8 Outfit Changes a Day!

I used to think I was crazy when I would change my outfit three times of day, when I went to work, when I was working out, and clothes to wear after I was done working out. After reading Fashioning the Bourgeoisie: A History of Clothing in the Nineteenth Century by Philippe Perrot I am enlightened to know that changing my outfit three times a day is nothing compared to the amount of times women in the nineteenth changed their outfits. These women of “high society” changed their outfits anywhere from seven to eight times a day. They changed them depending on the time of the day. Outfits differed from breakfast to walks to lunch to shopping to dinners and so on. There was an outfit for every occasion. These is really fascinating considering that in our costume collection that will be exhibited at Drexel University we will have on display many of these types of outfits that women changed into throughout the day.

Another thing that caught my interest that is discussed in Perrot’s book along with the article “Dress” in the Oxford Art Library is the garments that were made in order to shape a person’s body, especially women. Going back to all of those women who changed their outfits numerous times a day there was a process to all of this madness of dressing and looking the way they did. Before they put on the outer garments they put on garments underneath, garments that shaped their body to what was in style at that time. In my opinion the most outrageous garment was the corset. The corset shapes the mid section of the body changing throughout the years. Although it might have made the woman look beautiful and elegant it wasn’t always that safe. It could and in fact did damage the bodies of young girls and women. There will be a corset on display in the costume collection at Drexel University.

When analyzing the wedding dress that I am researching I can only imagine that the bride was very petite considering that an article I have on the dress describes it being a size 5. Could it be that the bride was actually a size 7 or 8 but was squeezed into a corset? Absolutely, considering this dress was worn in 1856 and corsets were worn more often than not during that time.