Fashion and Tea

 If you know me at all, you probably know that I love history. I got it from my dad. We could spend hours in museums. (My siblings did not inherit this love, and did not like family vacations that involved museums!)

Where my dad tends to gravitate towards WWII type stuff, I love the older. Anything pre-1950's is great in my books. However, my favorite time period is the Victorian era. It was all fabulous back then. I'm starting to ramble, aren't I? Sorry, I tend to do that when I start talking history. Moving on...

Saturday I got to go with two of my aunts, my dad's two sisters (who also like the Victorian era), to our local museum for an event. It was called "Tea and Fashion". We had a blast!

We were brought to a little classroom where we were greeted by the presenter.

She made that dress herself. (Here's a little secret: it's just shower curtains!)

We sat at tables with lovely china and tea type goodies for us to enjoy while she talked about women's fashion in the 1800's. Specifically from 1860 - 1920's.

She started with the undergarments. Did you know that back then they had to get all new undergarments every time the fashion changed? That was often, too. Every 5-10 years the fashion trends changed and you had to stay current. You couldn't let your friends and neighbors see you in last years clothes! 

A fairly basic corset. Hooks on the front and a tie in the back. Contrary to what Hollywood, most women did tie it themselves. You didn't need the foot in the back, pulled terribly tight, look.

Any guess what this is?

That's right. Underwear. How else do you think they used the bathroom in all those layers?

This was my favorite dress. It is from the late 1860's. It was terribly small. It would fit someone maybe 4'8" with a very small waist. 

This dress was funny. It is from the early 1900's. Every time fashion changed they would emphasis a different part of the body. This one was the bust area. Not only did you have that one large pouch in the front, but...

They had to wear what is called and s-curve corset. It shoved the top part of your body out in front of your backside and legs. I would think that would throw off your balance!

Of course there was the bustle dress. Another very odd trend, emphasizing your backside, trying to make it appear bigger. Very odd.

She also had a bunch of stuff laid out on tables and hanging up.

The best part about it all, was that all of the pieces that she had there were considered to be not of museum quality or they knew nothing about it, so we got to touch it all! We were very excited when we found that out!

We had a fantastic time and are hoping to be able to go to something like this again!