Our everyday clothes,
and the originals on which they are based
Victorian Fashion Plates
"Dress, then, is something more than necessity of climate, something better than condition of comfort, something higher than elegance of civilization. Dress is the index of conscience, the evidence of our emotional nature. It reveals, more clearly than speech expresses, the inner life of heart and soul in a people, and also the tendencies of individual character."
—Sarah Josepha Hale, 1866.
Manners, 1866, p. 39.
Quotations of Quality
When we started wearing Victorian-style clothing on a daily basis (as we have done for a number of years), we quickly realized how comfortable and practical they are. Natural fibers breathe in a way synthetics cannot. Skirts are designed to maximize feminine comfort and hygiene. The seams of Victorian clothing patterns follow the lines of human musculature to optimize fit. Our everyday clothes are copied from antique garments and nineteenth-century images in our private collection. Here are a few examples of the clothes which teach us so much and make our lives comfortable.
Photo courtesy Estar Hyo Gyung Choi, Mary Studio
https://www.facebook.com/marynature
Plaid dress / Green suit
Trousers: Copied from 1870s suit. Cotton corduroy
Waistcoat: Copied from 1870s suit. Wool shell, silk lining
Cutaway coat: Copied from 1889 original. Wool shell, silk lining
Top hat: Original antique, 1880s beaver.
Waistcoat: Copied from 1870s suit. Wool shell, silk lining
Cutaway coat: Copied from 1889 original. Wool shell, silk lining
Top hat: Original antique, 1880s beaver.
Plaid traveling/work dress:
Plaids were extremely popular in the 1880's. This was partly due to a general interest in a romantic view of Scotland in general, and partly due to Queen Victoria's interest in the country. (She was very fond of her castle at Balmoral, and in her later years there were certain rumors about the nature of her relationship to her Scottish gamekeeper, John Brown.) This dress is of an 1880's style, and the fabric used to make it is a reproduction of an 1880's fabric (purchased from www.reproductionfabrics.com). Matching accesories made with the same fabric: handkerchief, fan holder, chatelaine purse.
Plaids were extremely popular in the 1880's. This was partly due to a general interest in a romantic view of Scotland in general, and partly due to Queen Victoria's interest in the country. (She was very fond of her castle at Balmoral, and in her later years there were certain rumors about the nature of her relationship to her Scottish gamekeeper, John Brown.) This dress is of an 1880's style, and the fabric used to make it is a reproduction of an 1880's fabric (purchased from www.reproductionfabrics.com). Matching accesories made with the same fabric: handkerchief, fan holder, chatelaine purse.
Photo courtesy Estar Hyo-Gyung Choi, Mary Studio
https://www.facebook.com/marynature
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Summer suit
Antique French linen fabric (circa 1880s), sewn into suit in 2013 using 1870s pattern and techniques. Unlined for lightweight summer comfort. Shirt: handkerchief-weight linen.
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Summer Visiting Dress
White summer dress
Cotton lawn
Copied from an antique 1870's dress in our collection
While visiting the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery in Washington D.C., Sarah had quite a surprise when she turned a corner and came face-to-face with Whistler's portrait of Maud Franklin. Sarah had never seen this painting before, but Maud was wearing her dress!
Cotton lawn
Copied from an antique 1870's dress in our collection
While visiting the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery in Washington D.C., Sarah had quite a surprise when she turned a corner and came face-to-face with Whistler's portrait of Maud Franklin. Sarah had never seen this painting before, but Maud was wearing her dress!
Photo courtesy Estar Hyo-Gyung Choi, Mary Studio.
The same dress, in blue cupro.
Cupro is a natural material made from very fine cotton waste fibers. The process to produce it was invented in the 1890s. It looks and feels like silk, but is easier to wash.
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Our experiences wearing Victorian clothing on a daily basis impart a tremendous amount of insight to my historical fiction. In a scene in Delivery Delayed, Book IV in the Tales of Chetzemoka, one of the characters reflects on the "vaguely conscious cats'-whisker sense that tells a woman when her skirts are brushing a door or a piece of furniture." --Delivery Delayed
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Plaid stuff dress
Made of stuff fabric (50% wool / 50% silk) from William Booth Draper.
A similar experience (to the one with the white summer visiting dress) happened with Sarah's plaid stuff dress. After making this dress, Sarah realized it was virtually identical to the one worn by the model in James Jacques Joseph Tissot's late 19th-century painting, "Room Overlooking the Harbor". As with the painting of Maud Franklin, this was a work she had never seen before she made the dress!
A similar experience (to the one with the white summer visiting dress) happened with Sarah's plaid stuff dress. After making this dress, Sarah realized it was virtually identical to the one worn by the model in James Jacques Joseph Tissot's late 19th-century painting, "Room Overlooking the Harbor". As with the painting of Maud Franklin, this was a work she had never seen before she made the dress!
"Room Overlooking the Harbor" painting by James Jacques Joseph Tissot, late 19th-century
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Wool Brocade Winter Visiting Dress
Visiting dress
Original (left): Antique, 1890's. Wool brocade with silk; skirt stiffened with horsehair.
Copy (right and bottom): Cotton velvet and silk; skirt stiffened with horsehair.
Sarah started sewing this dress in the summer of 2012, and finally finished in March of 2013.
Original (left): Antique, 1890's. Wool brocade with silk; skirt stiffened with horsehair.
Copy (right and bottom): Cotton velvet and silk; skirt stiffened with horsehair.
Sarah started sewing this dress in the summer of 2012, and finally finished in March of 2013.
Original
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Copy
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Photo courtesy Hyo-Gyung Choi, Mary Studio.
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Tea gown / Wrapper
There were a few different types of garments called tea gowns. This variety is an example of a gown ("gown" because it is one-piece, as opposed to a "dress" which technically denotes a two-piece garment with separate skirt and bodice) which would be worn around the house for daily chores.
The tea gown shown below is an antique from the 1890s. It is made of cotton flannel, and was an item which would have been ordered by mail through a catalogue. These were some of the first ready-made dresses for women. (Unlike most dresses, which would have been fit intimately in every dimension, the only fitting on this type of tea gown is accomplished by cinching the built-in belt.)
The tea gown shown below is an antique from the 1890s. It is made of cotton flannel, and was an item which would have been ordered by mail through a catalogue. These were some of the first ready-made dresses for women. (Unlike most dresses, which would have been fit intimately in every dimension, the only fitting on this type of tea gown is accomplished by cinching the built-in belt.)
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Below are Sarah's copies, which she sewed herself and wears for everyday life around our home.
(Black and white dress, green dress) Tea gowns in light cotton. The fabrics are reproductions of fabrics specifically designed for tea gowns just like this one, and was ordered from the 1875 - 1900 wrapper collection of Reproduction Fabrics: http://www.reproductionfabrics.com/lines.php?subcat=1098
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Wool tea gown (for winter)
Fabric from William Booth Draper: http://www.wmboothdraper.com
Fabric from William Booth Draper: http://www.wmboothdraper.com
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Fans of my Tales of Chetzemoka series will recognize tea gowns / wrappers as articles of clothing which appear quite frequently in informal situations. In Love Will Find A Wheel Addie wears her wrapper while convalescing, while in Delivery Delayed Lizzie has to borrow Nurse McCoy's wrapper after getting drenched in a storm.
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Woman's work garment
The original of this garment is an antique, circa 1900, modeled here by Sarah:
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Notice the band collar, to which a detachable collar is meant to be clipped. This element is key to dating the item, as it was right around 1900 that some women's clothing started adopting elements of male clothing such as detachable cuffs and collars.
The original took advantage of the stripes in the fabric as a built-in guide for gathering the pleats.
The original took advantage of the stripes in the fabric as a built-in guide for gathering the pleats.
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Sarah made a copy out of heavy cotton canvas (striped like the original) for everyday use.
She models it here with a detachable paper collar from Amazon Dry Goods: http://www.amazondrygoods.com
She models it here with a detachable paper collar from Amazon Dry Goods: http://www.amazondrygoods.com
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Photo courtesy Estar Hyo-Gyung Choi, Mary Studio.
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Bolero jacket
Bolero jackets are short jackets worn by women around the house for extra warmth, or over the top of a ball gown while en route to a dance. (In the latter case, they would be removed upon arrival.) Sarah created a pattern for hers based one seen in a piece of art. It is cotton velvet, and trimmed it with a down feather boa.
Original seen in painting
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Copy made by Sarah.
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Photo courtesy Estar Hyo-Gyung Choi
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Wool cape
Cape: Felted wool, trimmed with antique Belgian lambswool lace
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Waxed canvas capes
Waxed canvas capes are great when the weather turns blustery. The waxed canvas is water-resistant, and our capes have buttons to keep them closed when the wind blows. Both our capes were copied from an 1890s original waxed canvas cape in our collection. Gabriel's cape was sewn by Katherine Andrews, a Seattle seamstress. Sarah sewed her own cape. The fabric from both came from Fairfield Textile. The buttons on Gabriel's cape are hard rubber, like the buttons made for such garments at the end of the nineteenth-century. The buttons on Sarah's cape are shell.
(Gabriel's trousers in the above photo: Copied from 1870s original. Bull-denim fabric.)
Sarah's waxed canvas cape.
The panniers on her bicycle are also waxed canvas, made by Brooks.
The panniers on her bicycle are also waxed canvas, made by Brooks.
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Waxed canvas waistcoat
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Cycling outfit - Sarah
Sarah's cycling outfit (sewn by herself) is patterned after the fashion plate shown below at the left This fashion plate appears in an antique copy of Godey's Magazine from our collection and shows sports clothing of the time. Following advice from period women's magazines, a wide strip of leather is sewn into the hem of the skirt to keep it from flying up in the wind. Gray plaids were very popular for cycling outfits, since they did not show dirt as readily as solid colors.
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Image courtesy Estar Hyo-Gyung Choi, Mary Studio Photography.
The cycling cap was an early example of unisex clothing, since they were worn by both men and women. Another interesting point about the cycling caps is that they - like a number of other items of sports clothing - show some influence of military fashions. Compare an 1880s cycling cap (the style of the ones we wear, and in the ladies' sports fashion plate above) with an 1860s military kepi:
Image courtesy: http://www.icollector.com/Original-Confederate-Lieutenant-s-Kepi_i6969166
Baseball caps were also influenced by these military styles (image below, left.)
In boating circles they became ladies' yachting caps, as seen in this fashion plate from The Ladies' Home Journal, August, 1891 (below, right).
In boating circles they became ladies' yachting caps, as seen in this fashion plate from The Ladies' Home Journal, August, 1891 (below, right).
Image courtesy: http://phillysportshistory.com/2011/07/page/2/
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The Ladies' Home Journal, August, 1891.
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The finishing touch on Sarah's cycling outfit is the matching gaiters. These cover the lower legs and upper shoes in order to help keep the cyclist's legs warm, her shoes dry, and her shoelaces out of the bicycle's machinery.
The photo at left shoes Sarah buttoning on her gaiters using an antique buttonhook.
(Images courtesy Estar Hyo-Gyung Choi, Mary Studios: https://www.facebook.com/marynature.)
The photo at left shoes Sarah buttoning on her gaiters using an antique buttonhook.
(Images courtesy Estar Hyo-Gyung Choi, Mary Studios: https://www.facebook.com/marynature.)
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Cycling uniform - Gabriel
Knickers, jacket, cap and tie: Scottish wool tweed (Porter & Harding) copied by Katharine Andrews from photographs of items in museums.
Deerskin gauntlets, wool socks, tropical-weight wool shirt.
Deerskin gauntlets, wool socks, tropical-weight wool shirt.
You'll notice that for both men and women, the garment covering the legs was significantly shorter in the context of sports than for other activities. Playing sports was one of the few occasions on which it was acceptable for late 19th-century fully-grown men to wear short pants, and for fully-grown women to wear short skirts. (Otherwise, short pants were for young boys, and the length of skirt seen on Sarah's cycling outfit would have been worn by a teenage girl.)
Excerpted from an 1887 cycling book:
"In the earlier days of the sport, a pedestrian or a rider in cycling garb was sufficiently a novelty to attract a good deal of annoying attention in any town he might visit. But this is no longer the case, and a correctly dressed cyclist... is so common an object, that he passes without special notice. One reason for the protection which ladies undoubtedly find in the C.T.C. grey uniform lies in the fact that it is so little remarkable, and so closely resembles that ordinarily worn by the wife of the parson or doctor, and therefore the bucolic intelligence sets down the passing stranger in his mind as probably a friend or acquaintance of the local lady. Every day the public outside the sport become more and more used to the sight of a correctly dressed cyclist, and the familiar grey dress of the lady rider, and the knee breeches, stockings, and short jackets of the sterner sex, occasion no remark."[1]
[1] Bury, Viscount. and G. Lacy Hillier. The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes: Volume I: Cycling. Ed. The Duke of Beaufort, K.G. and Alfred E.T. Watson. London: Spottiswoode and Co., 1887, pp. 228-229.
"In the earlier days of the sport, a pedestrian or a rider in cycling garb was sufficiently a novelty to attract a good deal of annoying attention in any town he might visit. But this is no longer the case, and a correctly dressed cyclist... is so common an object, that he passes without special notice. One reason for the protection which ladies undoubtedly find in the C.T.C. grey uniform lies in the fact that it is so little remarkable, and so closely resembles that ordinarily worn by the wife of the parson or doctor, and therefore the bucolic intelligence sets down the passing stranger in his mind as probably a friend or acquaintance of the local lady. Every day the public outside the sport become more and more used to the sight of a correctly dressed cyclist, and the familiar grey dress of the lady rider, and the knee breeches, stockings, and short jackets of the sterner sex, occasion no remark."[1]
[1] Bury, Viscount. and G. Lacy Hillier. The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes: Volume I: Cycling. Ed. The Duke of Beaufort, K.G. and Alfred E.T. Watson. London: Spottiswoode and Co., 1887, pp. 228-229.
The braiding details on the jacket are, like the cap, more examples of military influence. They also strengthen the integrity of the garment, as described in the 1887 cycling book mentioned above:
"...the primary object of braid was doubtless to strengthen the seams, and also to strengthen the garment generally. Flat bars of broad braid sewn inside, across the chest of a military or cycling uniform, are remarkably efficacious in preventing the jacket from stretching, and losing its shape. This fact was clearly proven by a well-known cyclist who had two jackets of the same material and shape made at the same time, one braided and the other plain; the braided one, though decidedly shabby, still keeps its shape and is usable, but the plain jacket has long since been destroyed as shapeless and unwearable." [1]
[1] Bury, Viscount. and G. Lacy Hillier. The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes: Volume I: Cycling. Ed. The Duke of Beaufort, K.G. and Alfred E.T. Watson. London: Spottiswoode and Co., 1887, p. 230.
"...the primary object of braid was doubtless to strengthen the seams, and also to strengthen the garment generally. Flat bars of broad braid sewn inside, across the chest of a military or cycling uniform, are remarkably efficacious in preventing the jacket from stretching, and losing its shape. This fact was clearly proven by a well-known cyclist who had two jackets of the same material and shape made at the same time, one braided and the other plain; the braided one, though decidedly shabby, still keeps its shape and is usable, but the plain jacket has long since been destroyed as shapeless and unwearable." [1]
[1] Bury, Viscount. and G. Lacy Hillier. The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes: Volume I: Cycling. Ed. The Duke of Beaufort, K.G. and Alfred E.T. Watson. London: Spottiswoode and Co., 1887, p. 230.
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Cyclist's Racing Outfit —Gabriel
Wool, based on a photograph of a nineteenth-century cyclist in racing uniform.
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Wool Knitted Swimming Trunks—Gabriel
Gabriel's swimming trunks were knitted in England to an 1890s pattern. They are 90% wool, 10% silk. They were made by: http://historicknit.co.uk/historic-knits/
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Work jacket - Gabriel
Gabriel's work jacket has a particularly interesting history. We bought the original antique from a man who explores abandoned mining camps. The seller had found this jacket when investigating a mine shaft that had caught on fire back in the late 19th-century. The jacket (along with whatever else was to hand at the time) had been shoved into the cracks around the door blocking the shaft in an attempt to smother the blaze. When the entrance to the mine later collapsed, the jacket was buried in an environment with virtually no oxygen - thus preserving it until it was found in the 21st century. Katherine Andrews studied the original, and made a copy of this unique garment for Gabriel to wear on a daily basis.
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Frogging (the braided fastenings) was common on uniform jackets, as well as in Chinese clothing. Former military men and Chinese immigrants were both well-represented in mining operations in the 1890's; it's even possible this was an athletic or a band jacket! Since there is no way to know for sure, it really sparks one's imagination!
Wool work suit —Gabriel
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Close-up on mule-ear pocket in Gabriel's wool work suit. |
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Hiking outfit - Sarah
Image courtesy: Mt. Rainier National Park Archives and Museum Collection
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Sarah on top of Mt. Townsend, in the Olympic Mountains, WA state.
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Sarah's hiking outfit (sewn by herself) is made of cotton canvas, and is based on the photograph seen above of Fay Fuller, the first woman to climb Mt. Rainier in WA state. Miss Fuller's original outfit was blue wool (as befits hiking over glaciers on Washington's tallest mountain); Sarah chose to make her copy in cotton because she and Gabriel tend to hike in summer months.
In both Sarah's copy and in Ms. Fuller’s original dress (as seen in the picture), the skirt is significantly shorter than was customary for a walking skirt at the time, so that it would not catch in underbrush or on rocks while hiking and climbing. To compensate for shortening the skirt, trouserettes were added to protect the hiker’s lower legs (from cold, thorns, insects, etc.).
Sarah created the pattern of the outfit by examining antique clothing from the same period as the photograph, analyzing their construction, and then copying the methods used. The seams along the back of both the blouse and the jacket follow the lines of the muscles of the wearer’s own back, as was common in garments of the time.
To learn more about Fay Fuller and her historic climb in 1890, visit: http://www.visitrainier.com/pg/personality/1/Fay%20Fuller%20-%20First%20Woman%20to%20Summit%20Mt.%20Rainier
In both Sarah's copy and in Ms. Fuller’s original dress (as seen in the picture), the skirt is significantly shorter than was customary for a walking skirt at the time, so that it would not catch in underbrush or on rocks while hiking and climbing. To compensate for shortening the skirt, trouserettes were added to protect the hiker’s lower legs (from cold, thorns, insects, etc.).
Sarah created the pattern of the outfit by examining antique clothing from the same period as the photograph, analyzing their construction, and then copying the methods used. The seams along the back of both the blouse and the jacket follow the lines of the muscles of the wearer’s own back, as was common in garments of the time.
To learn more about Fay Fuller and her historic climb in 1890, visit: http://www.visitrainier.com/pg/personality/1/Fay%20Fuller%20-%20First%20Woman%20to%20Summit%20Mt.%20Rainier
Sarah at Hurricane Ridge.
Image courtesy: Estar Hyo-Gyung Choi, Mary Studios
The item Sarah is holding in the picture above is a vasculum - a collecting case (made out of tin, with a hemp strap) for gathering scientific specimens. Originally developed in the 18th-century, vasculums were most especially used to collect plants and flowers (the size and shape of the vasculum is designed to allow an entire small plant to be carried, roots and all, without damage so that it can be transplanted to a pot or the gatherer's garden), but could be used for any specimens from the natural world such as animals (alive or dead), shells, rocks, etc. By the late nineteenth-century it was popular for anyone with an interest in science to have a vasculum of their own, and even some children had them. (Fans of the 2003 film Master and Commander may remember the doctor in that movie carrying an 18th-century vasculum in the Galapagos Islands scenes.)
Sarah's vasculum was made by the modern master tinsmith, Carl Giordano, to 19th-century specifications. Visit Mr. Giordano's website to see more of his work: http://www.cg-tinsmith.com/index.htm
Sarah uses her vasculum in the traditional way for collecting flowers and shells - and it also makes a handy purse on casual days!
Sarah's vasculum was made by the modern master tinsmith, Carl Giordano, to 19th-century specifications. Visit Mr. Giordano's website to see more of his work: http://www.cg-tinsmith.com/index.htm
Sarah uses her vasculum in the traditional way for collecting flowers and shells - and it also makes a handy purse on casual days!
Historic photo of children with vasculum, 1890:
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Close up on vasculum.
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Other outfits:
Blue striped print dress
Corsets
Nearly everything you've always heard about corsets is wrong!
Here's the book that will set you straight:
Victorian Secrets: What A Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present, and Myself
Victorian Secrets website: victoriansecrets.weebly.com
What follows is the very briefest of overviews.
Here's the book that will set you straight:
Victorian Secrets: What A Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present, and Myself
Victorian Secrets website: victoriansecrets.weebly.com
What follows is the very briefest of overviews.
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The foundation of a Victorian lady's wardrobe was her corset. It provided postural support for the wearer, and structural support for the outer garments. By narrowing the waist, it created a broad platform for skirts to rest upon, and the uniform torso measurements it created allowed bodices and jackets to be fashionably fitted. (The human torso naturally changes in size and shape to a measurable degree throughout the course of an average day, due to food consumption and digestion, hydration, and a number of other factors.)
People are often particularly curious about corsets. Here are some of the most common comments and questions Sarah encounters when she's out and about:
"Can you breathe in that thing?"
-Um, yes... Do YOUR lungs flank your belly-button?
"Can you eat in that thing?"
-I find it amusing that this particular question is most commonly asked WHILE I'M EATING. Go figure. Corsets do reduce the available space in the stomach and intestines, but as far as I'm concerned that's not really a bad thing. I get full a little faster, which encourages me to eat smaller and more frequent meals. It also forces me to get more fiber in my diet -again, not a bad thing.
"I wore one of those for a dance/ my wedding /a few hours and it was SO uncomfortable!"
-Well, if you'd gone barefoot your whole life then suddenly wore hiking shoes two sizes too small for you for an afternoon, that would be pretty uncomfortable, too. It takes a while to get accustomed to any new garment, and a lot of modern people lack patience -plus "special occasion" corset wearers generally lace them far too tightly for a first-time go of things.
"Those break ribs!"
-No, they don't. They never did. In the first place, the fabric would break before the bone would. In the second place, pulling in a corset is relatively slow, and the process of breaking bones HURTS. There are some pretty idiotic people out there, but no one is stupid enough to continue applying bone-breaking force at the slow speed it takes to tighten corset laces -people are dumb, but not quite THAT dumb! This particular myth was started by moralists; then got convoluted by misinterpretation of vocabulary (the metal or whalebone stays are also known as "ribs", and these sometimes do wear out and break), and then got really mixed up by an interesting bit of scientific history: in the nineteenth century, medical skeletons were hung during the preservation process. The process deformed the bones -this is the origin of the so called "corsetted skeletons" in museums.
At most, a very tight corset pushes the ribs up a bit, but they start to sink back down again as soon as the corset is removed.
People are often particularly curious about corsets. Here are some of the most common comments and questions Sarah encounters when she's out and about:
"Can you breathe in that thing?"
-Um, yes... Do YOUR lungs flank your belly-button?
"Can you eat in that thing?"
-I find it amusing that this particular question is most commonly asked WHILE I'M EATING. Go figure. Corsets do reduce the available space in the stomach and intestines, but as far as I'm concerned that's not really a bad thing. I get full a little faster, which encourages me to eat smaller and more frequent meals. It also forces me to get more fiber in my diet -again, not a bad thing.
"I wore one of those for a dance/ my wedding /a few hours and it was SO uncomfortable!"
-Well, if you'd gone barefoot your whole life then suddenly wore hiking shoes two sizes too small for you for an afternoon, that would be pretty uncomfortable, too. It takes a while to get accustomed to any new garment, and a lot of modern people lack patience -plus "special occasion" corset wearers generally lace them far too tightly for a first-time go of things.
"Those break ribs!"
-No, they don't. They never did. In the first place, the fabric would break before the bone would. In the second place, pulling in a corset is relatively slow, and the process of breaking bones HURTS. There are some pretty idiotic people out there, but no one is stupid enough to continue applying bone-breaking force at the slow speed it takes to tighten corset laces -people are dumb, but not quite THAT dumb! This particular myth was started by moralists; then got convoluted by misinterpretation of vocabulary (the metal or whalebone stays are also known as "ribs", and these sometimes do wear out and break), and then got really mixed up by an interesting bit of scientific history: in the nineteenth century, medical skeletons were hung during the preservation process. The process deformed the bones -this is the origin of the so called "corsetted skeletons" in museums.
At most, a very tight corset pushes the ribs up a bit, but they start to sink back down again as soon as the corset is removed.
Corsets were an absolutely ubiquitous item for Victorian women. They were worn every day, until they were absolutely worn out. Here is an example of one (circa 1880s / '90s) to illustrate how threadbare they would be by the time they were thrown away:
To learn more about corsets (and Sarah's experiences with them) check out her book, Victorian Secrets: What A Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present, and Myself www.victoriansecrets.weebly.com.
Victorian Corset Images on Gifts
"In all times when beauty and comfort are studied, corsets will undoubtedly be worn, and there are many reasons why they should be."—Madame Roxey A. Caplin, 1864.
My "Pretty Housemaid" corset
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Accessories
Victorian Fashion Plates
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How Sarah makes her clothes:
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/blog/how-i-make-my-clothes
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Fun with Fine Art
In a seaport town in the late 19th-century Pacific Northwest, a group of friends find themselves drawn together —by chance, by love, and by the marvelous changes their world is undergoing. In the process, they learn that the family we choose can be just as important as the ones we're born into. Join their adventures in
The Tales of Chetzemoka
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First Wheel in Town:
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Love Will Find A Wheel:
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A Rapping At The Door:
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Delivery Delayed:
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A Trip and a Tumble:
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For Tales of Chetzemoka merchandise,
click here!
*****
Love's Messenger
A Choice Collection of
Victorian Love Poetry
The verses embraced within these pages have been kissed awake after a long slumber. Copied from the fragile pages of nineteenth-century books and magazines, they are the whispers of lovers long entranced. In this beautifully diverse collection of Victorian love poetry high-born ladies and their eloquent beaux keep company with simple maids whose sweethearts pledge their love in simpler —and often much funnier— terms. Prepare for your happy sighs to be joined by occasional giggles while you hold this book close to your heart.
Compiled, edited and introduced by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the charming Tales of Chetzemoka historical fiction series, This Victorian Life, Victorian Secrets, and others.
The Wheelman's Joy
Victorian Cycling Poetry and Words About Wheels
There is something inherently romantic about cycling, and there has been since the first riders set their wheels to the road. This collection of nineteenth-century poetry, prose quotes and bon-mots about cycling reflects both the ardent passion and the innocent affection cycling inspires. From the glory days of high-wheel cycling through the boom of the safety bicycle, riders were falling in love with their wheels, with new-found freedoms, and above all with each other. This delightful little collection tells of those days in their own words, and evokes sentiments which every cyclist will find timeless. Compiled edited and introduced by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the charming Tales of Chetzemoka cycling club series, This Victorian Life, Victorian Secrets, and others.
Quotations of Quality
A Commonplace Book of Victorian Advice, Wit, and Observations on Life Eloquent statements are like the seeds of beautiful flowers: in the fertile garden of the mind they grow and blossom into inspiration, reflection, and rewarding conversations. The Victorian era was a time when people expressed themselves skillfully and beautifully, and the writings of that age are a rich legacy from the past. This little volume is a collection of sentiments on an array of subjects, among them:
Books: "A minute's reading often provokes a day's thinking." —W.H. Venable, 1872. "Books are those faithful mirrors that reflect to our minds the minds of sages and heroes. A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit treasured up on a purpose for a life beyond." —J.F. Spaunhurst, 1896.
Writing: "Every new book must have, in the consciousness of its author, a private history that, like the mysteries of romance, would if unfolded have an interest for the reader, and by unveiling the inner life of the volume show its character and tendencies." —Sarah Josepha Hale, 1866.
Language: "The [Ancient] Greeks said that barbarians did not speak, they twittered." —Charles DeKay, 1898.
The Sexes: "It is better for men, it is better for women, that each somewhat idealize the other." —Gail Hamilton, 1872.
Love: "True love is that which ennobles the personality, fortifies the heart, and sanctifies the existence. And the being we love must not be mysterious and sphinx-like, but clear and limpid as a diamond; so that admiration and attachment may grow with knowledge." —Henry Frédéric Amiel, 1880.
Optimism: "Refuse to dwell among shadows when there is so much sunshine in the world." —Hester M. Poole, 1888.
History: "The past is our wisest and best instructor. In its dim and shadowy outlines we may, if we will, discern in some measure those elements of wisdom which should guide the present and secure the welfare of the future." —Frederick Douglass, 1889.
Work: "Make the most of your brain and your eyes, and let no one dare tell you that you are devoting yourself to a low sphere of action." —Anonymous, late 19th-century
Keep this book in a place where its wisdom can refresh your spare moments, or buy a copy for a friend to brighten their day. May the flowers of thought thus planted bear rich fruit for you.
Compiled and edited by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of The Tales of Chetzemoka, This Victorian Life, and others.
Words For Parting
Victorian Poetry on Death and Mourning
Love and grief and the two most private, and at the same time the most universal of all human emotions. It is for love that we remember the dead: love of their spirits, love of their vibrancy, love of the good deeds which they did and which live on after them. The poems in this collection were all written by grieving hearts who have now themselves passed over into that great mystery. We can not truly know what death is, yet we know it will come to all of us. In ancient times when a friend told the philosopher Socrates that his judges had sentenced him to death he responded, "And has not Nature passed the same sentence on them?"
Inasmuch as there can ever be any comfort for those left behind, part of it lies in knowing that death is a reflection of life. When it comes we cry, then we take our first faltering steps towards understanding. In time we become accustomed to this manifold enigma which nature has given us, and then ultimately we look towards the future with hope.
If this little book of poems may be of some help to those in sorrow by reminding them they are not alone, then it will have done its work.
Compiled and edited by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the Tales of Chetzemoka series, This Victorian Life, and others.
This Victorian Life:
Modern Adventures in Nineteenth-Century Culture, Cooking, Fashion, and Technologies
(Non-fiction)
Victorian Cycles
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