19th Century Costumes

In the early times of the 19th century the costumes were very fitted and formal. The clothes for men were hats, suits on top of a shirt, trousers and smart shoes. Brides and grooms wore four different types of textiles which were cotton, linen, silk and wool. Silk was chosen mostly by women because it was a luxurious fabric. The groom would have liked to wear wool, superfine merino for early 19th century and fine worsted for later 19th

century.

For men it was more famous to wear three quarter lengths, brooches, high heels and wigs. This would be strange to wear now because it looks weird for men to wear women’s clothes.

The process of making clothes in the 19th century was very dangerous. It involved very young children working from hours 5.30 to 8 at night and never got paid unless they done overtime. The machines they used to make the clothes were so dangerous many children died, also to make the wool stick together the children would have to rub the material together withtheir hands until they bled.

These are shoes that were made in the 19th century