the victorian era woman

The Victorian Age: A Summary Of pockets in woman’s clothing

~ janowskr1 ~ 3 Comments

In Lee Jackson’s “Dictionary of Victorian London”, the subject of woman and their clothing from the 1800’s struck me as interesting. More specifically, pockets in women’s clothing. Funny enough, as Paris is considered the fashion capital in our modern world, it was considered the same in the Victorian age. And as it is today considered a luxury to have clothing made in Paris, it was then too. Only the finest clothing was made in Paris with the finest jewels and jewelry. “Single girls wore few jewels, and their dresses, although flounced and bulgy, were usually of simple material.” Usually, when a woman was wearing a poor amount of jewelry, this was how it was advertised they were single. Usually, when woman were wed, their husbands would try to dress them in the nicest clothing to prove how they could provide for their wives.

A large staple in woman’s fashion consisted of crinolines which were petticoats made from stiff material.  Alfred Rosling Bennett states that, “When ladies had to sit close, as in a train or bus, or pass through a narrow doorway, something had to bulge, and hoops perforce became oval”. The material was so stiff that when standing it created a perfect circle around a lady’s body.

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In this time period, Woman would be ostracized if they showed too much skin. Hence, woman were forced to wear these ridiculous outfits with absurd amounts of material. Although, the excessive amount of material did give them one advantage, pockets. Not only did the adult women have pockets but so did the young girls. It was a big deal that woman could have pockets. In the 1800’s, only men’s clothing had pockets which represented superiority, and woman’s clothing now having pockets was considered to be a societal upgrade.

I found it surprising that something as simple as pockets that seems so insignificant, were of huge significance for women of the 1800’s.

Researching Victorian London: The Telephone

~ wynneb1 ~ 2 Comments

During the Victorian Era, England experienced an influx of reformations and developments. It was a technological upbringing where communication was blossoming in new and phenomenal ways. “The Victorian Dictionary” by Lee Jackson supplied information on communications in the Victorian Era, particularly the telephone. Women who held jobs as telephone operators worked diligently under strategic rules and etiquette. It was a highly organized occupation. Women received explicit training while attending telephone school where they practiced the skills of answering calls and general communication. While supervised by an experienced operator, women learned how to operate tasks on dummy switchboards and plugs. The training was strategic and complex, the methods of which demonstrated the progressiveness of the Victorian Era. Whilst practicing with fellow operators, the attending supervisor corrected mistakes that were made during practice calls.

Etiquette and decorum was required as a telephone operator. The females had to make physical accommodations to maintain in good health. A company called The Postal Department required each girl be examined by a female physician; her eyes were checked and her teeth were fixed to ensure their would be nothing restricting her from working.  They were required to be at least 5 ft. 2 in, “extra lightweights [were] rejected” (Thompson par. 12). They wore graduate gown’s of dark material. A photograph of the Post Office Central Telephone Exchange depicts women communicating on telephones in their drab, dark gowns appearing identical in their disposition and appearance. The Victorian Era woman was expected to appear formal and quaint. In the workplace they were required to wear gloves to “maintain the contour and complexion of their busily worked fingers” (Thompson par. 4).

Aside from the strange requirements of their trade, the female operators experienced rather lavish lives. “Her dining-room, decorated with the flowers she and her comrades have brought from their own gardens, looks like a first-class restaurant and her sumptuous dinner costs her fivepence” (Thompson par. 12)! The advancement of telephone communication during the Victorian Era provided innovation for eras to come.