My granny was an adult lady of means at the turn of the century. She and grandad lived with us. I was born in 1955. I remember she still wore her corsets into the 1960s and grandad would lace her up every morning. She said her corsets were whale bone. She grew up wealthy but was later disowned because she eloped with a man beneath her station so she mended her 2 original corsets. Fascinating. Her hair was below her knees and grandad brushed it and helped her braid it every day too. They were very poor but happiest marriage I ever witnessed.

@almostclintnewton8478

3 жыл бұрын

That's the sweetest story I've read in a while 🥺

@11thShadowDragon

3 жыл бұрын

That's just a goals relationship right there, and frankly a historical treasure.

@marymoore3585

2 жыл бұрын

That's what marriage should be

@spicypicklejuice1655

2 жыл бұрын

I love this so muchhhh

@haselnusszweig5533

2 жыл бұрын

This is such a sweet story and I love that the husband was so involved in her morning routine ! If you want to please share more details about her lifestyle or habits , it’s like a time travel :)

It is so great to see actual clothing that the working class would wear.

Finally, ive long been wanting to see the dressing of a service woman

@eliz_scubavn

4 жыл бұрын

If you can get the chance, look up English Heritage’s KZread channel. They’ve done some videos on the lives of the servants of Audley End House (a stately home) and how they dressed, including a whole video talking about the outfit of head cook Ms Crocombe. It’s really interesting.

@Lady_dromeda

4 жыл бұрын

Elizabeth Gould I absolutely love the English Heritage channel! Ive been watching the Victorian way for a while actually

@eliz_scubavn

4 жыл бұрын

Andy Dawn you have good tastes. :)

@Lady_dromeda

4 жыл бұрын

Elizabeth Gould why thank you

Working at the Renaissance Festival, on one's feet all day, a corset really makes a difference. Those of us who wore corsets found we were less tired at the end of the day. It is hard to slouch. It gives back support and keeps the torso aligned. Wearing the hair pinned up and covered keeps it clean. In the shop where I worked, women could wear a baggy shirt, vest and a type of trousers but I found that a shift, corset and over-skirt was more comfortable, especially when having to use the privy. I am hoping to make more authentic Tudor stays and a jacket to go over them.

My Grandma used to twist pennies into her stocking tops to hold them up. She never used suspenders and used to be a maid in a big house. My Grandpa was the stable groom. They fell in love, get married and lived in a tie cottage on the farm until they died. I wish I had a corset like hers.

I really like to see what the common people wore. I think most of us think of ourselves being a lord or lady or upper class person if we were living in the past, but the reality is that the vast majority of us would have been working class. It feels much more relatable to see the working class people, somehow, though I still really enjoy seeing the higher class dress as well.

@d0lph1n63

4 жыл бұрын

Merindy Morgenson you forgot that some would’ve been be those even lower who were unable to find work as a servant impossible such as the infirm and the elderly where they were forced to work and possibly stay in the workhouses for their entire lives unable to find regular work cause it was all heavy manual labor.

'this dress is very cheap and plain' - still far smarter put together and well made than 90% of clothing worn nowadays by any class!

@caislinahern2903

4 жыл бұрын

Certainly, I agree! Quality has fallen far unfortunately.

@TheCuriousFinch

4 жыл бұрын

I wish clothing was valued as much now as it was back then. Fast fashion is a step backwards

@Charlie.1066

4 жыл бұрын

Couldn't have said it better myself!

@cherrylee1103

4 жыл бұрын

my thoughts exactly.

@d0lph1n63

4 жыл бұрын

but you wouldn’t be able to wear your favorite swimsuit to the beach cause they were made of wool!

I'm a very untidy person - I have never been a 'good housewife'! So when, many years ago, I was diagnosed with 'Housemaid's Knee' my mother laughed so much that she had to sit down! Thank you for another interesting and informative video! Stay safe and well.

To speak about Nursing--I went into this training at 16 after High School. We were the 2nd class allowed to wear lipstick. Our uniform was plain blue cotton. If we passed our first 6 months, we received a cap and an apron. Only Nurses could wear white stockings and our cap had 1,2 or 3 stripes on it to signify our standing. Prayers were required before breakfast and duty. We were only allowed a short time at home--this was 1962. I graduated in 1965, passed all my exams and married the man I loved. WE had 3 children, 2 girls, 1 boy, and I am now a Grandmother of 1 girl and 3 boys...and I hate to even wear a bra!

@edakanari684

3 жыл бұрын

Have you watched the Crow's eye production version of of the nurse in WWI you might find it fascinating being an old school nurse

Thank you so much for using quieter music at a lower volume level. It was great to catch every word about a topic I've wanted to learn about for a while. Nice to know even your cat has formal wear!

17:00 Sleeve protectors are also used by secretaries/accountants who have to use ink a lot.

I'd have to be up by 3AM in order to get all those layers, hooks, ties and buttons taken care of in time to have the house in order before my employers woke. My grandmother was in service in the United States, beginning at age 14 in 1908. I presume she began at the lowest rungs (chamber/scullery maid), but by the time I was born, she was a housekeeper, and retired comfortably when I was about 12. She encouraged her children and grandchildren to get their educations; always regretting that due to economic circumstances at the turn of the century, she was only able to complete the third grade.

WHY am I expecting, an appearance of Mrs. Crocombe, every minute???

@zofia1992

3 жыл бұрын

IKRRR

Can we appreciate how well she's dressing up and giving us such wonderful information of a bygone era? Love this video

Thank you so much for this video. All four of my great grandmothers worked in the 1880s before they got married. Two were house maids. The third was a maid in a hotel. The fourth worked in a tailor shop. You have helped me visualize more clearly how they dressed. I appreciate knowing more about what their everyday lives were probably like. Thanks again, Gloria 🐂

That was really intesting, could you make more of these relating to the average woman. I loved that corset it actually looked really comfortable to be honest.

My grandpa was born 1887 in England and he and his parents had 2 to 4 maids when I checked on the census. So I can see my grandpa's maid dressed like that.

interesting as always. I like that you show the working class and middle class clothes, not just the "ladies".

One day I will make a corset. I love the way you give little bits of history as your dressing.

@talosheeg

4 жыл бұрын

If you do and are in the US, Richard the Thread is wonderful for coutil! I've been lucky, the owner taught me the proper way to make a corset after seeing my terrible attempt, so she let me work for free and gave me materials! She is definitely worth taking a look at.

@pauladavitt7554

4 жыл бұрын

Talar Sews Stuff I’m in Edinburgh in Scotland, but the owner sounds wonderful.

@AlexaFaie

4 жыл бұрын

@@pauladavitt7554 Then Vena Cava Design or Sew Curvy would be your best bets for corsetry supplies.

My grandma, grown up in the beginning in 20th century told, that here mother was very proud that her apron never get dirty even when she was cooking or cleaning. On the foto of my grandgrandma the gown was very similar. To be clean and tidy was very importand. Especially when you were poor.

When I see your "plain" undergarments, I am reminded of the load of old clothes I took from my grandmother's armoire. Simple white chemises, shirts, culottes, all handmade and exquisitely hand embroidered, with hand-made lace and pleats. She was a peasant's daughter but was placed in service as a laundry maid at the local castle when she was 12, and learned to sew and embroider. She told me how heavy the loads of wet linen sheets were, when she was taking them back after washing them in the brook. That wheelbarrow of wet linen was heavier than her, she was a slim slip of a girl. She always said that the greatest invention of the 20th century was the washing machine ! I have to admit though that I plan to cut up most of these garments and save the beautiful lace to use it on other clothes. Although I have kept 2 simple chemises that look quite exactly like the one you wear, dyed them and wear them as nightgowns in the summer.

@angiefranks7847

3 жыл бұрын

It may a shame to cut them up. part.of her story...I enjoyed hearing it. I wish I haf.my grandmothers or great grandmothers clothes to look at with a story.

@sylviecharlois1165

3 жыл бұрын

@@angiefranks7847 I know, I feel slightly guilty about cutting these, but apart from the chemises, they are not really wearable, and I like the idea of incorporating the beautiful laces and pleats in newer garments. Also, there are a number of old bedsheets in what I took, also hand embroidered, and some are even very old hand-woven linen sheets ! Impossibly stiff and scratchy, even after years of repeated washings ! But the embroidery is beautiful. I even used parts of the old culottes, made from a fine cotton, to line masks. My sister said "see, Grandma is still protecting us". I like that idea. The beautiful lace parts given a new life, the fine cotton protecting us from that dreaded virus. I think my thrifty grandmother would have approved.

@katherinemorelle7115

3 жыл бұрын

@@sylviecharlois1165 that’s definitely what women of her time would have done- repurposed whatever they could, however they could. And I think as long as you’re keeping the articles that are in one piece, that’s good enough. We can’t always afford to keep everything as an homage to the past. I’d keep over-clothes, and whatever undergarments are still in pretty good knick. But there’s no need to let all that beautiful embroidery and lace go to waste. I recently repurposed two rather old cotton bedsheets that belonged to my great-grandmother, and I’m almost finished making them into a mashup 18thC banyan, and 1860s wrapper gown. The bedsheets were lovely floral, fine cotton, perfect for summer. But far too small to use as bedsheets on any of our beds. So, they got repurposed. Much cheaper (and better for the environment) than buying new cotton yardage. It’s a pity I don’t have much else of hers- not that any of it would fit, she was a teeny tiny thing, not quite 4 foot 10, and very, very slim, even as an elderly lady. I’m half a foot taller and very curvy. Still, it would have been lovely. As was the fact that until a few years ago, we had 5 living generations of women in my family. Just, so much history! My nana passed first, at 75, and then my grandnana passed just over a year later, the day before her 99th birthday. And as my daughter was 10 when my nana passed, we did manage to get plenty of lovely pictures of all five of us.

@katherinemorelle7115

3 жыл бұрын

I now also recall my grandnana complaining that modern clothes didn’t run small enough these days! That she was very lucky her daughter was a seamstress, or she’d have to buy all her clothing from the children’s section, and how unbecoming that would be! 😂 And having seen how small she was... she would have fit into the same clothing as a 10 year old child. Even the XS (what in the US would be size 0) clothing was too big for her. So if she really liked something, she’d buy the smallest they had, and my nana would tailor it to fit her. Not that she bought much, she already had a full closet, and having grown up during The Great Depression, she was rather sensible with money.

@sylviecharlois1165

3 жыл бұрын

@@katherinemorelle7115 when I sorted through what I had taken, I found a wonderful white duvet cover with beautiful ruffled edges. I briefly toyed with the idea of cutting it, but it was simply too beautiful. I am going to keep it, possibly use it as an extra cover, with a blanket in it. I'll probably have to custom-make one for it, it's not a standard size. Maybe I'll dye it though.

I know it’s a different time period but I liked how they showed the servants getting gifts of things like cloth to make new work clothes on Downton Abbey. Being gifted something so practical was fairly common. Of course they still had to take that cloth and make the clothing themselves in their very limited free time. But at least something was given to servants to ease the burden (sometimes).

my eyebrows zooming up when i saw that flash of leg as she jumped the fence ... my word, madam!!!

Watching you put on your sleeve protectors at the end, and remembering our science and cooking teachers at school wearing the same items. White cotton for cooking and a plastic coated cotton for the science mistresses. I hadn't thought of them for decades. Not just a great video but memories of schooldays from forty years ago. Thank you.

@lilyanne1962

4 жыл бұрын

If you happened to be around nuns a lot back in the day, it was also pretty common for them to wear them, either working in the kitchen/garden, or in school as science/home ec teachers. The movie "The Trouble With Angels" actually has a scene wear the Mother Superior is working in the kitchen when the students come back, and she takes off her sleeves before she goes to greet them.

Here I am living my boring life in Toledo, Ohio. In the midst of a pandemic and this little bit of living history just makes my day! Much appreciated! Plus you’ve researched so much content, I’ve never thought of,.... like how being a skilled dressmaker would be a great asset just thought the lady of the manor purchased those things from outside.

I really like this style of video, where it's more of a conversation instead of just a voice over 💙

I love this so much. Not everyone is royalty. I actually love these more!!

I like it when Merlin makes an appearance :)

@midnightgalaxy3793

3 жыл бұрын

Timestamp?

I'm learn so much from your videos. I usually heard about RICH NOBLE LADIES but not normal people like myself. love the outfit!!!!!

Please do more videos like this! It was super interesting to listen to you talk while getting dressed, a great way to inform and spread a small but lovely part of history

You look like what a Victorian author would describe as a "neat, presentable maid." Well done!

My mum's side of the family were from the Isle of Skye and many from my great grandmother's and earlier generations went into service for families. I can imagine them wearing this kind of dress.

I seem to recall from period dramas that female servants were given fabric as a Christmas present from their employers. Was this a common practice, or was it more common for female servants to buy their own fabric?

@Wenchpie

4 жыл бұрын

There is a book called Below Stairs by Margaret Powell that is an autobiography of her life as a maid in the late 1920s and early 1930s in London. She relates how she was given cloth to make clothes with as a gift at Christmas time, so yes this did happen. If you get a chance, read the book. Fascinating glimpse into a bygone era.

I love fashion history. I enjoy watching how fashion changes over time... 20, 30 years from now we're going to be looking at ourselves in pics and be like 'What made me think this was a good look?' LOL Great video as usual!

I love your videos! They're so fun! I'm a 12 year old girl, so of course, I can't find many old fashioned clothes that fit me, but from watching your videos, I was able to find ways to make my dresses. I also like to study Victorian and Edwardian fashion, so these videos help a great deal.

I love the longer videos and your speaking/explaining things!

I find myself more interested in working class clothing, and today is my birthday... what a lovely accidental gift!

@kanashiiookami6537

4 жыл бұрын

Happy birthday, from a stranger. I hope you have a good one. ❤😊

I love the historical contextual information you alter providing as you are putting on each garment. It would be so cool if you did a video about mourning attire and talked about the different facets like half mourning and the jewelry and the like!

I work in a hotel originally built in 1888, im wanting to do my hair more for that time period, and for Halloween dressing as a maid would have at that time, thank you so much!

@EXO-L45

2 жыл бұрын

I've seen lots of women's photos in the 1880s sporting simple high buns and bangs (curly or straight).

Beautiful clothes. The 1880s and early 1890s is one of my favorite periods in fashion history and I'd love to get to try wearing some reproduction clothes sometime. Thank you for all the wonderful background information about life as a maid as well! This was a lovely and informative video!

The clothing layers are fascinating. While the Shift absorbs most of the perspiration and can be washed often, it seems that the other garments would also absorb body odors after continuous wear. Where I worked in Germany we once had a cleaning lady from East Germany who, although careful to bathe herself, smelled so terribly that when she came in to empty waste baskets and do the light daily cleaning, we all said a polite good morning and left the room. Finally our supervisor spoke to the cleaning company and this poor lady was removed. She was in late middle age and we felt terrible. It seems that although she bathed regularly her dress was only hung to air to make it last as long as possible. This reflected the lack of merchandise available in rural East Germany. My question is how did they remove body odor from all but the shift?

@kooki85

4 жыл бұрын

Garments were washed, just not as often as we do now. They could also be hung out on the line to air them which helps as the sun can kill some of the bacteria that causes smells.

The number of servants for a duke would include lots of gardeners and stable hands too, which dont really apply for a regular household without horses and carriages and gardens to worry about. In addition the richer you are the more "useless stuff" you have in your household to be dusted. I wonder how many people these 320 servants actually served ... because there will be a whole family to care and supply and usually guests.

Anyone else always loved the peasanty or maid clothes from history??

The overskirt swag is so beautiful! This is my favorite style of skirt, of all time! The little bit of bustle was perfect. I would love to wear a skirt like this!

I have been enjoying your "dress ups" for years now and I love how you always give so much information about the garments and the people who would have worn them! I must say, however, that perhaps Merlin needs his own dedicated reel? (Please?)

Thanks for flagging up that "corset" is not a synonym for "agony"..

I love seeing how working class women lived and dressed. So much of what we of Victorian clothes and lives is of a really narrow view of the well to do, even though they were a relatively small % of society. I'd love to see more on how the lower and lower middle classes dressed.

@almostclintnewton8478

3 жыл бұрын

Right? It's like someone from 2200 wondering how the average person in 2020 would have dressed but the only pictures they had were from the red carpet at the Oscars 😒

I wonder if corsets will be fashionable again someday. At 5:48 when she adjust it you can clearly see how it changes the silhouette instantly. It looks fantastic. Also I loved to confirm how historically accurate Emma, the "maid for all work", from "Emma Victorian Romance" dressed. These kind of videos make excellent reference for artists. Subscribed!

@sparkybolt2085

4 жыл бұрын

That's one of my favorite anime/manga. The amount of detail and care of the historical setting are just amazing.

@marshaandini4691

4 жыл бұрын

Ah Emma!! Thanks to that manga, I found myself doing some research on victorian maids. I was surprised how accurate the representation of corset (corset worn after chemise, not on naked skin) and very rarely display tightlacing.

@lyndafeustel4861

4 жыл бұрын

Omg I love the manga so much!!!

@marlonbryanmunoznunez3179

4 жыл бұрын

@@sparkybolt2085 I also love that manga. I read it and watch the anime at least once a year. It also got me interested in the cultural and artistic life of the Victorian and Edwardian eras and historical fashion in general 😊👍 Edit: Btw have you read Shirley Madison? Is the other manga by Kaoru Mori about maids. Little vignettes about different servants, but also follows a central story about a street child, Shirley Madison, that becomes the maid of a well to do Lady, owner of a Cafe.

@marshaandini4691

4 жыл бұрын

@@marlonbryanmunoznunez3179 I read shirley first before discover Emma. Shirley was so cute but I'm curious if the victorians really hire young maids? It such waste that this manga stopped publish in my country. Oh and Shirley is not a street child. She works for a short time in a mansion, that's why she can be a maid-of-all-works in such young age.

I've read that maids had morning dresses that were patterned or solid colors (in inexpensive cottons), and only changed into black in the afternoons. Was this only for very rich households that could afford 2nd wardrobes for their staffs? Or later than the 1880s, as industrialization continued to make clothes cheaper? Or only for specialized roles such as parlormaids, who opened the front door and waited on guests, rather than the women who stayed "backstage," doing heavy cleaning work?

I always love seeing clothes that aren't just high fashion :)

I love how you put in sonethung about the life of the person wearing the clothes! It gives you a better understanding about why they were worn and why they were like they were 👍

4:10 "great BACK support" ... which many women nowadays who experience back pains should try as a remedy for it. I only look at it from the perspective of an engineer and it serves the same purpose as the big leather belts which weightlifters have in sports competitions ... to use the belly muscles to support the back muscles by redirecting the force into "something stable".

Thank you for putting so much time and effort into your videos. You make history fun to learn about. It used to be a subject I loathed in grade school, dry, dusty, full of dates and names.... but not real, every day people. :)

This channel is definitely informative. I am a bit of a history buff. The food, clothing and other aspects of the cultures you portray make this content what it is. Keep doing what you're doing.👍☕🍵

her work boots are better than my ones

Who else wants to see Izabela and Kathy Hipperson (Mrs. Crocombe) do a collab? ;-D

@priorattire

4 жыл бұрын

Kathy is modelling for my next book...

@astrinymris9953

4 жыл бұрын

@@priorattire Yay!! That should be great. ;-D

I always look forward to your videos and learning about the clothing and the day to day life of the people who wore it.

Thank you for posting this, I always see videos of people getting dressed up by maid and I always wondered what did the maids wear

So nice. I love both outfits

I am SO happy you posted this! I am making a dollhouse, and I am trying to get everything in it historically accurate to the 1880's. I am planning on the family having at least one female servant, and any information I can learn about what her things would be like, the better. I read in my research that a maid who was the only one in the house "was to be pitied" and since then i've been debating on whether to squeeze another bed into the servant's quarters (its already quite cramped). You have convinced me- the poor woman would be responsible for a whole lot and to split the work would make much more sense!

I really appreciate all of the additional context that you provided with this dress up. Thank you so much for putting it together for us. You look really sharp. A credit to the household.

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I live in a small rural town and know that the settlers here would have had access to the fashion magazines but not necessarily the means to buy the high fashions. I am always trying to find information on what the normal (not upper class) woman wore, so I can portray the settlers appropriately during events.

Great! Even at THAT time they knew women need pockets too, but nowadays you can hardly find any women pants or skirts with actual functional pockets. ☹️

@ElfriedeRose

3 жыл бұрын

pockets went away because it began interfering with the shape of the dress. since pockets used to be a seperate piece of clothing worn under the dress, as skirts got tighter pockets started looking like ugly lumps so dress makers stoped providing access to the pockets in the clothes they made for women. in protest women would wear their pockets over their dress. today it's stuck around because it's kinda expected that women will have a bag or purse to carry their things around.

@TeylaDex

3 жыл бұрын

pockets went away because of tight fit clothing AND handbags...

@lougraves

3 жыл бұрын

Pockets were taken out to sell handbags

I find it funny that you have to “adjust the assets” and do it so professionally yet funny

"The taler a man would be, the better his pay would be." Not even amongst genders were there much in the way of equality back then. I think it safe to say that our modern-day population don't understand that this was the way societies looked not all that long ago... in fact, this was very much still in effect around the time of The Great War and that a heck of a lot of changes for women in particular came about explicitly because of events taking place during The Great War.

@candicefrost4561

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah some laws and rules were often ridiculous or even just cruel. Things only get better when people work to change it and “make a fuss” lol. Now that would be illegal!

I really like hearing your voice when you give the explanations with a lot of interesting details (also, it makes it easier to watch while sewing than the text). It's absolutely great to learn about normal people's life and outfits (like a lot of people, I love the frillies of rich people's outfit, but they don't reflect the majority). There were a few times when the music was slightly too loud and one or two words were difficult to hear, but overall it is a nice new format.

I’m only 1/3 through the video and I’ve already learned so much! THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!

I really like working class clothing in the Victorian and Edwardian and 1910s eras. They were simple yet very cute and functional! ❤ weather or not I am wearing a wealthy 1st class, middle class, or working class dress, I feel very happy in it. That’s how much I looove those eras of fashion! ❤

I love all the extra background information! So interesting to learn.

I'm more interested in the working class than the Royals

I really enjoyed how much information you gave in this video. I was wondering in regards to the corsets, would most women only own one at a time and how long would a corset last before needing to be replaced?

I really love hearing the history relating to the beautiful clothing. I have a photo of my great-grandmother in a costume similar to the one you are wearing at the end of this video. I have always loved costuming, and your designs are beautiful! Truly lovely! Thank you so much!

I can not imagine being trapped under all those layers. And to work all day like that!

@louiselill1528

4 жыл бұрын

I was thinking the same thing I hate being too hot

@TeylaDex

3 жыл бұрын

natural farbics, woven. completely different experience than modernday fabrics and clothing. also it was actually colder back then. england had an especially nasty cold period from the late middle ages into nearly victorian times. but yeah, different fabrics mostly, and most important of all, natural.

Nice to know that as a seamstress and dressmaker I would be in demand

would the maids be young, or would you find maids that are sort of in their 50s? what happened if servants wanted to get married? were there married maids/footmen or did they have to exit the service? what happened to the elderly?

@Charlie.1066

4 жыл бұрын

many maids would start off at 13ish as a scullery maid or maid of all work but it was quite common for the house keeper or cook to be in her 50s or older. i don't have reliable information about marital situations however i believe that many women who got married left the serves as thay no longer needed a job and wished to start a family but on the other hand we have accounts of married women working as cooks or housekeepers (often married to the butler ) and of quite elderly domestic servants .

@healinggrounds19

4 жыл бұрын

Usually when a woman got married, she left the house workforce. She was expected to have children and take care of her own household. There are many "rules" you can find online for maids, school teachers and other female servants informing them once they married, their employment ended. I found these rules to be so backwards in thinking.

Love both dresses, the music, the book recommendations, and the history lesson! And Merlin's guest role too. :)

For my day job I am a teacher. Watching / seeing you put on the long skirt reminds me so much of my gr-grandmother whom I knew very well. However, seeing you manipulate all the buttons, fastners, stays (used in the generic sense as a 'closure'), and strings and ties also is a poignant reminder of what we've lost over the years. Due to the simplicity, comfort, ergonomics, and elimination of clothing and other domestic elements many young people today are bereft of the basic ability to manipulate objects via fine motor control skills. As educators we are seeing children and teenagers who can barely write, can't hold a pen or pencil, refuse the use of buttons or lacing and prefer instead close-over, straps carabiners, or velcro. It's really quite sad. Believe it or not in the last 8-10 yrs especially there has been a spike in instances of children as old as 10 and 11 having to be referred to outside, occupational and dexterity therapy. Scary isn't it. We're fostering a legion of kids who have difficulty bending their fingers or simply turning their wrists. You keep doing what you're doing and I'll keep close to my heart the memory of my gr-grandmother whom, I can envision in your many, many historical clothing 'lessons'. Thank You and God Bless.

@poisonmantis4191

3 жыл бұрын

what 10 year old cant hold a pencil? are you talking about kids w cognitive disabilities??? kids getting sent to dexterity therapy are almost entirely kids with disabilities, a lack of buttons isn't causing kids to not be able to hold a pencil. i think you're just seeing more kids w disabilities be accepted into society. you know. the thing that should happen?

Lovely. Lovely. So, maids would dress in the dark or candlelight before the house did. And have no looking glass? Wow

Oml working class yasss 💖💖

So, even poor women of the time wore chemises, drawers, corsets, stockings, and petticoats? As usual, beautiful presentation of the outfits.

It's so interesting that you can do almost everything wearing bustle pad, I was wearing the Edwardian style one for my sister's wedding with skirt from Keystone Guide and I couldn't feel it at all. I think this outfit is beautiful in its simplicity. I would love to see Edwardian maid and her work gown and the fancier one.

Oh, to be a woman of modest means, walking through a field to visit my family on my day off.

seeing more examples of how common people dressed would be very interesting!

What a time for woman - but gosh they were beautiful!

I was wondering if you could do a lady teacher outfit. I have always wonder since I have seen a lot of movies with teachers.

@priorattire

4 жыл бұрын

Same stuff just no apron!

@amandamcauley4019

3 жыл бұрын

@@priorattire oh that makes sense.

I was looking at the 1901 Irish census and discovered that my great grandparents had a servant living in their household. Although I suspect she was more to help out on the dairy farm they had!

This is the history of almost all my family, until post-primary education became free in the 1940s and allowed people to qualify for professional jobs. Thank you for sharing so much illuminating information.

Thank you for making this video, it was really informative. I'm from a working class background myself and if I was a woman in Victorian times I would rather wear working/middle class clothes as they were more functional and comfortable than the frilly, flouncy upper class clothes that made women look like walking ornaments. The little details of lace on the garments adds to the charm and you don't need loads of luxurious fabrics and intricate detailing to be feminine. It must have been hard being a servant at that time as they were often treated badly by their employers. Serving lazy, aristocrats who had contempt for you wouldn't be my career choice as I think working in the factories had better camaraderie than the snobbishness servants had to put up with from bad employers.

@lepolhart3242

4 жыл бұрын

@Riva Mikhlin True factory workers were still treated harshly as all working class jobs were hard but I think I would have preferred working with a large group of people who is could get on with rather than have the backstabbing snobbery that servants put up with. No matter what jobs working class people had they were long hours and little pay. Maybe working on a farm in the fresh air was preferable as well as at least you didn't have to serve people who looked down at you constantly.

@YT4Me57

4 жыл бұрын

Read up on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. It illustrated the poor treatment of factory workers in the United States, and the tragic loss of life of young girls and women lead to laws to protect workers from exploitation and injury.

@YT4Me57

4 жыл бұрын

@@lepolhart3242 Farm work was no charm either. Many of the youth in service at the time came from the countryside. There was famine, and many farmers didn't own their own land. They were tenant farmers and at the end of the growing season, had little or nothing left with which to feed their families. There was harsh punishment for reserving extra or hunting/fishing on the land (called poaching).

@lepolhart3242

4 жыл бұрын

@@YT4Me57 that is true but it also depends on the time period as the aristocrats and landowners some of which were evil put these laws into place as they didn't give a damn about the working classes. I've seen places in the Scottish Highlands that are called the Highland Clearances where landowners wanted the land that croft farmers were on so they cleared them out so they could take the land. These farmers either moved to costal areas and became involved with fishing or they emigrated to America, Canada etc. This took place from about 1750 to 1860. It's disgusting but it happened and not much different to what happens today in some parts of the world. As far as I know this didn't happen too much in the late 19th century (if you have different information let me know). The Victorians weren't stupid and the upper classes constantly reminded the country bumpkins how privileged it was to come and work for them to escape their poverty. They were told lies that they would have good accommodation, good food and good working conditions. However a lot of servants had poor accommodation worked from 5am to 10pm even sometimes midnight and had to provide their own uniforms if they were female. They were sacked instantly if they had a boyfriend or disobeyed any of the stupid rules , it was about control and power. This is all spoken about in the numerous books written about servants and servant diaries. It was no easier than other jobs. All of them were hard. I always think that if working as a servant was so good then why did a million servants in UK leave service from the first world war onwards . They went to work in the factories, new jobs that were opening up due to new technology, changing politics etc. Some set up their own businesses as well. Downtown Abbey is so romanticised and saccharine that I get toothache just watching it! Lol The reality was the opposite of how it's portrayed in period dramas. There were some good employers but no matter how benevolent your employer was the work was back breaking as detailed by many historians. Even Mrs Hughes the housekeeper in DA wonders in one episode in the first series whether she done the right thing staying in service.

@lepolhart3242

4 жыл бұрын

Can I ask have the people who replied to this post American as I'm speaking about the treatment of servants in the UK (Britain) not America. I can't really say what the treatment of servants was like in other countries such as America as my research has mainly been done about British servants. I hope servants were treated better in America than in the UK.

Well I’ll definitely looking into those books, most of my family were in service and agricultural labourers so I’ll have have another look at the photos that exist. I have a lot of photos of my dad’s grandmother and her sister around 1910 and a little earlier. I can tell from some of the photos that their mother kept the more Victorian silhouette even up to the early 20s. I must say that I’m learning a lot from your videos.

Thanks for a great presentation. My maternal grandmother was born in 1877. She was a dressmaker in northern Ohio. In early January of 1900 her new husband bought her, as a wedding present, a treadle sewing machine. I do not know how she sewed before that. Do you know if a working class women in England and Ohio would have been wearing the same types of clothing? It seems to me that they must have. I really enjoy the videos you and your husband put together. Virginia Denney in northern Ohio

@SeerWalker

4 жыл бұрын

that time period is rather out of my realm of knowledge but by this point in time i would imagine so, the usa was well entrenched in fashion by that point. i know little of northern american history or geography but depending on how rural an area was and its access to the latest information and goods as well as ones ability to purchase/make new clothing or update old clothing would probably be more of a restriction. and as for the sewing machine, she may well have shared with a family member beforehand or some such but remember that the sewing machine only came into popular use in the 19th century, dressmaking without one is absolutely possible, just perhaps a bit slower ;)

@thetillerwiller4696

4 жыл бұрын

Play Me she just probably sewed by hand, also I think the working class clothing would have been similar, I’m not exactly sure though.

It's a fictional story but I'd like to recommend "Alias Grace" both the book and show. It's about an Irish immigrant working as a maid in Canada spanning 1840s to 1880s. When she is charged with murder and works with a psychologist to retrace her steps as she claims she can't remember the crime.

This was delightful and very informative well beyond the dressing-up and outfit details. Thank you! I think these videos make excellent educational material for high-school students, too, for all the social and cultural issues they bring up given the 'acceptable norms' of the time and the realities they propagated. Interestingly, about the sleeve guards, in my family we make something similar for toddlers ... which we pull onto their clothing during meals. Some of the 'extra coverage' ones include the front of the body (and tie in the nape of the neck like a hospital gown ...) so allow for messes without whole outfit changes. :) Same principle as those sleeves that protected maids' outfits, nurses' outfits', and clerks' outfits ...

Interesting! I work in hotel service in the restaurant, and from time to time we're required to assist the kitchen with plating up certain dishes and when we do we're always required to wear steam protectors! Great videos btw!

It's fun to watch your video style change a bit but keep the same heart and attention to detail. Excellent work as always!

It's so nice to finally hear your voice, your narration is lovely!

I love the outfits

THE SKIRT HAS POCKETS-

@charaznable2859

3 жыл бұрын

Innovative and smart

@averytiredaunt4708

3 жыл бұрын

In those times, pockets were a MUST. Pretty much (if not all) dresses ALWAYS had pockets. You don't see them usually because they were hidden in the seems or so.

In some Asian countries, it’s still pretty common to see women and children wear sleeve protectors.

@joshbrescia4139

3 жыл бұрын

Which country I'm from Asia

@brandyc6032

3 жыл бұрын

Josh Bernal I lived in China, that’s where I mainly saw it.

@Ashley-vs8nu

3 жыл бұрын

Yep. You can often see them in Chinese supermarkets as well.

@codename495

3 жыл бұрын

I saw them all over Japan also, only on the women though. If they didn’t have arm protectors to guard their ghostly anemic pale arms from the sun I saw many young women and girls wearing backwards cardigans.

it's very elegant even as a working girls costume

@katherinemorelle7115

4 жыл бұрын

Quick correction- working *woman*. Working girl has a very specific connotation for a very specific job. That is, a female sex worker. They’re referred to (even today) as “working girls”.

@nancyvolker3342

4 жыл бұрын

@@katherinemorelle7115 Opps! not very proper

Always love how much I learn watching your videos! Very interesting to hear more about the life and clothing needs of domestic staff this time around. I wonder if at some point you might make a video going over the progression and designs of undergarments? I'd love to hear about the evolution from kirtles to stays/bodies to corsets, and some of the different styles within each of those garment types.