Kristina Harris 
Authentic Victorian Fashion Patterns 
A Complete Lady’s Wardrobe

Imported custom-made clothes were usually beyond the financial reach of the average middle-class American woman of a century ago; and store-bought garments were often of inferior quality. This left many women with the options of making their own clothes or hiring a seamstress.

While a number of economy-minded women did sew simple housedresses, and clothing for their children, many took favorite fashion plates to a dressmaker who would often consult patterns in a magazine such as
The Voice of Fashion. This book, compiled by costume authority Kristina Harris, painstakingly reprints a rich selection of scaled dressmakers’ patterns of the 1890s, taken from rare issues of that popular, late-19th century dressmaker’s journal. Featuring such fashion elements as leg-o’-mutton sleeves, high-collared necklines, long skirts, and pinched waistlines, the collection includes nearly 500 patterns and illustrations detailing 50 garments for women. Every wardrobe necessity for the Victorian lady is covered — from nightgowns and wrappers for boudoir and breakfast, a riding habit and tennis outfit, to walking dresses for town and visiting, elegant dinner dresses, and elaborate evening gowns.

An introduction and brief instruction for using the patterns are also included in a volume that will not only find practical use among costume designers and students of fashion history, but will also delight browsers, Victorian enthusiasts, and anyone intrigued by the evolution of clothing styles. 498 illustrations.

Table of Content

INTRODUCTION

GENERAL DIRECTIONS

MISSES’ WRAPPER. Summer 1893

LADIES’ TEA GOWN. Spring 1893

LADIES’ DRAWERS. Fall 1890

LADIES’ DRAWERS. Spring 1893

LADIES’ DRAWERS. Spring 1895

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Fall 1890

YOUNG MISSES’ STREET COSTUME. Fall 1890

STREET COSTUME. Fall 1890

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Winter 1890-91

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1891

YOUNG MISSES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1891

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1893

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1893

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1893

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Summer 1893

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Summer 1893

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Summer 1893

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Summer 1893

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1894

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1894

MISSES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1894

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1894

LADIES’ STREET GOWN Spring 1894

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1895

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1895

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Spring 1895

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Winter 1896

LADIES’ MELON SLEEVE

LADIES’ STREET COSTUME. Winter 1896

LADIES’ COSTUME. Fall 1890

LADIES’ PLAIN SKIRT.

LADIES’ COSTUME. Fall 1890

LADIES’ COSTUME. Winter 1890-91

LADIES’ EMPIRE GOWN. Spring 1893

LADIES’ COSTUME. Summer 1893

LADIES’ COSTUME. Summer 1893

LADIES’ COSTUME. Spring 1894

LADIES’ COSTUME Spring 1895

LADIES’ HOUSE DRESS. Spring 1895

YOUNG LADIES’ HOUSE DRESS. Spring 1895

LADIES’ COSTUME. Spring 1895

LADIES’ UMBRELLA SKIRT

LADIES’ COSTUME. Winter 1896

LADIES’ COSTUME. Winter 1896

STOUT LADIES’ PRINCESS. Winter 1896

LADIES’ TIGHT-FITTING JACKET. Winter 1890-91

LADIES’ HUNTER’S JACKET. Spring 1895

TENNIS COSTUME. Fall 1890

RIDING HABIT. Spring 1891

YOUNG LADIES’ EVENING COSTUME. Spring 1891

LADIES’ EVENING GOWN. Spring 1894

LADIES’ SACK NIGHTDRESS. Winter 1890-91

LADIES’ NIGHT GOWN. Spring 1893