Keeping Up Appearances: The Etiquette of Dress in Victorian Art

Marion Bergin
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2001
BA

Subject: Painting
Country: Great Britain
Period: 19th Century

10,000 words

This dissertation explores the previously unexamined aspect of nineteenth century costume, namely it's appearance in the art of the period. By examining Victorian costume through art, the author aims to view the costume in its original, day-to-day use, with the advantage that paintings "provide us with an alternate view of fashion and...record subtle nuances of the etiquette of dress." The etiquette of Victorian dress, in particular in relation to the bourgeois of Victorian society, is explored extensively using the paintings of the painters of bourgeoisie realism such as William Powell Frith. A background history outlining the developments that led to the rise of the fashion industry in the nineteenth century is followed by chapters on Victorian etiquette, contemporary ideas in relation to pictures depicting the middle class, and costume in domestic genre scenes. By examining this one aspect of Victorian painting, the author concludes with an original insight into the art of the period.

Irish Georgian Society

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Keeping Up Appearances: The Etiquette of Dress in Victorian Art