Tea Party Diva - Life & Craft

By the late Victorian era, and certainly in the early 1900’s, women’s fashion was gradually becoming more free flowing.
Looser fitting tea gowns were worn at home with family or very good friends.

Victorian Era

Corsets and Bustles on the Way Out
While corsets and bustles were still worn in the late 1800’s for going to town, to tea parties, and especially for formal evening wear, many women no longer wore the more constricting fashions at home.

The widespread acceptance of the more natural and practical tea gown for home wear, was a reflection of wider social change.

Influences On Changing Fashions
Influences such as the Pre Raphaelite and Aesthetic Movements of the mid to late 1800’s, were in tune with the more natural look.

They may even have had some indirect impact on the acceptance of changing fashion trends.

The Pre Raphaelite Movement
The Pre Raphaelite’s admired the artist, Raphael for his natural flowing lines and a less restrictive approach to art than his contemporaries.

Edward Brewtnall, painter of Wimbledon Tennis Party was a follower of the Pre Raphaelites.

Rational Dress Society
This approach was in keeping with other movements of the Victorian era, including the Rational Dress Society, who controversially suggested women wear long loose trousers rather than long dresses or skirts, for occasions such as sports and walking.

Early Women’s Liberation

Both fashion wise and socially, women wanted to be less constricted. They were becoming involved in sports such as lawn tennis, golf and bicycling. The advent of better transport, meant women could be, and wanted to be, more mobile.

The constricting and cumbersome clothes of the past were no longer practical.

This was, in some ways, the beginning of women demanding more rights in society.

Times Past