What do you think?
Rate this book
From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress, 1837-1877
This lively, illustrated book about Victorian costume during the first part of Queen Victoria's reign is a delightful introduction to a particularly rich era in costume history. From Queen to Empress vividly evokes fashionable society in Victorian England and America through paintings of the period, contemporary illustrations and photographs, and striking costume photographs taken especially for this volume.
In separate chapters devoted to royal influence, underdress, evening and day wear, mourning attire, wedding clothes, and court dress, the author, a member of the staff of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, offers a highly readable account of the ways in which fashion influenced the dress of all but the very poorest sections of the population.
By 1837, the year of Victoria's accession to the throne, the simple silhouette and printed cottons of the early nineteenth century had already begun to give way to a more elaborate style of dress. Luxurious silks and an extraordinary diversity of shapes—including huge domed skirts and elaborately molded corsets made possible by new dressmaking techniques—marked the fashionable Victorian woman by the time Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India.
From Queen to Empress accompanies an exhibition that opened at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 1988. [This book was originally published in 1989 and has gone out of print. This edition is a print-on-demand version of the original book.]
In separate chapters devoted to royal influence, underdress, evening and day wear, mourning attire, wedding clothes, and court dress, the author, a member of the staff of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, offers a highly readable account of the ways in which fashion influenced the dress of all but the very poorest sections of the population.
By 1837, the year of Victoria's accession to the throne, the simple silhouette and printed cottons of the early nineteenth century had already begun to give way to a more elaborate style of dress. Luxurious silks and an extraordinary diversity of shapes—including huge domed skirts and elaborately molded corsets made possible by new dressmaking techniques—marked the fashionable Victorian woman by the time Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India.
From Queen to Empress accompanies an exhibition that opened at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 1988. [This book was originally published in 1989 and has gone out of print. This edition is a print-on-demand version of the original book.]
- GenresFashionNonfiction
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
25 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 25, 2018
This could be of great use to anyone trying to write historical fiction set in the Victorian period.
February 17, 2022
Quite a few dresses here I'd like to make.
June 4, 2014
It's a comprehensive guide, but only to adult women's fashion. Actually, fashion shares the stage with etiquette and social rules (though it's hard to separate the two topics when it comes to Victorian attire in particular). There's next to nothing said about men's or children's clothing, which is a good or bad thing, depending on what you were expecting to find. It's still a very good resource.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews