I love these deep dive videos, they are super informative and it is so interesting to see how fashion changed every year. I would love to see the 1840s next!
I also love the natural form look best. I just can’t imagine wearing so many layers of clothing plus all the ruffles, etc. The natural form is much sleeker and appealing to the eye.
If I remember correctly 1873 started a long depression era. Depending on who you get your information from it ended in 1878 or 1896. This could be why the dresses went from long and very elaborate to shorter and sleeker. It took less fabric to make them. Also the interior of the United States was becoming populated. Dresses that drug on the ground were very difficult to clean. The dust was awful. The prairie dress was so short that the ankles could be seen. Scandalous!
Oh, this has come out at a great time for something I have talked about in your comment section before. Edit: We have been blessed with beautiful Dora!
Dora petting! ❤❤❤ So glad to see you wearing your snowflake dress, it’s pretty. My goodness so many wonderful fashion plates. Thank you for posting this. Well done and informative.
So worth waiting for this video! I love the silhouettes of this decade, which you've described in such detail. Information on fabrics, colors, embellishments and underpinnings is very helpful for me when re-costuming French & German fashion dolls from this era. I've just dipped my toe in the water so far, but your work is inspiring me to jump in the deep end. Well done!
I'm not a fan of big bustles, or bustles at all, so I really enjoyed the Natural Form fashion plates and designs. Thank you for sharing those! Enjoyed this video!
This gave me such nostalgia - when I was a kid, my mom had a Harper’s Bazaar Victorian fashions book that I used to adore and spend hours pouring over!
1877-78 are interesting to me. Thanks for taking the time to make this video. Your inclusion of fashion plates throughout really make it easy to understand the changes.
Thank you! This is soo informative. I am particularly fond of the sleek lines of 1877 and 78. Which is odd, considering how many floor length circle skirts I own. And when the bows tacked things low in the back -- I love that! The purple with stripes next to the white and pink at time 18:11! LOVE! I've already watched this three times, but I need to sit down and watch it slowly and carefully. YAY! Can't wait for the 1880s.
I find it amazing all the changes to fashion that happened in a relatively short period of time. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this. So informative.
Wonderful work! Thank you for making this! I think I'm partial to the natural form era 1879 as it reminds me of My Fair Lady and all the gorgeous costumes.
Well this was a perfect video for me to find right now! I was looking into early bustle era for a cosplay idea and low and behold! I find this Lady Rebecca video! Amazing. Please give this cat all the cuddles, what an adorable addition to a video.
I love your informative videos like this one. My favorite year in the early bustle era has to be 1875 but then I absolutely love the natural form era. Thank you for these types of videos.
Thank you for this interesting video! As the 1910s are often called the height of fashion, accumulating in and mimicking various period styles up to this point, I feel that with the early 1870s they're pretty much comparable as a peak point in fashion.
Rebecca, your acting skills come into play during your narrative makes the video all the more interesting and entertaining! Thanks for keeping me interested and educated! 🥰
As someone who is lazing around the day after Christmas in my sweatpants, I can't even IMAGINE getting so elaborately dressed every day. It makes me wonder about the lifestyle of people who lived during this period. Did they dress like this every day, all day? Or maybe just a few times a week and other days they hung around their house in a dressing gown? 🙂❤
A well-off woman would end up changing her outfit a couple times a day. She might wear a wrapper in the morning, which was a cross between a dress and a robe. Later in the day, she would have changed into a different dress depending on what she was going to do. If she was receiving calls, it would be a tea or afternoon dress, which was more structured than a wrapper but less fancy than an evening gown. If she was going out, it would be a walking suit. And of course, she would change again before dinner into an evening dress. Changing clothes for the activity meant that the clothes lasted longer than they would if worn all the time. And of course, a less wealthy woman wouldn't have so many dresses!
@@Rebecca_English Tired, introverted me is shuddering at the idea of such demands, but I guess if that was the norm and was expected of me, I wouldn't think anything of it.
@aksez2u agreed! Of course, that only applied to upperclass women. Most women weren't that well off. Lower middle class women would have significantly fewer clothes, perhaps a couple of day dresses, a going out dress, and a Sunday best dress. Working class women would have even fewer. They would have a work dress or two, and a modest Sunday best dress.
Baring our lounge days like Christmas in mind, women in that developing bustle era could easily have several purpose outfits/garments as an (almost) all-in-one: built-in rear supports under lighter fabrics that would not need wires, strategically boned bodice parts, with little to no boning in the front, as that part could be covered up by big bows, frills etc. When I recreated an elliptic hoop, I put a well shaped "rear-cushion" under the crescent pad and it worked a lot better for the overall silhouette than without.
This was super useful as I’m contemplating a 1776 dress in honour of the treaty signing in my area… maybe I’ll get to it for 2026! 😅 my favourite detail of them all was the back lacing in one of the plates from around that time.
Thank you for another wonderfully informative video! I hadn't really looked at too much fashion from this decade before, but after you showed the changes year by year, it seems really interesting. Especially so since awhile back I got some purple silk taffeta that was too dark for the project I wanted and didn't know what to do with after, but lo and behold that shade is perfect for the early 70s dresses! So thank you for adding yet another project to my list lol
The adoption of the early sewing machine made it easier to add multiple embellishments, ruffles and other trims which previously were painstakingly made by hand. Women started to resemble their parlor furnishings where windows and even doors were covered by multiple layers of expensive fabrics. Also the rise of great fortunes in the gilded age meant that the wives of the millionaires were expected to showcase the wealth by dressing ostentatiously in elaborate gowns, jewels and millinery
Thank you so much for this video! My next costume is going to be a bustle dress but I haven’t picked a year yet. I’m looking forward to the next video so I can compare and narrow things down 💛
Thank you Rebecca for doing this huge work for us. I love making bustle dresses and also natural form. Managed to make one of each this year with a lot of help from your videos. Happy New year!
I mean I love almost all of these dresses, but my favorite has to be the plaid and striped one on this plate from 1875 Latest Paris Fashions in The Queen, The Ladies Newspaper and Court Chronicle, 3rd of July 1875
The fashion plates that you found make me see the natural form era in a new way. I wonder if the trumpet skirts of circa 1899-1905 were inspired by that time.
Very informative, thanks. This is one to refer back to. I'm a big fan of the very early years of the Early Bustle era, I lose interest once Natural Form takes a hold and then my interest is revived once defined bustles show up again.
Such a helpful video! I really appreciate it, must be a lot of work to gather information that precise. Thank you! Love all the bustles! I can see how they were so fashionable. Even 150years later, they still are such fascinating ensembles! I wonder, with the recent "corset" trend, will the youngsters bring back the bustle? =D I'm here for it!
I LOVE your fashion plates! Where did you find them? How on earth did women not trip over their skirts? I pity anyone who was tasked with cleaning these dresses! Would you ever consider doing a video about how servants and laundresses managed to clean such complicated garments? I know it’s not a “sexy” topic, but it would definitely be an important lesson in what exactly was required to have clothing like this. Also, how much fabric would these dresses require? How much would this cost (also adding the cost of the trimmings) for a middle class woman vs a wealthy one? Your enthusiasm for clothing history is fabulous, plus your knowledge about fashion is fabulous!
I think I actually have a video where I talk about yardage requirements. Women were used to walking with long skirts, so they knew how to not trip (and other than a few very specific styles, dresses never dragged on the ground in front, just in back). I don't know all the details about laundering, but anyone above working class would have had servants to help with all that.
"So practical for the beach". 🤣 Seriously, imagine being a maid in one of the households where women are wearing those dresses with super long trains. It would be a full time job just to pull the skirt protector pieces off the bottom /inside & wash & repair & sew them back on! I can't see how you could protect those fabrics, especially velvet, with just petticoats.
Bustle era fashion would make me crazy. I don’t like dressing asymmetrically. It looks nice on other people but I would feel silly with all that “rump” on the back of my dress. I’d also be the only loser at the ball without a crinoline. I love historical dresses but not historical support-garments and I can’t be bothered to wear them 😅
I think (though I'm not 100% certain) that older women would have usually had a bit more sleeve, and dressed in slightly darker/more jewel toned colors than younger women.
Is there any way of knowing what the dresses were mostly made from? These would be higher end clientele that would probably be able to afford silks and such, but would or could they be made from cottons for a middle class lady who wants to emulate these looks?
It would be a variety - evening dresses were pretty much always silk in this era, while dresses could be wool, cotton, silk, or I think even linen, depending on the season.
Rebecca, I have a dear friend who is a well known and now retired professor of clothing history. While helping her with one of her final fashion show projects which was all about what she called “structural underwear” (farthingales, panniers, corsets, crinolines, hoops, bustles and so on) she told me that in her opinion she believed that men must’ve designed much of women’s clothing in order to “keep them in their place “. I tend to agree with her as I see the impracticality of so much of women’s fashion throughout time. A woman couldn’t do much but look pretty in such restrictive clothing. Also, many of these fashions would be dangerous to wear for that reason along with the fact that the clothing could be caught on various items, catch fire close to a fireplace, be easy to trip on (especially going up or down stairs and so forth). What are your thoughts about my friend’s observation?
@@LadyRebeccaFashions I was thinking about creating a bustle with a T and S design at the waist for an alien character.The two letters stand for her people and are boned. The bustle is supported by them
I like the green number at 14:33. Otherwise, anything from 1874 - 1876/7, because extra train is extra and more is more. Earlier bustle is pretty lumpy and the waist is too short, later fashion is too stiff and tied-legs looking.
Normally I'm not super into natural form but there is a fashion plate from 1877 from la moda elegante illustrada (I don't think it's in the video?) that is a black velvet evening gown with white lace waterfall frills and red bows that is 🤌♥. also the fashion plate at 18:45 in the video that is almost giving tuxedo vibes is very cool.
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I love these deep dive videos, they are super informative and it is so interesting to see how fashion changed every year. I would love to see the 1840s next!
I have to admit I have a soft spot for the early/mid-70s with all it's ruffles, pleats, and bows. That being said, I've never made a bustle dress.
You totally should make one!
I am just crazy about Natural Form dresses. Thank you for this video. I am sharing it!
I also love the natural form look best. I just can’t imagine wearing so many layers of clothing plus all the ruffles, etc. The natural form is much sleeker and appealing to the eye.
YES! So excited about this video and excited for the next. Eventually I will make it to the bustle era. Merry Christmas!
Oh that yellow '72 evening gown with the sheer overskirt is so damn lovely. Almost makes me tempted to try making a bustle dress...
You totally should!
So excited for this! I love a big, bouncy, bustle❤
If I remember correctly 1873 started a long depression era. Depending on who you get your information from it ended in 1878 or 1896. This could be why the dresses went from long and very elaborate to shorter and sleeker. It took less fabric to make them. Also the interior of the United States was becoming populated. Dresses that drug on the ground were very difficult to clean. The dust was awful. The prairie dress was so short that the ankles could be seen. Scandalous!
Especially if you lived in a sod house with a dirt floor as so many of the early Nebraska settlers did.
I love the deep dives, and I am looking forward to the 1880 ❤❤
Oh, this has come out at a great time for something I have talked about in your comment section before.
Edit: We have been blessed with beautiful Dora!
Dora petting! ❤❤❤ So glad to see you wearing your snowflake dress, it’s pretty. My goodness so many wonderful fashion plates. Thank you for posting this. Well done and informative.
So worth waiting for this video! I love the silhouettes of this decade, which you've described in such detail. Information on fabrics, colors, embellishments and underpinnings is very helpful for me when re-costuming French & German fashion dolls from this era. I've just dipped my toe in the water so far, but your work is inspiring me to jump in the deep end. Well done!
Yay! I love the early Bustle era! The late 19th century was so interesting! How styles have changed from decade to decade!
My favorite fashion plate was at 16:32, with the blue striped dress from Journal des Demoiselles 1876 as my favorite
I'm not a fan of big bustles, or bustles at all, so I really enjoyed the Natural Form fashion plates and designs. Thank you for sharing those! Enjoyed this video!
I'm a 1873 Bustle person for sure! Love these deep dives.
Happy Hogmanay from Scotland when it comes!
💙🩵🤍👗👗💙🩵🤍👗💙🩵🤍😺Your blue and white dress & Dora gracing us with her presence 🐈😊.
This gave me such nostalgia - when I was a kid, my mom had a Harper’s Bazaar Victorian fashions book that I used to adore and spend hours pouring over!
So happy you are doing this
1877-78 are interesting to me. Thanks for taking the time to make this video. Your inclusion of fashion plates throughout really make it easy to understand the changes.
Thank you! This is soo informative. I am particularly fond of the sleek lines of 1877 and 78. Which is odd, considering how many floor length circle skirts I own.
And when the bows tacked things low in the back -- I love that! The purple with stripes next to the white and pink at time 18:11! LOVE!
I've already watched this three times, but I need to sit down and watch it slowly and carefully.
YAY! Can't wait for the 1880s.
I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!
Your cat's gentle touch at 20:13 melted my heart.
I think 1870's is my favorite Victorian decade across the board. I just love all these looks!
Yeah, I think it's my favorite decade too.
I love these videos. It's cool to see the evolution of fashion. It seems like women's fashion changes more than men's.
Okay, now I finally need to make that Natural Form dress I've been dreaming of! 1878 all the way!
I love the Gilded Age and it has been RENEWED FOR SEASON 3!
I'm so glad!
I find it amazing all the changes to fashion that happened in a relatively short period of time. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this. So informative.
I really enjoy these deep dives. Thanks for continuing with them, I know that they are a lot of work.
I saw a pink and soft blue dress come by that's my absolute dream dress.
I am very much looking forward to your 1880s as I am currently working on an 1880s AG doll. ❤
I love the early years of the decade where you get the best of both worlds! Bustles and big skirts!
Wonderful work! Thank you for making this! I think I'm partial to the natural form era 1879 as it reminds me of My Fair Lady and all the gorgeous costumes.
Thanks! And yet, my fair lady was meant to be set in the 1910s!
Well this was a perfect video for me to find right now! I was looking into early bustle era for a cosplay idea and low and behold! I find this Lady Rebecca video! Amazing.
Please give this cat all the cuddles, what an adorable addition to a video.
YESSS!!! Thank you for this video!!! I love bustle dresses so much!
I love your informative videos like this one. My favorite year in the early bustle era has to be 1875 but then I absolutely love the natural form era. Thank you for these types of videos.
I'm always amazed at how many drawings you have to show us! 😮 💝
I'm a costume student, and this video was incredibly helpful! Thank you so much for making it!
The natural form era is one I’ve always liked, and I think the florals are the best part of it.
Thank you for this interesting video! As the 1910s are often called the height of fashion, accumulating in and mimicking various period styles up to this point, I feel that with the early 1870s they're pretty much comparable as a peak point in fashion.
Yay!!!!
Yes!! My era, cant wait for the next video part. So far my fav is 1873. Luv u.❤
Thank you for your time. I enjoyed the overall history of this fashion.
Oooooo I’m all over this video like a duck on a June bug
10:55 I normally go for purple, but I absolutely love that black and pink dress!
Ooh and the green and purple one at 11:05
Thank you for the video! The Natural Form era is one of my favourites, and it's great to see its progression in the mid-late 70s!
Yay! These videos are so, so helpful to really narrow down what makes something of 'that' year! 💜
I love these deep dives. I watched the Patreon release twice and I watched this again. They are so informative!
1880s will be coming soon! 😉
Wonderful video, u explain things so well. I think my favorites are from 1875 and 1876. It's so hard to pick a favorite, I love them all!❤
Rebecca, your acting skills come into play during your narrative makes the video all the more interesting and entertaining! Thanks for keeping me interested and educated! 🥰
Could you please do the timelines of 1880s and 1890s please? You just explain this so perfectly ❤
I plan to do 1880s next.
@@LadyRebeccaFashions yaaaaaaay!!
Thank you for doing all this legwork!
Fantastic and thorough look at the decade, well done!
As someone who is lazing around the day after Christmas in my sweatpants, I can't even IMAGINE getting so elaborately dressed every day. It makes me wonder about the lifestyle of people who lived during this period. Did they dress like this every day, all day? Or maybe just a few times a week and other days they hung around their house in a dressing gown? 🙂❤
A well-off woman would end up changing her outfit a couple times a day. She might wear a wrapper in the morning, which was a cross between a dress and a robe. Later in the day, she would have changed into a different dress depending on what she was going to do. If she was receiving calls, it would be a tea or afternoon dress, which was more structured than a wrapper but less fancy than an evening gown. If she was going out, it would be a walking suit. And of course, she would change again before dinner into an evening dress. Changing clothes for the activity meant that the clothes lasted longer than they would if worn all the time. And of course, a less wealthy woman wouldn't have so many dresses!
@@Rebecca_English Tired, introverted me is shuddering at the idea of such demands, but I guess if that was the norm and was expected of me, I wouldn't think anything of it.
@aksez2u agreed! Of course, that only applied to upperclass women. Most women weren't that well off. Lower middle class women would have significantly fewer clothes, perhaps a couple of day dresses, a going out dress, and a Sunday best dress. Working class women would have even fewer. They would have a work dress or two, and a modest Sunday best dress.
Baring our lounge days like Christmas in mind, women in that developing bustle era could easily have several purpose outfits/garments as an (almost) all-in-one: built-in rear supports under lighter fabrics that would not need wires, strategically boned bodice parts, with little to no boning in the front, as that part could be covered up by big bows, frills etc.
When I recreated an elliptic hoop, I put a well shaped "rear-cushion" under the crescent pad and it worked a lot better for the overall silhouette than without.
This was super useful as I’m contemplating a 1776 dress in honour of the treaty signing in my area… maybe I’ll get to it for 2026! 😅 my favourite detail of them all was the back lacing in one of the plates from around that time.
I hope you and your family had a fantastic Christmas.
Thank you for another wonderfully informative video! I hadn't really looked at too much fashion from this decade before, but after you showed the changes year by year, it seems really interesting. Especially so since awhile back I got some purple silk taffeta that was too dark for the project I wanted and didn't know what to do with after, but lo and behold that shade is perfect for the early 70s dresses! So thank you for adding yet another project to my list lol
The adoption of the early sewing machine made it easier to add multiple embellishments, ruffles and other trims which previously were painstakingly made by hand. Women started to resemble their parlor furnishings where windows and even doors were covered by multiple layers of expensive fabrics. Also the rise of great fortunes in the gilded age meant that the wives of the millionaires were expected to showcase the wealth by dressing ostentatiously in elaborate gowns, jewels and millinery
I love these videos! My favourite dress era is the natural form era.
Thank you so much for this video! My next costume is going to be a bustle dress but I haven’t picked a year yet. I’m looking forward to the next video so I can compare and narrow things down 💛
I will ask the question, what style or styles does your cat prefer?
Haha! She likes the skirts that go down to the ground, but don't have a train. Easier to hide under!
Thank you Rebecca for doing this huge work for us. I love making bustle dresses and also natural form. Managed to make one of each this year with a lot of help from your videos. Happy New year!
Thank you for these deep dives! I find them very interesting !
I mean I love almost all of these dresses, but my favorite has to be the plaid and striped one on this plate from 1875 Latest Paris Fashions in The Queen, The Ladies Newspaper and Court Chronicle, 3rd of July 1875
The fashion plates that you found make me see the natural form era in a new way. I wonder if the trumpet skirts of circa 1899-1905 were inspired by that time.
It's possible! Everything old is new again!
Very informative, thanks. This is one to refer back to. I'm a big fan of the very early years of the Early Bustle era, I lose interest once Natural Form takes a hold and then my interest is revived once defined bustles show up again.
Yeah, early is definitely my favorite, but some of the natural form years are growing on me a little.
Thank you!!❤❤❤
Such a helpful video! I really appreciate it, must be a lot of work to gather information that precise. Thank you!
Love all the bustles! I can see how they were so fashionable. Even 150years later, they still are such fascinating ensembles! I wonder, with the recent "corset" trend, will the youngsters bring back the bustle? =D I'm here for it!
Loved this fun deep dive!
I LOVE your fashion plates! Where did you find them?
How on earth did women not trip over their skirts? I pity anyone who was tasked with cleaning these dresses! Would you ever consider doing a video about how servants and laundresses managed to clean such complicated garments? I know it’s not a “sexy” topic, but it would definitely be an important lesson in what exactly was required to have clothing like this. Also, how much fabric would these dresses require? How much would this cost (also adding the cost of the trimmings) for a middle class woman vs a wealthy one?
Your enthusiasm for clothing history is fabulous, plus your knowledge about fashion is fabulous!
I think I actually have a video where I talk about yardage requirements. Women were used to walking with long skirts, so they knew how to not trip (and other than a few very specific styles, dresses never dragged on the ground in front, just in back). I don't know all the details about laundering, but anyone above working class would have had servants to help with all that.
Happy New Year🎉.!
Thank you
Rather a unique question
In accordance to the video,
Where would you place lucille sharpe's blue dress from crimson peak in within the time frame?
In fantasy. It's definitely not historically accurate.
"So practical for the beach". 🤣 Seriously, imagine being a maid in one of the households where women are wearing those dresses with super long trains. It would be a full time job just to pull the skirt protector pieces off the bottom /inside & wash & repair & sew them back on! I can't see how you could protect those fabrics, especially velvet, with just petticoats.
Thanks!
Thank you so much! 🩷
This is a crazy request, but I’d love to see you create a dress that Rose wore in the book Rose In Bloom.
Sorry, I haven't heard of that book.
Bustle era fashion would make me crazy. I don’t like dressing asymmetrically. It looks nice on other people but I would feel silly with all that “rump” on the back of my dress. I’d also be the only loser at the ball without a crinoline. I love historical dresses but not historical support-garments and I can’t be bothered to wear them 😅
this is so interesting! the 1800s had absolutely beaautiful fashion. just a question: are these outfits from a specific country?
I think all of the plates I shared are from the UK, France, US, Spain, and Italy.
I have to say that I love the Georgian to early Victorian period, as opposed too the late Victorian periods.
What did older ladies 55+ wear to a ball or a formal dinner? Would they wear an off the shoulder gown bodice or be more covered up?
I think (though I'm not 100% certain) that older women would have usually had a bit more sleeve, and dressed in slightly darker/more jewel toned colors than younger women.
Is there any way of knowing what the dresses were mostly made from? These would be higher end clientele that would probably be able to afford silks and such, but would or could they be made from cottons for a middle class lady who wants to emulate these looks?
It would be a variety - evening dresses were pretty much always silk in this era, while dresses could be wool, cotton, silk, or I think even linen, depending on the season.
The off the shoulder look was probably a holdover from Queen Victoria
Rebecca, I have a dear friend who is a well known and now retired professor of clothing history. While helping her with one of her final fashion show projects which was all about what she called “structural underwear” (farthingales, panniers, corsets, crinolines, hoops, bustles and so on) she told me that in her opinion she believed that men must’ve designed much of women’s clothing in order to “keep them in their place “. I tend to agree with her as I see the impracticality of so much of women’s fashion throughout time. A woman couldn’t do much but look pretty in such restrictive clothing. Also, many of these fashions would be dangerous to wear for that reason along with the fact that the clothing could be caught on various items, catch fire close to a fireplace, be easy to trip on (especially going up or down stairs and so forth). What are your thoughts about my friend’s observation?
I disagree, tbh.
Could you see a bustle being created with a T and S design at the waist and working?
T&S?
@@LadyRebeccaFashions yes at the waist
@@kyradavis7130 What do you mean by t&s?
@@LadyRebeccaFashions I was thinking about creating a bustle with a T and S design at the waist for an alien character.The two letters stand for her people and are boned. The bustle is supported by them
I like the bigger bustles best
I assume you have seen 'Bustle Fluffah'?
No, is that a video?
@@LadyRebeccaFashions yes. It's an absolute scream. Just don't take it too seriously
I like the green number at 14:33. Otherwise, anything from 1874 - 1876/7, because extra train is extra and more is more. Earlier bustle is pretty lumpy and the waist is too short, later fashion is too stiff and tied-legs looking.
Normally I'm not super into natural form but there is a fashion plate from 1877 from la moda elegante illustrada (I don't think it's in the video?) that is a black velvet evening gown with white lace waterfall frills and red bows that is 🤌♥. also the fashion plate at 18:45 in the video that is almost giving tuxedo vibes is very cool.
Dora, What kind of cat is she? She is featured in a few videos. I would like to know.
She's a torby (tortoise/tabby)
1875 isn't Crimson Peak Era, is it?
I've only seen the movie once, but I feel like I remember both natural form and 1890s in there. Does it span a long period of time?
@@LadyRebeccaFashions I don't think so
@@kyradavis7130 hmm, I'm not sure then. There's definitely 1890s in it.
lol Dora wants the pets right MEOW stop talking with your hand and pet the baby