Costumes
The theme for this years Christmas Show is "A Christmas Carol on Ice". A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is set in the Victorian period in England. To keep with this theme we are dressing in period clothing for the show. Listed below are some ideas of Victorian Era Clothing. You will also find links to some sample images of clothing.
Children:
1. Boys wore trousers, shirts and coats as grown men did. A cap or small top hat also was common. The younger boys wore knickers, and the "young men" wore trousers.
2. Girls wore low frocks fastened behind and short sleeves. When they went outside, they put on a cloak or shawl. Upper-class parents dressed their girls like miniatures, reproducing on a small scale each detail of puff, frill and elaborate decoration. The more commonfold tended to be thrifty and would reuse garments to make their children's clothes.
3. Girls traditionaly also wore bonnets or ribbons.
Ladies:
1. Every lady wore a hat. Outside, ladies usually wore bonnets of some kind, trimmed with feathers, flowers, ribbons and bows. Create a bonnet easily from an old straw or felt hat from a thrift shop. Indoors, ladies often wore small lace caps that can be fashioned today from lace handkerchiefs, a flower and a few small ribbons. Domestic servants worm mopcaps.
2. A Victorian dress usually had a high neckline, sometimes w/a collar and fitted bodice, three quarter lenght full sleeves and a very full, long skirt worn over a layered petticoats or a hoop. With a few amendments, such as adding more fullness to the skirt, accenting with ribbons, braid, lace and flowers and even adding a collar, any thrift shop find can be transformed into a lovely Victorian dress. Keep in mind that solids and small prints were more common, but stripes and plaids also were popular. Cotton, lightweight wools or any fabric that looks like silk or brocade would most resemble period cloth.
3. A working class woman would wear simple dress with narrow sleeves and a dark material, with no petticoats. She might wear bibbed apron over the dress with a shawl tied over her shoulders.
4. Dark stockings and slipper-type shoes or ladies boots were worn during this period.
Gentlemen:
1. Hats are a must. A gentlemen always wore a hat of some kind when he was outside. Even working-class men are pictured with battered top hats or lower-crowned, broad-brimmed hats. Tweed skimmers were more sporty versions of Victorian attire.
2. A plain white shirt can be given a period look by turning the collar up. Add a ribbon, scarf or fancy cravat or knot in front. A working man would wear a collarless shirt or smock, with sleeves rolled up.
3. A vest (or waistcoat) of brocade, velvet or silk will help create a gentlemen's costume. A waistcoat of wool in bright colored stips or plaid will make any 21st Century man a sporting 19th Century chap or shopkeeper.
4. Tapered pants in black, grey or buff with a strip of ribbon running down the outer seam were a gentlemen's normal attire. A working man would wear a baggy pair of pants in wool or corduroy.