Victorian Beauty Ideals
Victorian dress: male
Cotton and wool waistcoats, 1875-1885, page 191 chapter 19, book Victoria Costume, Anna Buck, viewed 26.01.15
Illustration, book: Victorian Costume, reproduction by permission of punch, page 197, chapter 19, 1853, viewed 26.01.15
These images of male clothing from the Victorian era show different examples of ways to wear certain outfits; some men wore waistcoats but mostly all the people from the same class would follow certain fashionable traits and wear similar clothes, expression of clothes and personality is a contemporary thing and was unheard of during these times. People from a high class would wear uncomfortable looking clothing with many straps and buckles, a bow tie with an overall smart looking attire.
I have been looking at the male clothing of this era because my chosen character from the book Dorian Grey is a man. I will use a model in the end assessment and so need to look at the male side of fashion and makeup practices for this period.
Homemade remedies and secret makeup: Compacts and Cosmetics, beauty from the victorian times to the present day, Madeleine Marsh;
a video on youtube called, makeup history; victorian era to the 1930's, also mentions the book on the information
During the Victorian era, staying pale and youthful was desired by many women, and homemade recipes and remedies were created to obtain this look. One remedy for whitening and preserving the skin was recommended by the toilet heath (1834); a concoction of bitter almonds, oxymurite of quicksilver and sal ammoniac to remove suntan. It was suggested to use distilled juice from green pineapples to remove wrinkles and pimpernel water to blanch the complexion. Women plundered the garden for herbs and flowers for their faces, Parisian women bound their faces in raw meat to use as a moisturiser and Spanish women squeezed orange juice in their eyes to make them sparkle. Nowadays we have similar ways in making ourselves sparkle, many products such as eye drops are available to brighten the eyes and make them sparkle.
People who had the desire to look pale could use a product that is made up of cold creams; these products would be used to hide sunburn, freckles, remove spots and to overall blanch the skin. This method seems to be one that wouldn't harm the skin to the same extent as other recommended remedies. Below is a selection of images that show a number of ads for soaps and Vaseline's, most of which are very different to the ads that we would see today.
Bleaching products came from the want to look like royalty, being fair was something has pleased the higher classes for years before this time. It was desired because it made the individual look as if they never need to go out, the lack of a tan would mean the person didn't work outside, unlike the poorer society. Many women would go out wearing an armer almost to protect themselves from the sun.
Watching the film of Dorian Grey helped me to understand better the dress sense and style that was around during the Victorian era. The men would wear very elaborate suits and sometimes hats. The suits would be made up of shirt, bow tie, waistcoat, trousers and blazer, this would be worn by a gentleman in a high class. Although men didn't go to the extent that women did to preserved their beauty, they still used some of the cosmetics previously mentioned to look a certain way, and fit in with the social class.
Cosmetics referred to anything applied to the skin of a medical nature, and products were pastes, powders and paints, used to alter appearance. People with acne or smallpox scars, or similar disfigurements, often wore pastes to smooth their complexions. All of these products were purchased at local pharmacist shops and through doctors or, for the very wealthy, ordered from dealers abroad. There were also the home-made versions, that even the poor where known to use.
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