The Victorian Era

Men's Victorian Fashion

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

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Men’s Victorian fashion was less elaborate than women’s, but it was equally subject to the conventions of the period. The Victorian gentleman, in his tailored suit, his starched shirt, his cravat or necktie, and his hat, was the visual complement to the Victorian lady, and the silhouette of the period, with its high collar, its close-fitting coat, and its narrow trousers, was a distinctive contribution of the age. The history of men’s fashion in the period is examined in Victorian Fashion and Dress, and the context of the period is set out in The Victorian Era: A Complete Historical Overview.

The Basic Wardrobe

The basic wardrobe of the Victorian gentleman consisted of a coat, a waistcoat, trousers, a shirt, a collar, a cravat or necktie, boots or shoes, a hat, and a set of accessories that included gloves, a handkerchief, a watch, a chain, a fob, a stick, and a pair of cuff links. The coat, the waistcoat, and the trousers were usually made of the same fabric, and they were cut by a tailor to the measurements of the wearer. The shirt was made of white cotton or linen, starched and laundered. The collar was a separate piece, either attached to the shirt or detachable, starched to a stiffness that would have been familiar to a generation of office workers in the twentieth century. The history of menswear is examined in What did Victorian gentlemen wear?.

1837–1850: The Early Victorian Period

The early Victorian gentleman of the 1840s wore a dark frock coat, often double-breasted, with a high collar, wide lapels, and a long skirt that reached almost to the knee. The waistcoat of the period was often brightly coloured, in figured silk, embroidered silk, figured wool, or printed cotton, and was a major element of the fashionable dress. The trousers were cut narrow and slightly tapered, often with a wide fall front, and were worn over ankle boots with elastic sides or boots buttoned up the outside. The shirt was of fine white cotton or linen, with a small frill at the front and a turnover collar, and the cravat was a wide silk or satin neckerchief tied in an elaborate knot. The hat of the period was the tall silk top hat, and the gloves were of kid or calf.

The new industrial textile processes were beginning to make lighter woollens available, but the palette of the period was darker and more sober than the brilliant Regency fashions of the 1820s and 1830s. The trousers, narrower than those of the Regency, sometimes flared slightly at the ankle in a modest revival of the bell-bottom that had been fashionable in the 1820s.

1850–1870: The Mid-Victorian Period

The mid-Victorian decades saw the consolidation of the sober three-piece suit. The frock coat remained the standard day wear, the morning coat became the standard business wear, and the tail coat (or dress coat) became the standard evening wear, in black or very dark blue with silk-faced lapels. The waistcoat, still the only item of colour, gradually became more sober, in figured silk, in figured wool, or in printed cotton. The trousers, narrower still, were cut straight from the waist, 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 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. The hat of the period was generally a top hat, a bowler hat, a homburg, or a soft felt hat, and the hat was 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. Boots remained the usual footwear, with ankle boots and half boots predominating, kept carefully polished. The history of the boots and the shoes is examined in What did Victorian gentlemen wear?.

1870–1890: The Late Victorian Period

The late Victorian decades 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 designed for shooting in 1866, became a fixture of country wear, and was usually worn with matching knee-breeches or knickerbockers and woollen stockings.

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. The tweed suit, in checks, in Glen checks, or in herringbone, became the country wear of choice, and the new patterns of ready-made tailoring from the firms of Burberry (founded 1856), Aquascutum (founded 1851), and Barbour (founded 1894) brought waterproofed and hard-wearing fabrics to the country wardrobe.

1890–1901: The End of the Century

The 1890s saw the final consolidation of the modern man’s wardrobe. The sack suit, often called the sack suit in America, with its unpadded shoulders, its single-breasted front, and its notched lapels, was the daytime business wear of the decade. The homburg, a stiff felt hat with a centre crease, became a fashionable alternative to the bowler. The lounge suit, by now cut from lighter worsteds in dark grey, dark blue, or black, had become the everyday wear of the middle class. The four-in-hand necktie, in silk or in printed cotton, had replaced the cravat for everyday use. The shirt was plainer than at any previous point in the period, and the white starched detachable wing collar was reserved for evening. The Edwardian era would see the dark suit in essentially its modern form, but its conventions had been fixed in the 1880s and 1890s.

The Waistcoats

The waistcoat was an essential part of the Victorian gentleman’s wardrobe, and it was often the most colourful and most decorative item of the suit. The waistcoat of the early Victorian 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 of the period. The waistcoat of the late Victorian period was generally more sober, in plain silk, figured wool, or printed cotton. The waistcoat was cut single-breasted or double-breasted, and it was usually buttoned to the neck.

The Shirts and the Collars

The shirt of the Victorian gentleman was made of fine white cotton or linen, starched and laundered. The shirt of the early Victorian period was often decorated with a small frill at the front, a ruffle at the wrist, or a panel of embroidered cotton at the front. The shirt of the late Victorian period was generally plainer, with attention concentrated on the collar and the cuffs. The collar of the Victorian period was a separate piece, either attached to the shirt or detachable, starched to a stiffness that would have been familiar to a generation of office workers in the twentieth century. The collar was often very high, and the stand collar, which rose to the level of the ears, was a particular feature of the period. The cuff was similarly stiff, and the cuff link was a common piece of jewellery for the Victorian gentleman.

The Trousers

The trousers of the Victorian gentleman were generally cut in a narrow, straight, or slightly tapered style, and they were made of wool, worsted, cheviot, tweed, doeskin, whipcord, or one of the other fabrics associated with the period. The trousers of the early Victorian period often had a fall front — a flap that buttoned at the waist — and were usually worn with braces. The trousers of the late Victorian period were often cut to fit more closely to the leg, and they were often worn with a belt. The trousers of the working class were often made of corduroy, moleskin, fustian, or heavy cotton, in a looser style.

The Hats

The hats of the Victorian period were many and varied. The top hat, with its tall crown and narrow brim, was the standard formal day hat, worn to the office, to the meeting, and to the formal occasion. The bowler hat, with its rounded crown and narrow brim, was the standard business hat, worn to the office and to the city. The straw hat, the panama, the boater, the homburg, the soft felt hat, the deerstalker, the cloth cap, and the flat cap all had their own occasions. The history of the hat is examined in How did Victorian menswear change through the era?.

The Working Man’s Wardrobe

The working man of the Victorian period wore a more limited wardrobe than the gentleman. The working man generally wore a flat cap or a peaked cap, a coarse cotton or linen shirt, a heavy wool waistcoat, a heavy wool jacket or coat, trousers of corduroy, moleskin, fustian, or heavy cotton, heavy leather boots sometimes hobnailed for working on the land, and a coloured cotton or wool neckerchief. The jacket was sometimes a frock coat, sometimes a Norfolk jacket, sometimes a donkey jacket. The history of the working man is examined in Victorian Society, Class, and Daily Life.

The Sporting Wardrobe

The sporting wardrobe of the Victorian gentleman was a separate subject and one of the great new industries of the late Victorian period. The Norfolk jacket, plus-fours, knickerbockers, the shooting jacket, the hacking jacket, the riding habit, the cricket flannels, the cricket shirt, the white cricket trousers, the cricket cap, the bathing costume, the tennis flannels, the cycling jacket, the cycling trousers, the golf jacket, the yachting jacket, and the many other garments associated with the various sports of the period all had their own conventions.

The sporting outfitters, including the firms of Burberry (1856), Aquascutum (1851), and Barbour (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.