The Victorian Era

How Did Victorian Menswear Change Through the Era?

Article · Fashion & Dress · The Victorian Era, 1837–1901

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Victorian menswear changed substantially over the sixty-four years of the reign, evolving from the elaborate fashions of the early Victorian period to the more sober, more practical, and more standardised fashions of the late Victorian period. The change was driven by a number of factors, including the new industrial technologies, the new middle-class prosperity, the new codes of respectability, the new mass media, and the new sports and leisure activities. The history of the changes is examined in Men’s Victorian Fashion, and the context of the period is set out in Victorian Fashion and Dress.

The Early Victorian Period, 1837 to 1850

The early Victorian period was dominated by the romantic fashions of the late Regency. The Victorian gentleman of the 1840s wore a frock coat, often in a dark colour, with a high collar, a wide lapel, and a long skirt. The waistcoat of the period was often brightly coloured, in figured silk, embroidered silk, figured wool, or printed cotton, and it was a major element of the fashionable dress. The trousers of the period were often narrow, with a slight taper, and they were worn with a fall front and with braces. The shirt was a fine white cotton or linen shirt, with a small frill at the front, a ruffle at the wrist, or a panel of embroidered cotton at the front.

The hat of the period was generally a top hat, with a tall crown and a narrow brim, worn to the office, to the meeting, and to the formal occasion. The cravat of the period was a wide neckerchief of silk, satin, or other fine fabric, tied in a variety of complicated ways. The boots of the period were generally ankle boots, half boots, or button boots, often highly polished. The gloves were generally of kid, calf, dogskin, horsehide, or silk, worn at all formal occasions.

The Mid-Victorian Period, 1850 to 1870

The mid-Victorian period saw a number of significant changes. The frock coat became the standard day wear, the morning coat became the standard business wear, and the tail coat became the standard evening wear. The waistcoat became slightly less brightly coloured, although it was still a major element of the suit. The trousers became slightly less narrow, and the fall front was gradually replaced by the fly front. The shirt became plainer, and the attention was given to the collar and the cuffs. The hat of the period was generally a top hat, a bowler hat, a homburg, or a soft felt hat, worn to the office, to the meeting, and to the formal occasion. The bowler hat, designed in 1849 by Thomas and William Bowler for the Coke family of Norfolk, had become a fixture of city wear by the 1860s.

The neckwear of the period was dominated by the cravat, the necktie, the stock, the bow tie, and the Ascot tie, and the cravat was gradually replaced by the four-in-hand necktie of the late 1860s. Boots remained the usual footwear, with ankle boots and half boots predominating, kept carefully polished. The shoes of the period were generally low shoes, Oxford shoes, or bluchers, made of polished leather, patent leather, kid, or suede. The history of the boots and the shoes is examined in What did Victorian gentlemen wear?.

The dinner jacket was introduced in 1865 by the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, who had it made by Henry Poole & Co of Savile Row for informal evening wear at Sandringham. The jacket was a short, single-breasted black or midnight blue coat, worn with a black waistcoat, black trousers, a white shirt, and a black bow tie, and it was designed to replace the tail coat for the less formal dinners of the country house. The dinner jacket was slow to gain acceptance, and it was not until the 1880s that it was widely adopted outside the Prince’s circle.

The Late Victorian Period, 1870 to 1901

The late Victorian period saw a number of further changes, and several new garments appeared. The lounge suit, a single-breasted sack coat with matching trousers, offered a more comfortable alternative to the morning coat and gradually displaced it as everyday business wear. The dinner jacket, a shorter cousin of the tail coat, became acceptable for less formal evening occasions, although the tail coat remained obligatory for full evening dress. The Norfolk jacket, a belted jacket with box pleats introduced in 1866, was adopted for shooting and other sports and became a fixture of country wear.

The waistcoat of the late Victorian period was generally more sober, in plain silk, figured wool, or printed cotton. Trousers were cut to fit more closely to the leg, and shirts became plainer still, with attention concentrated on the collar and the cuffs. The stand collar rose higher in these decades, and the starched detachable wing collar became the standard for evening wear. Hats grew more varied: the top hat remained correct for formal occasions, while the bowler, the homburg, and the soft felt hat served for business and town wear, and the straw boater, the deerstalker, and the cloth cap were worn for leisure, the country, and sport.

The neckwear of the late Victorian period was dominated by the four-in-hand necktie, the bow tie, the Ascot tie, and the scarf, and the cravat had been almost entirely replaced by the necktie. The boots of the late Victorian period were generally ankle boots, half boots, or button boots, often highly polished. The shoes of the late Victorian period were generally low shoes, Oxford shoes, or bluchers, made of polished leather, patent leather, kid, or suede.

The Sporting Wardrobe

The sporting wardrobe of the Victorian period was a major new development, and it was a key part of the late Victorian changes. The sporting wardrobe included the Norfolk jacket, plus-fours, knickerbockers, the shooting jacket, the hacking jacket, the riding habit, the polo shirt, the cricket flannels, the white cricket trousers, the cricket cap, the bathing costume, the tennis flannels, the cycling jacket, the golf jacket, the yachting jacket, and the many other garments associated with the various sports of the period.

The sporting wardrobe was the subject of one of the great new industries of the late Victorian period. The sporting outfitters Burberry (founded 1856), Aquascutum (founded 1851), and Barbour (founded 1894) all made their fortunes in the late Victorian market. Burberry’s gabardine, patented in 1879, and Aquascutum’s waterproof wool, introduced in the 1850s, brought genuinely weatherproof fabrics to the country gentleman for the first time. The conventions of the modern sporting wardrobe — the use of lighter fabrics, the use of waterproof fabrics, the use of standardised sizes, the use of branded labels, the use of mail order, the use of illustrated catalogues, and the use of department stores — were all established in the late Victorian period.

The Working Man’s Wardrobe

The working man’s wardrobe of the Victorian period was a separate subject, and it changed less than the gentleman’s wardrobe. The working man of the 1840s wore a cap, a shirt, a waistcoat, a jacket or coat, trousers, boots, and a handkerchief. The working man of the 1860s wore essentially the same, with some improvements in the quality of the fabric and in the fit of the clothes. The working man of the 1880s added the flat cap, the donkey jacket, the corduroy or moleskin trousers, the heavy cotton shirt, the heavy leather boots, and the heavy leather belt.

The history of the working man is examined in Victorian Society, Class, and Daily Life. The history of the working man’s clothes is examined in Men’s Victorian Fashion.

The Tailoring Trade

The tailoring trade of the Victorian period was transformed by the changes in menswear. In the early Victorian period the trade was largely bespoke, with each suit cut to the measurements of the individual customer. The mid-Victorian decades saw the rise of the ready-made suit, produced in standard sizes and sold in the new department stores. The late Victorian period added the made-to-measure trade, which combined standardised patterns with individual fitting. The great Savile Row tailors of the period, including Henry Poole & Co (founded 1806, often called the first Savile Row tailor) and H. Huntsman (founded 1849), made their reputations in these years, as did the older firms of Meyer & Mortimer, Hawes & Curtis, and Gieves. Poole of Savile Row is credited with the introduction of the dinner jacket in 1865.