For this week’s #FactFriday thread we will explore the changes in women’s fashion from 1860s-1910 in #KingsLynn using our studio portrait collection and discover how it can help us date photos. [KLNTY2020.121, KLNTY2020.200, KLNTY2020.237 & KLNTY2020.249] [1/20]

Victorian women’s fashion saw a variety of silhouettes. Big skirts used stiffened/structured petticoats to make the waist look smaller. By the mid-1850s hooped skirts or crinoline cages were used instead. This continued into the early 1860s [KLNTY2020.99 & KLNTY2020.101]. [2/20]

Between 1862-68 the crinoline cages, rather than being equally circular all the way round, shifted the emphasis to the back of the dress, as can be seen in KLNTY2020.130, KLNTY2020.166 & in the 1866 wedding photo of Northenders Thomas Senter & Elizabeth Bone [TY2007.6651]. [3/20]

By 1868 the crinoline cage had started to be flattened at the front, while maintaining volume in the skirts at the back. This can be clearly seen in KLNTY2020.171, which dates from 1868-70 and in KLNTY2020.174. [4/20]

In TY2007.6501 Mary Ann Bailey (nee Fisher), pictured with her husband William, is wearing a dress designed to cover a circular crinoline cage, a late 1860s style. By the 1870s this had gone out of fashion, so the cage has been removed & the skirt left unsupported. [5/20]

In the early 1870s the bustle style had become popular, which involved fabric draped over half-hoops at the back of the dress. [KLNTY2020.146 & KLNTY2020.156] [6/20]

The early 1870s also saw square necklines trimmed with ruffles or lace [KLNTY2020.181]. The waistline was also raised to a higher than natural position. [7/20]

c.1876 Alexandra, Princess of Wales made the ‘princess-line’ silhouette fashionable. Using vertical tucks & darts, rather than a horizontal waist seam. Corsets were tighter & lengthened over the hips. Short curly fringes also became popular. [KLNTY2020.202 & KLNTY2020.203] [8/20]

Throughout the early 1880s the body-hugging ‘princess-line’ dress continued to be a popular style and the bustle briefly disappeared entirely. [KLNTY2020.363 & KLNTY2020.226] [9/20]

The bustle had returned by 1884 and this time was more rigidly structured. In the mid-1880s high collars also started to become more fashionable. [KLNTY2020.238, KLNTY2020.239 & KLNTY2020.242] [10/20]

Bustles grew in size up to 1886 & started to shrink around 1888. Elaborately decorated hats also became popular in the 1880s & the demand for feathers endangered some species of birds (RSPB @Natures_Voice was founded in 1889). [KLNTY2020.382 & KLNTY2020.256] [11/20]

KLNTY2020.260 shows why you can't solely rely on clothes to date a photo. The studio mount dates it to 1890-93, but the lady is wearing a bustle, which had disappeared by 1890s. Clearly she is wearing her best clothes for the occasion, even if they are out of fashion. [12/20]

The sleeves of Miss Fayers’ dress [TY2001.5305] appear to be on the verge of becoming the leg-of-mutton style which was fashionable in the mid-1890s, so this dates her photo to around 1893/4. This also allows us to date the unknown couple in TY1996.2669 to a similar date. [13/20]

Emily Johnson [TY1993.1802] is wearing similar sleeves to the previous photos. The smartness of her outfit suggests she is up-to-date with fashion trends & it could date to 1892. The photo was taken by Walter Sothern Dexter (father of #KingsLynn artist Walter Dexter). [14/20]

Emily Johnson appears again in TY1994.1950 with her sisters, Eleanor and Elizabeth. This time they are all wearing much larger leg-of-mutton style sleeves, which dates this photograph to the mid-1890s. This style can also be see in KLNTY2020.564 [15/20]

Into the late 1890s/early 1900s corsets pushed the body into an S-shape, forcing the bust forward & hips back. Catherine Bunn (nee Blyth) is pictured in TY2007.6775 (around the time of her marriage in 1900) wearing a tailored blouse which was popular during this period. [16/20]

Erin Petts & Bill Hendry [TY1989.150] are probably pictured 1901-5 as she hasn’t got the hair style needed to support the big hats which were popular later in the Edwardian period. Her sleeves are full on the lower arm which also suggests the 1st few years of the century. [17/20]

The hats worn by the 3 ladies pictured with Matthew ‘Cricket’ Smith in TY1989.188 confirm its dating of c1907. By this point Edwardian hats had got very big & could resemble a gateau (lady on the left). A new hat was a relatively affordable way of updating your look. [18/20]

Pictured in TY1995.2202 is Walter 'Chappie' Worfolk the boat builder (including @floatourboat17) & his wife. She is wearing a style of hat which was popular in the second half of the Edwardian period, which confirms the photograph’s date as c1910. [19/20]

A massive thank you to Bob Pols for his help with this post! For more info about the history of women’s fashion check out: https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/about-timeline/  If you have enjoyed this post & would like to support the Museum’s work you can donate online at: https://northendtrust.enthuse.com/donate#!/  [20/20]