I found the information in the Victorian Dictionary quite interesting. A wealth of information in one place which is great. The clothing of London always peaked my interest. The pictures of women I have seen in the past always seem to be prim and proper. Upon searching I found an article “Victorian London – Clothing – dress and social status.” The article discusses the dress among men and women, high and low class. It is hard to tell the class of men and women alike by the way they dress. If you were to see a man walking down the street with a black dress coat, it would be hard to tell if he is a rich businessman or simply a shoe maker. A black dress coat could pretty much get men anywhere they wanted, including the ritziest club. Women also did not disappoint. They wore their best out and one could never tell their class based upon their dress. If a woman was wearing a bonnet and dressed in black velvet one would not know if it was the “lady” or the “maid.” After looking at the dress the mannerisms were looked at to see the grace of the person. This also did not give any clues as to the class of the person. It would be nice to have this in today’s society. Many people judge others on their looks including dress and if it does not meet their specifications they look down upon them. At the end of the article it comments on jacket of a man and he must be rich. He is actually not rich at all he is a tailor and makes jackets himself. In this article I learned that women do not “betray their social position by their dress” (Schlesinger, 1853). Both men and women had this mentality.

Max Schlesinger, Saunterings in and about London, 1853, Dictionary of Victorian London – Victorian History – 19th Century London – Social History (Dictionary of Victorian London – Victorian History – 19th Century London – Social History) http://www.victorianlondon.org/index-2012.htm