How would a Victorian girl have dressed at home during the 1880s?
I can't figure this out - some sites tell you that girls would have worn lots of layers - chemise, drawers, stockings, stays, numerous petticoats and a dress etc - but others say that they would have kept it simple and worn maybe a blouse, a tunic and a pinafore? Which is more correct? Oh, and I'm not interested in what rich or posh girls would have worn - they can keep their history to themselves - I'm interested in what working or middle class girls would have worn.
A working class girl would have dressed more simply than an upper or middle class girl, she would probably have to work for a living, and would need simple and practical clothes to wear. She would almost certainly have worn stays, I think women of all classes wore those, and she would have worn drawers and petticoats under her dress. If she was working in domestic service (as a great many Victorian girls did) she would have worn a black or brown dress at work, but would probably have prefered to wear something more colourful on her day off. Likewise if she had a job in a factory or as a seamstress or in a laundry she would probably wear something dark and practical for work. If she worked as a shop assistant (sales clerk), she might be expected to dress more smartly for work than other working class girls. All working class girls would try and be as fashionable as they could be in their free time, when going out, going to church etc. They might try and copy the latest fashions, many girls in those days made their own clothes, and girls who were in domestic service were sometimes given cast-off clothes by their mistresses.
Styles changed quite a bit during the 1800s, for instance in the mid-1800s hooped skirts were popular (which made the dress stick out all round), but from about the 1870s the bustle became popular (which made the dress stick out at the back). Small waists remained fashionable throughout the 1800s, but in the late 1800s a fuller figure was admired (wide hips and substantial bosom, though waist still small).
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