[C19fan]

The clothes are gorgeous and this is just the clothes women wore to just go about town in. What a treat it would be to walk around London during this time and appreciate the pretty ladies in their finery. Probably the men would take notice that it became socially acceptable for women to show their ankles, va va voom hee hee. Before that time ankle showing was a sign you were a fallen women.

[libertarian27]

I see that some of them were captured walking while reading a book....not too far off from today with people walking and using their smart phones.

I watched an old ‘reality’ program from the UK (1999) over the weekend “The 1900 House”...one of the big problems back then were the restrictive, body altering corsets.

[ClearCase_guy]

Very nice.

I do find it a little odd that some of the outfits are described as "black". How can one tell?

[fieldmarshaldj]

We all look like slobs today. They’d be horrified at us a century hence.

[deoetdoctrinae]

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[cuban leaf]

I’m also reminded that those pictures were taken before the invention of the bra.

Also, maybe it was just the photographer’s taste, but I didn’t see any women that could remotely be called “fat”.

[bgill]

All I can think is how hot wearing all the fluff would be. Sewing it all and ironing it would be a nightmare.

[Mercat]

I don’t understand the waistline and the baggy shirt front. The waistline goes down in front and up in back. The shirts look very unflattering to me. I usually like period clothes but am confused by those two elements. I love the shoes. The hats are sort of disturbing too.

[miss marmelstein]

This is one of my favorite periods in women’s fashion. So pretty. I love the photos of the ladies walking along reading their little books. It almost looks like they are texting.

[smokingfrog]

cool

Some of the hats are a little over the top, but I guess it was a way for women to express their individuality.

[SatinDoll]

I lived in Spain for six years. The streets were always littered with trash. I notice in these photos - NO litter on the sidewalks or the streets.

[AnAmericanMother]

One of Sambourne's cartoons:

This was Punch's annual "New Year" cartoon - lots of commentary on issues of the day.

The owl on top of the heap is Gladstone:

[MayflowerMadam]

How beautiful and classy. I shudder to think of laundry day, though. Washing and ironing those clothes would be a nightmare.

[carlo3b]

Wow, I have been a fan of Victorian, Edwardian, and Early American fashion, both Men a women, since my youth..

In my background I was indeed a Hollywood Costume Designer, in the early to mid 60's, after graduating from the Art Institute, of Chicago.. I started working for Edith Head, the legendary designer, of the most iconic classic motion pictures of the glitzy days of the silver screen..

I worked with some of the most beautiful women in our memory.. http://cookingwithchefcarlo.com/pages/bio.html

I hold the distinction of being chosen the Costume Designer for MY FAIR LADY, period piece, with my personal Hollywood heartthrob, Audrey Hepburn, for 3 hours before being discharged for being too "STRAIGHT" a male designer. It's a long story, but is still one that is not uncommon in Hollywood today.. LOL

[Madame Dufarge]

That was fun, thanks for posting it.

There's some interesting info on Edwardian fashion here, including an old movie of a boarding school girls' outing at Coney Island (about halfway down the page) in the early 1900's.

Edwardian Fashion Trends

[BenLurkin]

[ADemocratNoMore]

Bttt

[ChocChipCookie]

What a lovely era.

[Billthedrill]

Great pix, thanks for posting! The fellers are looking pretty dapper as well, and the kids are adorable. I bet I'm much more comfortable on a daily basis, though. My counterpart had a tailored wool suit, leather shoes, and a shirt whose collar was the only thing that changed for days at a time. Oh, and a weekly bath. I have cotton clothing, regular laundry, and a couple of showers a day. We smell differently.

So does the street. We have diesel exhaust, they had the ubiquitous miasma of horse poop. If you were lucky, it was only horse.

And the picture of the young lady stepping into the street preoocupied with reading could be any kid texting these days. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

[SamAdams76]

I have mixed feelings about the ways things used to be with regard to being formally dressed in public. I've got old family photographs from this period of time that show men at picnics or even at the beach in full business suits, right down to the vests and bowler hats. At the beach, the only concession is that they remove their shoes and socks and roll up their trouser legs a little bit. Sorry, but that's way too uptight for me.

Yes, many of us look like slobs today with the more casual dress codes. But it need not be. You can dress casual and still look good in public. In the summer time, I pay good money for quality collared golf shirts and Hawaiian shirts with either khaki trousers or shorts. On my feet are usually deck shoes or sandals (the men's type that just have ventilation holes and don't show the toes.

I detest seeing adults in t-shirts and sneakers. That's always a sloppy look, unless you are out running or jogging. Especially T-shirts that feature some rock band or some stupid saying on them (grow up people). As for women, they need to stay away from sweats and flip-flops, no matter how comfortable they may be. I like to see women in their summer sun dresses with decent shoes. Shorts and shirts are okay if they are playing volleyball or some other sport - otherwise they should look feminine.

The women's clothing in the article from turn of the century don't really appeal to me at all and by and large, the women don't look too happy wearing them. In fact, some of them are so mean-looking they should probably accessorize with a broom!

[Melas]

Now I know why flappers felt so liberated. I know England is climatically cool, but I imagine everyone was soaked in a layer of sweat beneath all those heavy clothes.