Dressing up a maid, 1880s
Today, we are thinning with a clothing, for. A working-class, woman. So no more similacs. No more frills. We are looking. At what a working-class. Woman would be wearing. During her years in service. We are mostly concentrating. On the 80s, here. But. Most of the principles, would be the same for most of the, of the victorian, era, undergarments. Very. Sturdy. Uh the next meets. Plain black stockings. And. What drawers. I'm portraying. Made. From, a quite well-to-do, household, so obviously, my own clothing, reflects, that. And i do. Have a little bit of lace. Just, time a little bit, and obviously the time lace was machine, made as well so it was relatively, cheap. Right. Let's have a go at. Boots. Again. Study, i will be on my. I'll be. Wandering, around, all days and standing, most of the day. Um if i were. A. Generic, mate, responsible, for cleaning. I would really be on my knees. Most, of the time. Cleaning um. Cleaning fireplaces. And making sure, everything, is ready. Before the household, wakes up. Obviously. The amount of servants. And the. Roles, and responsibilities. Will. Hugely. Depend. On what kind of household, it is. Um, and obviously, the richer you are the more servants, you have. Like. You got bedford, i think had, about. 320. Or so. Quite unbelievable. And, whereas some household, would have. A cook. As calorie mate. Maybe a long roommate. A ladies mate to help with the dressing up and generic. Chambermaid. And that would be quite well to do. Whereas some would just have. One made of all work. And the whole thing we have to do, quite a lot, basically. Everything. The. Surface. Was. After agricultural. Work. One of the most popular, if not the most popular. Sectors, for employment. For employment. For. Young women. In the 50s. You will get your mates, usually, from the country and country losses were in huge demand. And, very, recommended. At the mob fairs. Of the hiring, fairs. Which were not the best. We wouldn't enjoy them today. And later on, um register. Registered. Servants. And charities, or businesses, would be. Providing. A list, of. Girls. And. Boys. But. And obviously, workhouse, would be a great source, of domestic, service, too. It would be a responsibility. Of the housekeeper. To hire a mate. So let's have a good. All right we've got our boots on. Let's go for, the. Cool. And obviously, corset, was just a normal part of. Of your everyday wear. There wasn't anything, special. In it it would be providing, you with great. Back, and busted support. And, all glasses for it. Um. This one here, is based, on the, um. Cementing, pattern, for the pretty housemate. And it was made. Um. In hundreds, if not thousands. In late 80s, and, early 90s. It was. Very very popular, it was relatively, pretty. It was very sturdy, it was hard to be cheap. And it, sported, several, features, that would mean that. It would. Last. The mate for quite some time. Let's have a closer, look. It does have bones. In the seams. They would be well born at the time obviously. And, lots of cording. And cording would be made. With um, paper, or. Cotton cord. This one also has. An under busk. To get the pad with a spoon bask. Especially. Because. If you are cleaning. Fireplaces. If you are. Cleaning, the stairs, and sitting on your knees all the time you are bending, a. Lot. And that's, in time, would cause your mask to break. Whereas with this little underbust, here. You've got additional. Support. That will provide you a little bit more. Life, to your corset, excuse me. These were not tight lacing corsets, they were just very functional, piece of wardrobe. That would be. One day in and day out. It's really supportive. Possibly a little bit too big for. Me. There you go. This one is made in um. And could heal, energy. Usually, you could have it made in in 12 that's what the original one is. And originals, also. Supported. Um. Machine embroidery. On the. On this bit of boning. I do have a machine involved, but. Well i did it by hand. Right. So that's our, basics. Now atis. Obviously, are. The bustle, types. But, mate doesn't have a need even a housekeeper, really doesn't have a need for a bustle. However. The basic silhouette. Would be. Just. A little bit enhanced, to go with the fashion. A petticoat. Is quite simple. And again, i'm, working, in quite an affluent. Household. So i have some basic. Cotton base, again washable. Easily, to. Displace, but. Nothing, hugely. Fancy. For female servants. Obviously. Female 7's were paid less than, male equivalent. But uh. Throughout insults, injury, whereas the um. Sevens were usually, provided, with livery. Um. Women were not.
So They had to bear the cost. Of the clothing, themselves. Or make it themselves. And there wasn't, a specific, literary per se. You would be just wearing very serviceable, garments. Again depending, on the household, you might be issued, with. A standard, apron, or a cap, or cuffs, um. Or. Maybe, it would be a recommendation, of what colors are you supposed to be wearing depending, on your status. Usually, if you're working in the kitchen or if you're working. In the roots it would be. Very plain clothing. That would be easy to wash that would not show that too much and that would last you for quite some time. The ladies, maid, however, could be a little bit more fancy. Because very often she would be getting, the. Cast of clothing. From the lady of the house. In fact. If the lady of the house died. It was traditional. That her wardrobe. Would go. To her, to her, grenade. And that would include, basically everything, apart from items, in. Velvet. Satin. With fur and place. And very often mates would be quite. Additionally, motivated, let's say. To care more for the garments because they knew that, they were going to get off the castles. Right, um. Basic skirt, very generic. Um, same length. With a little bit of a pastel part. At the bottom just to keep that, little bit boom for the silhouette. In very plain. And thin wool. And also. Pockets, they have a watch pocket here and a waistband. Which was quite a, useful. Addition, for. Several. Reasons. Um, if you were a. Housekeeper, you would keep your chat lane nearby, and then a little. Watch. Know. And. Done. That's basic scratch, it has a little bit of. Bustle going on here. And again i can put my little watch. There. Corset cover would be next or. It's a little bit. Chilly, of today. A standard. Blouse. With buttons. Obviously. Now the quality is required. Of female servants. Deferred, vastly. Depending, on the household, that's everything. But. Honestly, was necessary. Being presentable. If your ladies made because you are going to be seen. Was, another. Advantage.
Hard-working. Obviously. If you're a chambermaid. You. Basically. Wouldn't want to be seen at all. And lots of, people would. Really resent. Seeing a. Champion. Additional, qualities, that would give you, an employment. Would be. A knowledge, of trust making, so very often a dressmaker's, apprenticeship. A apprenticeship. Would be. A desirable. Ladies mate. Um, similarly. A talent, and, experience, with um. Hairdressing. And if you could. Design, clothing, as well. And you have to use a sewing machine. Perfect. Another pocket here. For anything i need to. Be wearing. And let's put the bodice on. For my servants, surprisingly. For example as footman, is concerned. Very often the, criteria. Were, a little bit, silly. The taller. The man was the better his pain would be. It was all. Appearances. Buttons. Too. Bad. Now the rules of the household, depended. On the will, of the. Of the. Of the lady and. Her husband. But. Some of them were really petty, and restricting, the freedom. Of the servants. It was difficult, to. Get the full life really. But. There is quite a lot of professional, pride, that you see in the different memoirs. Of settings of big houses, for example. Um. There was a, sort of a career, path you could, actually. Start as a, chambermaid. Work your way through to being a navy's maid, and maybe a housekeeper. So basically, upgrading, from the, lower to upper. Taste of servant. Good cook, has always been, a great asset to the household. So that's. Another. Career. Path. I have no mirror so, difficult, to see if i'm doing it all right. I think what was. That. So that would be basically, my. Uniform. Um. The chambermaid, would be wearing that or. The housemaker. Can, can wear that ladies might come by, that. You should worry about other beauties that would. Risk. That. We have. An. Apron. So. There's surprising. Surprisingly. Good. Amount. Of photography. Concerning, servants. So quite easy to. Get. I should have tied it. Before. Yes. So that's. Basically. What i would have done. A little cap. Usually, covering my hair that was very much. Status, symbol but also. A very good, hygienic. Practice. Now. If i was made of a work, or, if there was an event, and there would be more. Health needed in the kitchen. And obviously i don't really want to change, from my sort of nice bodies. To something else. I would wear. Steam protectors. And these are. Basically. Bit of cotton, with ties. You see them later on. In 20th century, a lot of nurses, as well. It was much. Easier. To wash your. Sleeves. Than to wash the whole uniform. But you see these ones being washed in the 80s and 90s, just for washing up or helping in the kitchen. When there is a southern rush or maybe guests. Arriving. I was going to my family. Or maybe. On a date. I can hope. Um. I will probably, be wearing. The same, gown, just without. The white bits. Or i might have, a second guy justin playing caught on a plain wall. And. If i was a little bit more. Affluent. It would possibly, adhere, a bit more to the fashionable, silhouette, as well. So it would be still. Plain cottons, playing walls, inexpensive, fabrics, not a lot of frills not that other place but, the silhouette. Would be a little bit more fashionable. So hey there we go. Night. Well, who we are we have another middle class or working class outfit. But. Something that our mate, would be wearing, for. Visiting, family. Or going to town or maybe sneaking out for some barn dance. You never know. Admittedly. This kind of style would be. Just as much. In their place. For, a, a working woman in a town that's woman or dressmaker. Or trait. Tradesman's. Wife or daughter or maybe even a middle class sort of house, gown for generic, chores. Hello melin. Sorry, that's your melanchomy. The material, is still. Really cheap it's cheap cotton in line with cotton. And. It's quite easy to make it's not really sophisticated. However. There are some. Little touches, that will make it fashionable. So yes cheap material, but we have a little bit of. Linen, trim. All around. That will be easy to to get on cotton will be nice to clean as well so easy to wash, buttons are possibly, the most expensive. Items here because they are covered with strips of velvet. Can be a gift from my. From my house. Lady. Um, there is still a little bit of. Bustle pattern, at the back. The shoulders, have a little bit more fullness. To adhere to the fashionable, silhouettes. And i'm laced a little bit tighter than for work. I also have a little. Um, apron front skirt. To make it, ultra, fashionable. Made out of the scraps, of the remaining, cotton. Because, the sewing machines were so popular, and at that time in the 80s. There were mostly, um, there was at least one in the household, proper household.
Or A few households, will be sharing one. It would be much cheaper, for a mate or a woman of modest means. To make an outfit like that because, suddenly. It didn't take hours and hours and hours of hand stitching. But it could just take, a couple of days, or a few hours to, you know to run the bodies in the machine and then finish to later on, so suddenly. Making fashionable, items became a bit more easier. And cheaper. And the fact that the magazines. Like. The harper's bazaar. Or english domestic. Movement magazine. Provided, patterns, and instructions, how to make clothes. Easily accessible, to everyone. Made it even easier for a woman of modest means to get a nice, nice outfit like this one. So, yes. Let's go with that and, let's get on to my family, and. Have a bit of a. Break. Sure. Hmm. You.
2020-07-22 08:45
