’s way of life.
Some of the extravagant examples she used to exemplify this were:
a white moire wedding dress with a Spanish lace flounce.
a cardinal satin dress with a plush polonaise of the same color.
a green surah dress with damassé overdress and basque.
a black satin dress trimmed in Spanish lace.
a black velvet underskirt, to be worn alongside a polonaise of cream-coloured satin.
a bronze gold rhadame dress with a plush basque.
a pale blue cashmere wrapper trimmed in Oriental lace.
a white surah silk wrapper.
Fashion plates of alcina (left) and faustina (right) polonaises in Demorest’s Family Magazine for February and March 1880. The period between 1878 and 1882 are referred by many fashion historians as “the natural form era”, an estimated four-year period in which fashion rejected the exuberant volumes that had characterised previous decades and adhered to a more natural silhouette, emphasised by straight corsets and a tubular shape; it is likely that the Dress Reform Movement and the Artistic Dress Movement produced this short-lived shift in the form of the dress.
Fashion plate of a graciosa basque (left) in Demorest’s Family Magazine for January 1880, as well as a surviving example of an American silk twilled surah dress (right), thought to have been sewn in the 1880s. Basques were vest-like bodices, often trimmed in lace, which became highly popular between the 1870s and 1880s. On the other hand, surah silk, renowned for its luster and softness, was a well sought after fabric mainly employed in the making of fine apparel.
HINTS ON AN INEXPENSIVE TROUSSEAU (1891) AND ECONOMY IN THE PREPARATIONS.
Made Aunt Margaret (name of Margaret Erskine), a regular writer for the Girl’s Own Papers, for her young niece “Queenie”, the list she elaborated, most notably meant to fit a budget of just £30, was:
a wedding gown “a cream-coloured India muslin [dress] with a plain skirt, edged at the bottom with three rows of narrow satin ribbon worked over in silver thread.”
a Vandyke hat “with a bunch of silver wheatears and pale blue cornflowers”
nine calico combinations.
half a dozen camisoles “for summer wear”.
four flannel petticoats “embroidered with flossine”.
one pair of white bridal corsets.
one pair of black corsets.
a toilet jacket “of embroidered French twill”.
a dressing gown “of marl beige.”
stockings: “four pairs black spun silk; four pairs of Lisle thread; and eight pairs of black cashmere”.
gloves: “two pairs eight-button-length tan gloves for evening wear; four pairs tan Suède gloves; one pair of Nantwich gauntlets, and three pairs of Nantwich tan.”
one pair strong walking boots.
shoes: “one pair of strong shoes; one pair of tan shoes; one pair of tan evening shoes; one pair of patent court shoes; one pair of beak house shoes”.
one boating gown “of navy serge.”
a straw sailor hat to match.
another hat, decorated with pale flowers.
a zephyr dress “of a vieux rose”.
a Black Russian net skirt.
a plain dress “of lizard-green velveteen, cut low back and front.”
a “very smart” black serge jacket.
a dozen fine cambric handkerchiefs.
The wedding morning, by John Henry Frederick Bacon (1892). By the beginning of the decade of 1890, the illusion of voluptuousness created by use of bustles and crinolines had long vanished from fashion, being replaced instead by long trains and a liberal use of puffed sleeves, which almost remembered to the fashion of the 1830s.
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