Historic Clothing in the Victoria and Albert Museum

Mid-18th century "Court Dress"

Here are more pictures of my favorite pieces in the fashion gallery of the Victoria and Albert Museum. (I apologize in advance for all the reflections in the glass - but unfortunately it was impossible to avoid them entirely.)

To be around actual clothing worn by actual people from the past gives me the most incredible feeling. It is the past preserved - a little piece of history that as I stand before it opens up an entire world. Knowing it belonged to a person who was just as human as I am, who wore this piece of clothing as they were living their life, interacting with their family and friends, walking on the streets where they lived and drinking tea in their homes drops me into their life for a moment. To me this is what is so special about a mannequin in a museum with some clothes on it.

Now I am done with my rhapsodizing and philosophizing: on to the clothes! The photo above was oldest piece, dating from the mid-18th century. It is "court dress," which, as you might guess, is what was worn in the royal court. It was even more than the popular style, it was required. I don't know what they did if you failed to meet the requirements, but I suppose they simply didn't let you in. It isn't very practical, but you must admit that it makes a statement!

The gallery was arranged chronologically, so the next piece is from a bit later in the 18th century. This blue damask gown has lots of that gathered trim that I like so well. There is something so distinctly Georgian about it, too.

A Georgian gown, circa 1760s.

Ah, the robe a la polonnaise! Possibly my favorite historic fashion. This was the fashion of Jane Austen's parents, George and Cassandra. It has cleaner lines and a more classic shape than earlier Georgian styles, adding to its elegance and practicality, and giving it a more timeless style than the oversized skirts and plethora of ruffles and trims that preceded it.

Robe a la Polonnaise, circa the 1770s and 1780s.

The typical Polonnaise skirt that can be looped up, as it is here, or left to hang straight.

Even the underpinnings are a work of art in the 18th century! I knew this, as I have attempted my own, but I was impressed by just how tiny everything was. There were dozens of boning channels, and the armhole was lined with what looked like leather, which I think is rather a marvelous idea, since that part of the garment would have a lot of wear and tear.

The work of art that is a set of 18th century stays.

 Here is a most familiar style. If you have seen 'Pride and Prejudice,' you know when we are: the unique and fabulous Regency! Practical, elegant and with a most distinct style, the dresses of the Regency were a result of a sort of revolution in fashion, discarding the more restrictive shapes of the Georgians in favor of more natural (think: Rousseau) shapes. I think women, once they got over the shock, must have rejoiced at the freedom of movement they could achieve in this new fashion. :)

The first dress in the gallery is a day dress of the middle Regency, with a straighter skirt than those of the earlier Regency, and a practical print. Jane Austen may have worn a dress like this when she lived at Chawton Cottage in 1810.

A middle Regency printed day dress.

More of the day dress.

 This is an early Regency style, with a closer resemblance to the portrait dress of the 1790s in its fuller skirt. It was difficult to see or get a shot of the front, but I believe it is a crossover gown made in a simple white muslin.

An early Regency crossover gown.

This early Regency gown illustrates the long classical silhouette of the era.

 This gown illustrates the transition from the Regency to the Romantic style, with the waist being lower and the sleeves larger. It was a spectacular piece! The detail was mesmerizing. I could tell this would have belonged to a very wealthy young lady because of the sheer amount of expensive trim. :) All of that intricate lace and gold work all over the entire dress would have cost a fortune.

A dress circa 1820 transitioning between the Regency and Romantic styles.

Oh, the detail!

A walking dress from the same period. Another point of transition that can be seen in this dress is in the line of the skirt, especially in the hemline. It doesn't just hang from the waistline, there are corded petticoats and techniques used to stiffen the hem so that it has a more unchangeable A-line shape, hanging rather like a bell when the person wearing it is walking.

A walking dress, circa 1820.

 

 And now we come to the fully-fledged Romantic fashions! The sleeves make this unmistakable. The style went back to the natural waist, accentuated by more petticoats (and the big sleeves).

Dresses from the Romantic era, circa 1830s.

A more perfect example of Romantic underpinnings may be impossible to find in this day and age. Upon first seeing this I may have been more excited than I would now care to admit... But it reveals all of the secrets to the silhouette of the Romantic era! The sleeve pads, the stays, the corded petticoat - now it all makes sense. Especially the sleeve pads. It seems almost ingeniously simple, now, but for a long time I wondered how they successfully kept those enormous sleeves puffed.

Secrets revealed: the underpinnings of Romantic era fashion.

I had to get a close-up.

Next in the gallery was the fully-fledged Victorian era with its tiny waists and big skirts. I am by no means an expert in Victorian fashion, so I cannot regale you all with its style details or particularly distinctive elements. I have only seen some period dramas that had these exact same styles in them. For example: this next dress looks almost identical to a dress Margaret Hale wears in the BBC adaptation of 'North & South' (except hers is a print and no skirt ruffles). I have always thought it was a lovely style, so to see an original dress in that same style and in person was quite exciting. :) It was a wedding dress and made out of a fine, thin muslin.

An early mid-Victorian gown, circa 1850.

This one was rather eye-catching... It is quite a fabulous color! This is mid-Victorian, worn in 1869-70, and style has moved on to the hoop skirt. A person can tell that the next style will be the bustle by looking at how the skirt is made. I personally think this style is a bit more elegant than a bustle, but we won't get into that. :) I think hoop skirts would be rather awkward to wear, too, actually. But those were the styles!

Mid-Victorian gown, circa 1870.

If you have seen 'Lark Rise to Candleford' you will understand when I say that this ensemble reminds me so much of Dorcas Lane. It must be from exactly the same era, the late Victorian - probably the early 1890s.

Historic fashion: "It's my one weakness."

Here is an ensemble from the elegant and opulent Edwardian era. This skirt and blouse were worn in 1910-12, just before the Titanic sank and the drama of 'Downton Abbey' begins.

Edwardian ensemble, circa 1910-12

I thought this dress and this hat were two of the most elegant pieces in the gallery. That gown has such exquisite work on the thinnest  of thin white muslins, draping so gracefully. This is another piece in the Edwardian section of the gallery.

I think that hat belongs at the Ascot races in 'My Fair Lady.' :)

Edwardian evening dress and hat.

The roaring 20s! I don't need to point out the distinctive elements of this style or how it changed from the decade before. The biggest change may be the lack of material below the hemline... It reminds me of something Lady Edith Crawley might wear. She does seem to favor green and coral shades.

A dress of the roaring 1920s.

Now we're into the 1940s and the somewhat more conservative wartime styles with straighter skirts and squarer shoulders.

Fashion during WWII

With the arrival of the 1950s came a return to glamor in the every day fashions. That tweedy ensemble is most tempting...

Glamorous 1950s fashions.

We have now reached the end of my photos from the gallery, and I hope that getting to look at the fashions of the past has inspired you to go to London to see it or sew a new historical costume or just do something exciting! (Watching a period drama wouldn't be a bad idea...) Clothing can teach us so much about the past and the people who lived through it, and I am indeed grateful to people who, like the V&A Museum, preserve things like this and put them out for all the world to see.

© 2015 Anna Morton

At The Tower in the Dark

Ta-da! The Tower Bridge in it's all it's nightly Victorian splendor.

2015 England Trip Travel Journal Entry

Friday, March 13

Logistics: 

1. The 133 bus to the Monument stop
2. Walk along Lower Thames St./A3211, going left at the fork to get on the A100 to find The Kitchen@Tower
3. The Tube from Tower Hill Station to South Kensington Station on the District Line 
4. The Tube home from South Kensington Station to Victoria Station on the District Line
5. The Tube [continuing] home from Victoria Station to Brixton Station on the Victoria Line

The Brixton neighborhood.

We had just the half hour we needed to find The Kitchen@Tower restaurant by our 4:30 reservation. What lovely ladies work there! And the food is beyond lovely. We were given seven of the most delicious homemade cakes, including scones with real clotted cream, and even an extra plat of sandwiches after we'd run of the first batch. It was a comfortable friendly atmosphere. Loved it.

 

Mom is excited about our abundance of dessert.

My second cup of tea to assist in devouring my scone.

The Kitchen@Tower gets five stars from us! Delicious!

Loved the windows and the eclectic furniture.

 Then we had one of those "*gasp* Look! Another old famous building!" moments once we walked out and simply turned to our right. It was the mighty Tower of London! It is beautifully menacing, even in the dark. We walked around it's perimeter, running into the Tower Bridge while we were at it, looking like the fairytale Victorian creation that it is. :)

The regally infamous Tower of London.

Daffodils can even make the Tower look more cheerful.

The Tower and its Bridge.

 

It was COLD! But it's impossible to not enjoy yourself when you're in a moment like this.

 

With our old pal the Tower Bridge. :)

The south bank of London glowing in the dark.

We shivered our way onto the Tube, making for the Victoria and Albert Museum, which was happily open til 10:00 on Fridays! Well, open except for all of the European galleries, of course... At least the fashion gallery was open late, which fully made up for it. It was fascinating. Another surreal experience of going back in history. They had real pieces from the Georgian era, Regency, Romantic, early, mid- and late Victorian, Edwardian, roaring twenties - then the fashions go downhill until they crash in a wreck of 1980s style. :) 
 

One stunning dress from about 1820.

I love the 18th century fashions!

A very smart Edwardian frock.

Anyone for tennis in 1920s style? Me, please!

The workmanship is the most impressive thing to see, with tiny stitches and intricate working of trims and buttons and fastenings on luxurious silks, wools and muslins. A historic costumer's delight!

The great entrance hall of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

We looked at a bit of sculpture, but it was getting late, so we headed home to get ready for Stratford! Between putting food together, buying tickets and passes and doing laundry, it was nearly 1:00 when we turned the lights out.



 © 2015 Anna Morton

A Sunny Spring Day in London

 

| The Houses of Parliament from the Eye |

2015 England Trip Travel Journal Entry

Thursday, March 12

Logistics: 

1. The Tube from Stockwell Station to Moorgate Station on the Northern Line
2. The Tube home from St. Paul's Station to Oxford Circus Station on the Central Line
3. The Tube [continuing] home from Oxford Circus Station to Brixton Station on the Victoria Line

Our first time on the Eye!

The day started with ham and cheese croissants, which Mom invented because we'd run out of eggs and we were in a slight rush to get on the London Eye. We made it in good time, and had no trouble picking up our tickets, since they could simply type in my confirmation number from my email that I'd taken a screenshot of on my phone. It was precisely the bright and glorious day we'd hoped for! I didn't put on a coat until lunch ended. Back to getting our tickets: a smartphone is a marvelous tool for the traveler, making practically everything available at your finger tips. I couldn't travel without one now!

We hopped into line and hopped almost all the way through it, it went so fast. There were seven people in our pod with us - happily, nice and quiet ones. :) And what a ride! Spectacular views from every angle and in every place on the wheel. I think I got at least twenty pictures of the Houses of Parliament, between the camera and phone.

 

On our way up.

The north bank with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

Looking east down the Thames.

Further down the Thames with a view of St. Paul's Cathedral.

 A view to the south west down the Thames on this glorious day!

London County Hall, which also houses an aquarium.

Our first ride on the Eye was simply lovely!

The only downside to a sunny day is one's reflection in the glass... especially if one is wearing red and white stripes. I know from personal experience.

Having lunch under the Eye.

We had such a pleasant lunch by the river just under the Eye! I had grabbed some cheese and bread at the last minute before we left the flat, in hopes of finding a grocery store with fruit and meat of some sort. And we did! A dinky little place a quarter of a mile away. The guy in there almost charged us nine pounds for an apple, a pear and salami, but he caught himself. He made sure Mom didn't forget her glasses on the counter, but he joked that if she had left them he would sell them with his other glasses. :)

We sat on the stone wall edging Jubilee Gardens to begin feeding our bodies with food and our fancies with people watching. My favorites to see and hear are the kids out with their parents or on a school field trip. We saw a couple of classes walking in disordered lines or gazing over the bankside railing in their uniforms and neon reflector vests. They're so sweet! There were also lots of older, less adorable, kids in large groups, and we were serenaded by a French bunch behind us.

Relaxing by the Thames.

Ice cream! If it's a sunny day in England, it's time for ice cream.

London + ice cream = a definite win.

Westminster Bridge, and the first of many pictures...

It was just what a sunny March day in England should be, with a carousel, kids playing in the park and us eating Magnum ice cream bars - vanilla ice cream covered with creamy chocolate! We wandered across Westminster Bridge to the Tube station and at last arrived at Holborn, our old stomping grounds during our first trip. It was like going back in time to walk around Bloomsbury Square and look down Bedford Place to see the Lancaster Hotel, our first abode in London six years ago. 

The British Museum - I have to say it - has not lost its charm. :) We took a picture in front for and of a family that was from Canada. They had just arrived that morning on their first trip to London, so they asked if we had any recommendations - which means that immediately at least a dozen things come to mind, which in turn silences us because we can't decide which to share first. 

Back at the British Museum!

The unforgettable entrance court at the British Museum. It never gets old.

The world-changing Rosetta Stone.

We decided to look more at Egypt this time, as it's ruins are in the great corridor that houses the Rosetta Stone. My favorite of that lot is actually the Assyrian winged creatures. Those massive things give me the feeling of being dropped back into Biblical history. One Egyptian room had more fragile objects like shoes made of woven reeds and artists' tools, including a palette with some dried paint still in it! That makes the past seem so real. 

Assyrian gates... It's like Biblical history coming to life before my eyes!

Ancient Egyptian artist's tools.

We'd had enough of creepy mummies, so we turned into the temporary exhibit of propoganda prints from the war with Napoleon. The large bust of the Corsican general at the start of the exhibit is just arresting - I could hardly stop looking at it, there was something so romantic about it - yet at the same time it simply looked like a young man. It brought Bonaparte to life. Which brings me to my favorite moment of the exhibit: two young Frenchmen walking around a corner into the exhibit, realizing who it was about, and grandly saying, "Ah, Bonaparte!" It sounds so much more impressive in a French accent. :)

Dinner at Wagamama's.

The prints were typically Georgian, full of lampooning and often grotesque, but it brought Jane Austen's world more to life. The mugs with the prints on them were interesting - we both thought that was a more modern phenomena - especially the giant seven-inch mug in the collection! We ended the exhibit with some jewelry containing tiny piece of Napoleon's hair... Always gives me a strange feeling, that. Then we had just enough time to find and enjoy Wagamama's! We're getting much better at estimating how much time we need.

(6:25 PM) Now we're at Wagamama's - I should say back at Wagamama's, since that's what it feels like. This was the first place we ate in London in 2009, so it feels a bit like stepping back there. It was delicious! We chose to get yaki soba, a chow mein-type noodle with sprouts, peppers, onions, prawns and chicken, and tori kara age, which is chicken in teriyaki spices.

And now we're off to see (and especially hear) The High Kings! I'm a bit worried my expectations will be too high, so I'm trying to keep them low - but I can't really see us not at least overall enjoying ourselves. :)

(11:20 PM) And we did! I'll get the cons over so I can simply enjoy the memory. My fears of the surrounding were more or less realized by the noise being loud, the room being small and crowded, and us having no seats. But they sang all of my favorites - well, nearly all, for I have so many - starting with 'Rocky Road to Dublin,' then, in no particular order, 'The Fields of Athenry,' 'Marie's Wedding,' 'Rare Auld Times,' 'Joe Hill,' 'Step it Out Mary,' 'Leaving of Liverpool,' 'Star of the County Down,' 'Irish Pub Song,' and the first ending was 'Whiskey in the Jar,' but after some deafening chants of "One more song!" they re-emerged to sing 'Finnegan's Wake'! Definitely my highlight of the evening, for it was definitely more fun than listening to the recording.

The High Kings in concert! Possibly my favorite artists, ever.

I didn't enjoy listening to the others live more than I do on the CD because everyone in the audience was singing along very loudly, and not always exactly on key... But despite that the guys themselves seemed to enjoy it quite a lot. :) They said that after being on tour in Europe they enjoyed being one step closer to home and in a place where everyone could sing along. It all really, truly ended with 'The Irish Rover,' and then the entire audience rushed over to the other side of the room where they were to sign CDs. We made it with almost no difficulty, and there they were!

Finbarr still shook my hand, even though I didn't have a CD that I'd just bought. :) Then I went

Meeting the lads!

 around to the others to attempt getting a picture, but I couldn't make myself just go behind them, it felt too intrusive... Thankfully, Mom is rather more fearless when it comes to celebrities, so she asked Darren and Martin to make me come back there. Of course they very obligingly did so in a very friendly manner. :) Darren even put his arm around my shoulder! I can't wait to tell Hannah and Julie - being as great of fans as I am. Oh, I must add that as we finished getting a photo and I was about to walk away Darren said "Nice to meet you!" I know it's not much, but it was special enough to me to be worth remembering. :)

Darren Holden and Martin Furey, people. Oh, and me. :)

I loved watching them, especially Brian, who seems to just thrive on the performance. He was quite the ham of the group. :) Boy, could Darren play that accordion! As the night went on he seemed to play more and more enthusiastically. Finbarr had the greatest smile on his face as they were all gathered around the microphone singing 'The Auld Triangle.' He and Brian were even posing for the camera during the first song for someone right next to the stage. :) What a night! It was so special to sing along to the High Kings with the High Kings.

© 2015 Anna Morton