As you can see from the many illustrations on this site, I have a soft spot for Victorian fashion, and for the steampunk style it inspired (more posts on fashion here). On a quiet evening aboard the Airship, MetaSama helped me dig through the archives of the 1890s, the last decade of the Victorian era. Here is what we found.
The silhouette was everything: a corseted waist between a fitted bodice and a long skirt. The heavy bustles of the 1880s were gone. Skirts became bell-shaped, smooth over the hips and flaring toward the floor.
The most striking detail is the sleeve. Around 1895, “leg-of-mutton” sleeves reached their most extravagant size: huge puffs at the shoulder, narrowing tightly down to the wrist. Some needed padding just to keep their shape.
For the day: high necklines, wool and cotton. For the evening: silk, satin and velvet, in deep jewel tones. And the accessories were never optional: gloves, a hat, a parasol or a fan, and jewelry already leaning toward the curves of Art Nouveau.
There is a quieter story in these outfits too. The 1890s were the decade of the “New Woman”: more women worked, studied and rode bicycles, and their clothes slowly followed, with tailored jackets and simpler skirts.
Many of my outfits borrow from that decade, corset included. Aboard an airship, though, I draw the line at sleeves that won’t fit through the hatch.
