Striking silhouettes, sumptuous fabrics, bright colours, frills galore, and all manner of ornate accessories define the clothing of the Victorian period, that is, during the reign of Queen Victoria, which spanned seven decades of the 19th century. This was a time of dynamic change as the Industrial Revolution resulted in an expansion of the middle classes. Victorians were persuaded to part with their growing disposable income by mass advertising that ranged from gorgeous colour supplements in popular magazines to striking posters in railway stations. People of all classes were decidedly keen to wear the right clothes for the right occasion, but deliberately not doing so did become a way to express individuality and non-conformity to the rather rigid social rules and gender expectations that pervaded the 19th century.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2879/clothing-in-the-victorian-era/.
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