A BASIC GUIDE TO VICTORIAN CLOTHING, FOR FANDOMS
wherein VICTORIAN CLOTHING is understood to mean "common clothing from the 1830s to the end of the century, in fashion as set by London and followed to a greater or lesser extent in the rest of the British empire"
This is very much meant as a starting point or a cheat sheet, not a comprehensive historical essay, for people who want to know what the Fuck is happening under that morning coat and/or dress the size of a kitchen table. I've also included a little bit on likely materials and colors so you can add some texture to your fics.
Here's the rule of thumb: Victorians loved LAYERS, BUTTONS, and DECORATIVE SHIT. When in doubt, slap several layers of clothing on your guy, button 'em all together, and flourish the hell out of the top layer. Congrats, you have dressed a Victorian.
Read on for details! And check my reblogs for a note on trans characters. A Part 2 on Mending/Laundry is in the works, because it had a much bigger impact on Victorian dress at all levels of society than it does on modern fashion and I think it's worth talking about.
ADDITIONAL FUN FACT which I learned relatively recently and which the last bit of this post shook loose:
Fisherman's jumpers were (and sometimes still are) unique to the fisherman. That means that in a fishing village or town, at least in Scotland, each fisherman has his own pattern which he (or more likely his wife, mother, or sister) knits into every jumper he wears. This is why Arran jumpers are so complex in their cabling - it's not just showing off your knitting skills, it's personalising the garment.
Why? Bluntly, because a body in the sea doesn't stay identifiable for long, so having a unique jumper pattern - especially one that's cabled, so it won't fade in the sun or wash out in the brine - means that if a fisherman dies at sea (as many do), it's more likely that he'll be identified. But it's also a fun design aspect which could fit into a historical narrative in SO many fun ways.
(not so well in a modern narrative, because most fishermen these days wear mass-produced garments like everyone else and rely on DNA for corpse ID. But In almost any time between, say, 1670 and 1970, you can play with it.)
Another specifically Scottish note: tweed (as in thick semi-felted wool weave, regardless of pattern) was VERY common in a lot of the 19th century - it's warm, waterproof, hard-wearing, and reasonably easy to work (compared to oilskin or rubber), and this is the century of English fashion being OBSESSED with Scotland (see also: the invention of modern tartan and the fashion for Highland shooting). This does also come into womenswear, especially for coats and sportswear, but it's mainly menswear.
What I like about the history of tweed is that it's cut right down the middle of the class divide. Now, real tweed is expensive - it can't be effectively mass-produced even today, it has to be waulked and woven just right - but it's also an incredibly valuable cold-weather material, which means that it's not just the preserve of the deer-hunter and the fashionable explorer. Cheaper versions will also be worn by (reasonably flush) tenant farmers, builders, cabbies, and basically anyone working outside who can afford it. This is likely to be just one item (probably a coat or cape) rather than the whole suits which richer outdoorsmen went for, and it probably won't be good Harris tweed. It'll probably have elbow patches (as I found out with my own tweed jacket, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to mending tweed), and is likely to be second hand. But I think that's another fun bit of environment storytelling!
I didn't intend to just toss in a bunch of Scottish stuff, but since we're here - tartan is HUGE in the 19th century. Like, massive, for both genders and also for accessories and horse traces and curtains and upholstery and anywhere you can possibly slap it. Every family with a fraction of an ounce of a joint of a claim of Scottish ancestry is trying to get their own tartan (which have only recently become a clan thing in the first place - real traditional tartans aren't nearly so formal, they're just cross-weave with whatever colours are lovely available; the clan tartan is a 19th century invention), and pretty much throughout the century you find tartan knick-knacks popping up - again, cross-class, although a well-heeled family is likely to use a specific tartan, either the one they claim as their family's or a regimental tartan if they're a military family.
OH ALSO non-Scottish addition: the shirtfront
Because shirts are hard to launder and the starched white shirt is so important to a gentleman's formal attire, and because as OP said you don't SHOW your shirt very often, a solution seized upon was the shirtfront. This is JUST the front of the shirt - a kind of bib, basically, which ties or buttons onto your shirt or vest, and may also have a tie to fasten around your waist. It may or may not include the collar (but usually does).
The point being that you can don the shirtfront for evening wear, and then put your waistcoat and cravat/tie over the top, and ONLY have to launder (and starch and iron) the part of the fancy shirt that people actually see. This is especially important because a shirtfront is flat, which a shirt is not, so it can be pressed more easily and also won't crease up when you carelessly discard it on your bedroom floor.
You might recognise shirtfronts if you've ever seen a cartoon from Punch or Diary of a Nobody or something - the drunk bon vivant with his shirt-front flapping, either because he's taken off his waistcoat or because it's falling out of the neckline, is a very economical way to express "this man dressed to the nines for a fancy occasion, only to get hammered and completely lose his dignity". It (like being in shirtsleeves) can also be used to highlight a character's upset - he's so distraught he hasn't even dressed properly!
I actually have a shirtfront somewhere, I think! Never worn it, though, because, you know. We have steam irons now.
Also, speaking of "things I have" - OP mentioned that the flies on Victorian trousers button, and that the waist is very high, but it's important to remember that they also usually do not have belt loops, and the fly is not how they're held up. You WILL be wearing braces (that's suspenders to you Americans out there), which means the order you put your clothes on is very important. Trousers, braces, shirtfront, waistcoat, jacket.
(the braces are also remarkably short, because the waist is so high. When I first adjusted and wore my morning suit, I "borrowed" some braces from my mother, which she had for modern trousers. I had to put stitching in them to shorten them by nearly six inches, because the shortest they would go wasn't even CLOSE to short enough. The fly is also very long - mine has six buttons and they're all far enough apart to fit two fingers easily in the gap.)
Going to the toilet, assuming you need to sit down, is a real job and a half - you basically have to fully undress, because to get to the braces to take your trousers down, you first have to deal with the jacket, waistcoat, and potentially shirtfront to get to the braces. Maybe Victorian men had figured out a better system for this, but one of the reasons I don't wear that suit a lot is that I don't love taking off four layers to take a shit.
the good thing about the trousers, though, is that they have pockets for DAYS if they have them at all. I can fit a paperback in there, no problem.
