The Victorian Era

What Did Victorian Gentlemen Wear?

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

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The Victorian gentleman wore a tailored suit consisting of a coat, a waistcoat, trousers, a shirt, a collar, a cravat or necktie, boots or shoes, a hat, and a set of accessories. The suit was the visual signature of the Victorian gentleman, and it was the basis of the modern suit that we still wear today. The history of men’s fashion in the period is examined in Men’s Victorian Fashion, and the broader context of the period is set out in Victorian Fashion and Dress.

The Coat

The coat was the principal item of the Victorian gentleman’s wardrobe, and it came in many forms. The frock coat, with its long skirt and buttoned front, was the standard formal day wear of the period, worn to church, to official occasions, and to public events. The morning coat, with its curved front and cutaway back, served for the office, the meeting, and the morning visit. The tail coat (or dress coat), with its long tails at the back, was the standard evening wear, required at dinners, balls, and the opera.

Two newcomers appeared in the late Victorian period. The dinner jacket, a shorter version of the tail coat worn at informal dinners and country-house weekends, was introduced in 1865 by Edward, Prince of Wales, for use at Sandringham. The lounge suit, a single-breasted coat with matching trousers, offered a more comfortable option for the office, the country, and the sporting occasion, and by the 1890s it was beginning to displace the morning coat as everyday business wear. The history of the coat is examined in Men’s Victorian Fashion.

The coat was usually made of wool, worsted, cheviot, tweed, doeskin, whipcord, serge, gabardine, covert cloth, vicuna, or angora, cut by a tailor to the measurements of the wearer and lined with silk, satin, serge, linen, or cotton. Decoration was restrained: braid, buttons, lace, embroidery, insertion, pin-tucks, or piping in measured amounts.

The Waistcoat

The waistcoat was an essential part of the Victorian gentleman’s wardrobe, and it was often the most colourful 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. It was often the only item of colour in an otherwise sober suit.

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, serge, gabardine, covert cloth, vicuna, or angora. 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, with a fly front and a belt. The trousers of the working class were often made of corduroy, moleskin, fustian, or heavy cotton, in a looser cut. Bell-bottoms were fashionable mid-century and narrower trousers came in from the 1880s. Decoration was generally restrained, limited chiefly to a braid stripe down the outer seam for evening or formal wear.

The Shirt

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 shirt was often a separate piece, with collar and cuffs detachable and starched to a stiffness that would have been familiar to a generation of office workers in the twentieth century.

The Neckwear

The neckwear of the Victorian period consisted of the cravat, the necktie, the stock, the scarf, the bow tie, and the Ascot tie. The cravat, a wide neckerchief of silk, satin, or other fine fabric, was the principal neckwear of the early Victorian period, tied in a variety of complicated ways. The necktie, a long narrow strip of silk or satin, became the principal neckwear of the late Victorian period, tied in simpler ways. The stock, a stiff band of silk or satin, was worn by the military, by the clergy, and by barristers. The bow tie, a small bow of silk or satin, was the principal neckwear for informal evening wear. The Ascot tie, a wide neckerchief tied in a loose bow, was worn for formal day wear, and it was associated with the Royal Ascot race meeting.

The Boots and the Shoes

The boots and the shoes of the Victorian period were made of polished calf, blackened calf, patent leather, kid, morocco, or suede. The boots were generally ankle boots, half boots, or button boots, and they were often highly polished. The shoes were generally low shoes, Oxford shoes, or bluchers, in polished leather, patent leather, kid, or suede. Patent leather was reserved for evening wear, with the opera pump or the ankle button boot as the standard for the dress coat. The boots of the working class were often made of heavy leather, in a sturdy style with hobnails for outdoor work. The history of the boot is examined in Men’s Victorian Fashion.

The Hat

The hat of the Victorian period was an essential part of the gentleman’s wardrobe, and it came in many forms. The silk 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 opera hat, a collapsible silk top hat that flattened under the arm, was the evening equivalent. 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, and the boater were the summer hats, worn to the country, to the seaside, and to the sporting occasion. The cloth cap, the flat cap, and the deerstalker were the sporting hats.

The Tailors

The suit was cut to order by a tailor. The London tailors of the period set the standard. Henry Poole & Co., founded in 1806 and known as the first Savile Row tailor, opened its Savile Row premises in 1846. Huntsman, established in 1849, became the tailor of choice for country gentry and sportsmen. Meyer & Mortimer, Hawes & Curtis, and Gieves (Gieves & Hawes from 1974) all built their reputations in the same decades. Poole of Savile Row (Henry Poole) is credited with the invention of the dinner jacket in 1865, on the instructions of the Prince of Wales. The history of the trade is examined in Men’s Victorian Fashion.

The Norfolk Jacket

The Norfolk jacket, a belted single-breasted jacket with a box pleat at the front and the back, was introduced around 1866 for shooting and country wear. It was originally made of a sturdy tweed or wool, with a half-belt at the back, and was designed to be worn over the waistcoat for rough country use. By the 1880s the Norfolk suit, with matching knee-breeches or knickerbockers, was a fixture of the country wardrobe, and it passed into the standard repertoire of the late Victorian gentleman. The history of the sporting wardrobe is examined in How did Victorian menswear change through the era?.