What Did Poor Men And Women Wear In The Victorian Age?

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Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
There were no sewing machines until towards the end of the Victorian era; no mass-production techniques, no way at all of making cheap clothes. If you were rich, you had a tailor make you a suit, or a frock, or whatever; and this you wore until it was beginning to show the dirt, at which stage it would be discarded because, of course, fine outer garments could not be washed without spoiling them.

Shirts and shifts and chemises and other unmentionables, of course, could be washed, and were; so they could be worn until they showed signs of wear, and then discarded.

The discarded clothes were usually given to the servants, who would wear them until they reached the next stage of decay and then - this is the important bit - sell them. Good second-hand clothes commanded quite high prices - remember Fagin's boys picking pockets and risking the gallows just for handkerchieves - and would be worn with a certain amount of pride by the better-off of the working class. Then they would go back to the old-clothes shop and gradually work their way down the social scale. A street urchin would wear clothes which had got to the stage of possessing no value at all.

Old trousers, then; an old coat, usually too big, because clothes made expressly for children would be passed down within families rather than placed on the open market; some sort of shirt. If shoes )which were rare), then certainly no socks; in winter the feet would be wrapped in rags, which also served to make the ninth-hand shoes fit small feet. No underwear. The clothes not washed except by the rain, and worn until they literally fell to pieces, when they were - not discarded, but made up into bundles to be sold to the shoddy-merchant. The shoddy mill would turn old woollens into felt, old cotton and linen into paper

Our modern ideas of recycling are pitiful compared to Victorian p;ractices!
martha Profile
martha answered
They would have made their own clothing or depend on the 'discarded' clothing donated by the wealthier.  Children and maybe even women may have had to go barefoot if shoes were too costly.  And may not have a winter coat- not a good one at least.
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Anonymous
Anonymous commented
I think you are an expert at victorian era right
martha
martha commented
Not so much an expert but rather a deep interest and love of all things Victorian
. Babies would normally be wearing baby gowns, and often these would be made by discarded flour sacks, or out of worn clothing, cut down to fit. The same would be for all age groups, clothing would be handed down, donated by the wealthier, and hand made by the mom or grandma, even an older sister. Babies might wear a bonnet, as would younger children, and would not have shoes, until they were older. Blankets would be hand made, or donated by wealthy people as well. Baby boys and toddler boys would wear these baby dresses/gowns, as well as the girls. Diapers are cloth of course- no such things as huggies yet! And in these victorian days, baby colors were reversed- girls wore blue, and boys wore pink! But for a poor family, color would not be an issue. Women wore hats, and men did too, but as for the poor, again, their resources were limited, so their hats would not be the height of fashion like the wealthy class would wear. Stockings, and undergarments would be made of sackcloth (feed or flour sacks) and stockings may be wool, not silk. Hope this helps.
martha
martha commented
Sorry i-phones are not my expertise! Glad I could help with the other stuff, though.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Poor people used to wear rags and they had to sew their clothes themselves.
Jacquelyn Mathis Profile
People back then, if they could would make their own clothing. If they could get wool or cotton and had a loom they could make clothes. You should be able to find more out if you go to www.wikipedia.org and type in loom and other words there too. Hope this helps, good luck.
thanked the writer.
Anonymous
Anonymous commented
Please help me.
I have to write 5 pages but I only have 2 pages.
I don't know where to go.
Can you help me with some links

what did the children wear?
Jacquelyn Mathis
Jacquelyn Mathis commented
I really don't know much about that era, but I think if you type in victorian clothing in wikipedia you might find something there about how they were made, and how they were bought and sold, I really am sorry about not being able to help more.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Poor Victorian women would usually wear either something they made themselves or something they could afford. They usually only ever wore one thing as their other dress would be for special occasions.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
The poor victorian men wore rags and probably went to the shop and buy something they could afford something like a pair of trousers made out of cheap material
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Poor Victorians wore tatters and rags and if they lived on the street the had to rap things round them to keep warm.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
They would wear something like clothes rich people gave them like childrens tattered clothing

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