Victoria Breaks Free

Victorian dress versus modern Fashion Impact of meter

Times create style. When it comes to Victorian style, it's natural to talk about the era that has been remembered by countless British people and the Queen Victoria they admire. During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), Britain's political, economic and cultural development reached its peak. This island country, not much larger than Shaanxi Province of China, had numerous overseas colonies at that time. From Hong Kong in the Eastern Hemisphere to South Africa in the Western Hemisphere, the sun would shine on the flying meter flag at any time, which was also the source of the title of "the empire that never sets".

Victorian dress

But when we carefully explore the fashion of the Victorian era, the golden signboard of "the empire that never sets" is not so dazzling. The reason lies in the Victorian style, which is shaped by two contradictory forces in many cases. The most obvious examples are: the increasingly open social atmosphere and the constraints on women's body and power, masculinity and exquisite clothing, and so on.

{page_break}

Victorian dress

Industrial revolution, let dyeing technology progress; The invention of sewing machine makes clothes more complicated

Due to the industrial revolution and overseas expansion, raw materials and precious metals from the colonies were continuously transported to the British mainland by newly invented steam ships, and then returned to the colonies after being processed by machines in the British mainland. Low cost raw materials, efficient mechanized production, and broad overseas markets have enabled Britain to accumulate huge wealth. The rich nobles are getting richer and richer, and the once poor people are also becoming richer. After the rich, the British people began to spontaneously want to improve their quality of life, so a large amount of funds were invested in various scientific research. The byproduct of scientific progress is that the production efficiency of machines is getting higher and higher, and the materials for making clothes such as gauze are getting cheaper and cheaper. Lace that once could only be decorated on noble skirts can now be enjoyed by ordinary people. The emergence of sewing machines has made men's and women's clothing more complicated.

Another important influence comes from the progress of dyeing technology. The once monotonous colors have been replaced by colorful colors. The clothes of ordinary people can choose more and more colors. Compared with the choices of men, women in the era whose lifelong goal is to become a good wife and mother who stay at home to look after their husband and educate their children seem to have fewer choices. But soon they also found their own fun, which is to decorate the room and transform their makeup. From the lace on the tea table cloth to the wrinkles on the clothes, women in that era were accustomed to pay more attention to details, whether it was their own home or their own face. Slowly, thanks to the joint efforts of countless idle wall scratching upper class and middle-class women, the skirts of that era were getting bigger and bigger, the hemlines were getting longer and longer, the embroidery patterns were getting more and more complex, and the lace was even more overlapping... So, those clothes that still look incredibly complicated and gorgeous appeared.

{page_break}

Victorian dress

It was also at this time that the aesthetic appreciation of women's objectification reached its peak. The classic image of women in the Victorian era is: a tight corset on the top, a long skirt with skirt support and hip pad on the bottom, and the whole body is decorated with lace. Her face is pale and weak. The suture of the corset is fan-shaped from the waist to the chest, which not only has a decorative aesthetic feeling, but also will not let the dress out of shape even if the action is large. In addition to inserting ribbon shaped whale bones or pieces of wood or metal into the front to ensure the flatness of the abdomen, the whale whiskers should be bent according to the shape curve and embedded into the garment body. On the upper edge of the corset, a shaped whalebone should also be inserted horizontally, and the whalebone behind must be straight, so as to compress the shoulder blades, flatten the back, and make the chest more prominent. The opening of the corset began to be uniformly placed at the back, and the waist became smaller and smaller, so the "can win" became a reality from rhetoric. The front and lower end of the bra is in a sharp angle shape, which not only visually produces the effect of making the waist look slimmer, but also draws people's attention to the women's legs, which can be said to be very sexy and provocative, perfectly showing the Victorian "indulgence under abstinence".

Victorian dress

The contradictory behavior of Victorian fashion is also reflected in women's attitude towards lipstick. In the eyes of many people at that time, only "inferior women" such as prostitutes and actors would use lipstick, while women in the upper class could only find other ways to decorate their lips. They will sip red crepe paper, gently bite their lips to make them congest, do lip exercises (keep repeating words like peas, prunes, and prisms to make their lips plump and curl up), and apply ointment or wine to their lips. But these seem to be difficult to resist the temptation of lipstick. In order to get lipstick without being discovered, British women even developed a secret trading system. Those who want to buy lipstick should go to a special shop and be taken to a special private room by an usher. The goods must be taken home quietly and hidden away. Women will also secretly trade their lipstick formulas and secretly make them with their friends.

{page_break}

Portrait of Queen Victoria

The reason why the beautiful women of that era liked to dress up as gorgeous as a wedding cake was that the industrial revolution made them rich and free, and the second reason was that Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria's influence in that era was no less than that of today's LADY GAGA, or LADY GAGA could not compare with her at all. Her status should be like this: she had a higher popularity than the current British Queen Elizabeth II. As a queen, people admired her political skills and admired her governance strategy. In addition, she also has the illusion and affinity of the late Princess Diana. Similar to Princess Diana's enviable "Cinderella" story, Queen Victoria and her cousin fell in love at first sight (perhaps more appropriately, it should be a "Grey Prince" story). Prince Albert from Germany proposed to him only five days after he arrived at Buckingham Palace. After marriage, the wife followed her husband and was happy. They had eight children in total (these children later married to European royal families, so the Queen was also called "European grandmother"). In the eyes of imperial subjects, Queen Victoria is not only a qualified monarch, but also a virtuous wife and loving mother. As a wife and mother, she was just like any other women in that era, which made them feel cordial and admired. The Queen's emphasis on family responsibility and morality infected many people in her time. Abide by social order and morality like the queen, and live and work strictly was the theme of that era. Finally, in terms of fashion leadership, Queen Victoria is no less influential than the current Princess Kate. Women competed to imitate the complicated lace patterns on the Queen's skirt and her elegant and dignified temperament, which also led to the conservative and elegant style of clothing in that era from the perspective of spiritual outlook, and the stand collar and high waist on clothing were the best examples.

Alexander McQueen 2006

Vivienne Westwood Fashion Works

{page_break}

Vivienne Westwood Wedding Dress in Sex and the City

British actress Helena Carter Bonham in Vivienne Westwood Victorian fashion

More than a hundred years later, although the glory of the Victorian era has faded, the glory and pride of that era still attract generations of British designers to pay tribute to that special historical period. Among them, we have to mention Vivienne Westwood, the "punk godmother", and Alexander McQueen, the "bad boy". Vivian Westwood, who runs the world in a rebellious image, like all punks, scorns all existing rules and systems, but only in the Victorian era. Westwood's preference for folds continues to appear on the T-table. The once dignified and gorgeous folds and tucks have become distorted and asymmetrical exaggerated shapes under Westwood, and they are no longer in line with rules, but loudly cry for their own uniqueness and uniqueness (see the autumn and winter show of Vivienne Westwood in 2010 for details). Compared with Westwood's vague yearning for the Victorian era, McQueen's love for that era is much more popular. Direct reference or processing of Victorian elements can be seen in the fashion shows designed by McQueen during his lifetime. The gorgeous clothes on the autumn and winter fashion show in 2006 are still impressive. The addition of Victorian style gave the conference a dreamlike quality: gold and silver floss embroidery, chiffon, feather decoration, and stacked flounces, which exuded a strong flavor of the ancient palace; The black lace embroidery is attached to the beige waistcoat style high waist skirt or the fitted shirt and pants suit by mistake, stretching to the hem of the dress, which is lined with elegant colors and temperament, and is as exquisite as pieces of art.

{page_break}

Victorian style features:

Valentino Spring/Summer 2012 Premium Custom Collection

Lace: In the Victorian era, women liked to show the lace of their underwear at the neckline, cuff and skirt hem. Industrial production has made expensive lace that could only be made by hand enter ordinary families.

Vivienne Westwood

Grab pleats/creases: use vertical lines to create implicit beauty, and use wrinkles to create a sense of magnificence. Therefore, both shirts and skirts have creases, and cuffs are also used more for deconvolution. The industrial revolution caused by the progress of textile machines reduced the price of cloth, and people had enough materials to add complex folds to their clothes.

{page_break}

Guy Laroche

Dolce&Gabbana Fall/Winter 2009

Sheep leg sleeve: The sleeve is like a lamb leg, the upper end is open, and the wrist is tightened for a long time, which is very European classical beauty.

Button wrapping: The button is wrapped with silk or satin of the same material as the garment, presenting a seamless decorative feeling, and also reflecting the meticulous workmanship like manual customization. Attention to details is the biggest feature of Victorian clothing.

{page_break}

Valentino Spring/Summer 2012 Premium Custom Collection

Jason Wu 2011 Autumn Winter Collection

Stand up collar: The collar is up and close to the neck, which is very conservative.

Valentino Spring/Summer 2012 Premium Custom Collection

High waist: The waist line position is obviously higher than the natural waist line. Raising the waist line can set off the round and plump curve of the hips and make the lower limbs appear slender, which is easy to create a sense of dignity.

?