Remember what people wear depends on…

… what’s available, accessible, and affordable given the information at hand.  As we study the Victorian era and fashion, it is important to understand the many levels and the complexity of the time in many countries.  Victoria did set fashion  trends, but they were interpreted differently by different women in differing situations.

(Photos of 1889 women at leisure: left – merchant class English woman in walking suit; right – Queen Victoria in a very different and royal kind of mourning/walking suit)