How Styles of Clothing Emphasised Differences between Men and Women in the Victorian Period?

How Styles of Clothing Emphasised Differences between Men and Women in the Victorian Period?

(i) In Victorian England women were groomed to be docile, dutiful, submissive and obedient. An ideal woman was one who could bear pain and suffering.

(ii) These ideas were reflected in the clothes of women. Girls from childhood were laced up and dressed in stays. The aim was to restrict the growth of their bodies and contain them in small moulds.

(iii) As they grew older, the girls had to wear tight fitting corsets. Tightly laced, small wasted women were admired as elegant, attractive and graceful. Clothing thus played a major part in creating the image of a frail, submissive Victorian woman.

(iii) Men on the other hand were expected to be serious, strong, independent and aggressive. The norms of clothing reflected these ideas.