The 19th Century (1800 - 1870)
Victoria
was crowned as Queen of England at the age
of eighteen marking the start of the Victorian Era. Her
marriage to Prince Albert was a storied romance and
they greatly influenced the sentiment for high morals,
strong family ties, and love of country. Victoria dis-
played with properness and femininity the enveloping
nature of the full-skirted dress and accompanying shawl.
Empress
Eugénie in France, however, radiated in her
billowy gowns made in silk organdy, taffeta, and tulle.
She was instrumental in propelling France's silk and
lacemaking industries. Charles Worth became her sole
dressmaker in 1864. His magnificent ball gowns for
Eugénie attracted European royalty and aristocrats who
visited his shop in Paris. What is now referred to as the
French Couture was organized in 1868 and Worth's
dressmaking establishment was the first couture house.
The
Civil War was a period of sorrow and hardship,
but America would rise up to become the greatest
industrial nation. Pioneer businessmen saw opportunity
in developing the abundant resources of oil, mineral
deposits, forestry, and farming into major industries. A
technology boom ignited textile manufacturing in New
England, raw cotton harvesting in the South, and the
first factory-made clothing using a sewing machine.
America
was going through a major transformation of growth.
The West was opening up to settlers, activists
united to advance women's rights and abolish slavery,
and the printing industry surged resulting in newspapers
and magazines (including Godey's Lady's Book, the first
fashion magazine in the U.S.). Department stores were
the new place to shop while the Pullman Palace Car Co.
made coast to coast luxury train travel possible by 1869.