How should/could I dress Victorian?
 

First, I'm a guy, and while I've been dressing "gothy" for quite a while, it's been sort of all over the place. I'm looking to move into a more "Victorian" style, but, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be all that much information on how a guy can do that. There is a lot of it for girls, though...but I have no intention of wearing a corset.

So, I'm wondering how I can dress appropriately/spookily in a gothic/Victorian way. I recently ordered some boots, and some dress gloves, which I think will help, but any and all advice is appreciated.

Even pointing me in the direction of some movies, books, etc to look at for ideas would help.

Thanks in advance.

-Eric

I know little, but I will share my observations with you.

From what I have seen of Victorian fashion on the net, it tends to run on the pricey side. Couple that with the fact that most suits/shirts/etc. will not fit you quite right unless they've been altered, and it becomes apparent that designing and sewing your own clothes is the way to go.

PROS:
-You can make it completely one-of-a-kind, and let your creativity be the limit.
-You can make expensive-looking clothes at a lower price.
-All of your clothes will fit you perfectly, which goes a long way with Victorian stuff.
-You will have a talent which others will appreciate and perhaps call on you for.
CONS:
-You have to train yourself to make clothing.
-You will have to invest in supplies, time, and effort to make your clothing.

Inspiring story: I met a handsome, portly, middle aged black man in the supermarket. He was wearing a fantastic red pinstripe suit that fit him like a glove, and made him look very distinguished. It turns out he made it himself, and he trained himself in about four months to make his own clothes. If he can do it, so can you!

Arp. Sewing? Me?

Well, time to buy a sewing machine. Or talk to my semi-tailor.

Does anyone have any suggestions on styles? Pictures are always appreciated.

I think you need a good hat for one. I don't know names of styles of mens hats very well. But I am sure you will know them when you see them. Layers and proper fit. Don't forget accessories like one of a kind cuff links, the perfect handkerchiefs, etc.

What may help is that there are many, many Victorian sites around. Many that specialize in mens fashion as well with a lot of historical reference and sketches from old sources, etc. If you look at real Victorian clothing enough you may be able to see some of the base elements pretty well and be able to add your own darker style to that general.

Stuff like

http://www.victoriana.com/Mens-Cloth...lothing-1.html

here is a late Victorian hat (although I was looking for one a bit earlier)

http://www.victoriana.com/Mens-Clothing/mens-hats.html

You will need gloves (perfectly white non- stained gloves usually look absolutely stunning), a British style top hat (there's a difference between the top hats produced in London and those made in America at the time. [link=http://www.shoclothes.com/images/dressage_top_hat_sm.jpg]American[/link] vs. [link]http://www.viewimages.com/Search.aspx?mid=3087832&epmid=3&partner=Google]British[/link] ) and a cane. Look at old movies for inspiration - I often watch "My Fair Lady", "Finding Neverland" and such movies for inspiration for my dresses. Oh, and gents in the Victorian times never used umbrellas, as those were considered feminine accessoires.

Wow, you're shit!

One word: Velvet. Looks good, is comfy, and is a bitch to keep clean.

Look up "Elegant Gothic Aristocrat". That'll give you some good advice.

One pro and one con of this:

Pro - You'll look gothic.

Con - You will represent a sexually repressive, racially elitist, social-darwinistic era.

But velvet is such a pain to take care of and is often not worth the trouble. Plus, if it's not of good quality, it tends to rub and wear down/off in places (between the shoulder blades of jackets, around elbows, the seat of pants, etc.). Beaitiful material, but can be a pain.


dracinabox.com sometimes has some good victorian styled shirts, jackets, etc. They have a lot of other stuff as well, but it all tends to be at pretty reasonable prices. There are many other places to buy such clothing as well, but as stated previously, clothing tends to be very pricey, so the idea of making ones own clothes tends to be the norm, no matter what style.

I gotta say...Every time either one of us brings this up, no one argues against this but continue to keep the fashion. Why IS that?

But back to the topic at hand:

Dammit, why does everybody and their mom have to have Victorian? They do realize there ARE other eras, right? But if given the choice, I'd barely take Victoriana over Lip Service and Tripp.

I do Homeless Goth!

Personally, I still have a thing for fashion from the 30's, 50's and late 60's-early 70's. I think it's better NOT to stick with one particular "theme", if you will. Taking bits and pieces of what we love from any fashion and incorperating it into our own particular dress to me is a lot better than trying to recreate styles made and worn by others.

Yes, I quite like them too. I'd squeal with delight to see somebody take the Biba style out of the Making Faces book in the flesh, but I'll still give props to moths (mod/goth), dust bowl escapees, and delinquent chicks/drapettes.

But those would be a breath of fresh air to our collective closet.

Yes but it looks good. Kids today...

Well, I enjoy it, if that's ok by you... :-P

And, besides, I've been doing corp-goth for a while, and while I'm building a more conservative "belts, cloth, and silver" outfit, I like variety.

As for representing a sexually repressive, racially elitist, social-darwinist era...

I wasn't aware that those values were integral to the clothes.

Actually the purpose of the clothes is to express opulence and superiority, so yeah.

Really, what my beef with Victoriana is that most of the people who like it because of wistful nostalgia/decadence/an era of bygone manners and grace/a chance at being an aristocrat tend gloss over the bad stuff (read: White Man's Burden, colonialism, imperialism, Jim Crow, filth, stifling social structure and Reconstruction being among the worst).

It also doesn't help that there were little to no notable black Victorians (Alice Ruth Moore and Paul Laurence Dunbar were really the positive few I could find) and that the clothes are painfully expensive and cumbersome.

Just don't take the frills too lightly and pretentiously. I'll just stick to parasols and fans and watching What the Victorians/Romans Did For Us on History International.

Unfortunately, I've always had a bit of trouble actually understanding the exact reason why the perceptions someone else has about my attire should become the basis of my valuation of that attire.

I personally see dressing in a Victorian style as being more a "weird"thing and less of a "hierarchical patriarchal ethics-lacking society endorsing" thing. Perhaps that is just me.

Also, one must certainly admire the irony of wearing the clothes of a repressive, culturally rigid society to protest the current culture, no? Pretentious, sure, but also awesomely funny.

EDIT:
I don't claim to speak for anyone else, others might not have any beefs with the ways things are. But I have a couple, though I'd still wear the clothes if I didn't.

I suppose it makes it a little less of an ironic comment, then, huh?

And I really appreciate all of you helping me out. Lots of good information. :-)

But since we know what it represents, then we also know that by virtue of a goth wearing it, it sends the same message that it sends when goths wear military gear.

We take something that represents something ugly and is mistaken for honorable and noble, only to make it just as ugly as it should be. But I'm sure very few see it like this.

I guess I can see the outside as both an advantage of looking professional (if tastefully done) and as a way of saying "It could be worse...We could go back to THIS." And the architecture doesn't hurt either.

But I typically choose eras after the Victorian because at least black society began gain to more progress and freedom (especially regarding the arts, the vote and desegregation) and I wouldn't feel right dressing as an aristocrat.

Yea I am kind of the same way I have a BIG thing for 1940's fashion and I can't stand even going out of the house without my seam back stockings on. But I hardly ever look 1940's per say. I just throw in some elements. I think though if you take from here and there and mix up t be your own or you take it all from one time and place you will still always have your own unique style. Even pure era stuff comes in many different cuts and colors, etc. that you can mix up to get your own specific look.

Very true. My thing is that as long as the wearer likes what they have on and are expressing their own individuality, who cares what era they're wearing. However, it is nice to know a little about the time period, era, reason, functionality, or whatever, about your clothing choice. It's horrible when you comment on someones clothing to compliment them or even question them, and their only answer is something like "Oh, what's that? oh, I don't know anything about it. I just liked the style". Some girl said that to me when I complimented her on her Foamy the Squirrel t-shirt the other day.

I think you mixed up the pro and con, wetback. Now go mow my lawn.

In all seriousness though, I can't help but chuckle to myself when I see a black man or woman fully decked out in the raiment of a Victorian aristocrat. Surefire way to be absolved of your abuses against an entire people within 200 years-- wear goffik top hats.

[quote=gothicusmaximus]
In all seriousness though, I can't help but chuckle to myself when I see a black man or woman fully decked out in the raiment of a Victorian aristocrat. QUOTE]

And what about a native american who's able to pull off a mixture of loli-goth, victorian, various other styles, and even add some of my Sioux heritage in there too? How I am able to pull that off is beyond me, but it works. Some styles just work for people.