Victorian fashion

As I am in charge of costumes, I thought it would be important to do a post on Victorian fashion so as to make sure we abide by the trends of the time. Because of the industrial revolution, more clothes were able to be produced. The invention of the sewing machine meant that sewing at home or in boutiques was made considerabely easier and quicker. At this point in time new materials were starting to be introduced, so clothing such mackintoshes began to appear.
Black was very fashionable for all occasions, and wasn't worn simply for mourning.
The era our trailer is going to be set in is the 1870s; at this point corsets became less common as uncorseted tea gowns began to appear for informal entertaining. As the party scene will be more of a formal event, these tea gowns won't be the kind of things we are looking for, but may be appropriate in other scenes such as Bustles were used to hold skirts up. Here is a guide of how long skirts were expected to be in the Victorian age:


For men, three-piece suits became popular, as well as patterned fabric for shirts. Neck-ties, sack-coats and frock-coats were worn, but the coats were shorter than previous decades.
As for Victorian lifestyle and manners, "One simply did not speak publicly about sex, childbirth, and such matters, at least in the respectable middle and upper classes. However, as is well known, discretion covered a multitude of sins." This is extremely relevant in terms of the topic of our trailer, as it will confront some of these issues, creating a "scandal."