The Real Housewives of Victorian London
Idealized version of Victorian middle class women.
The Victorian Era was a difficult time to be a middle-class housewife. Technology and social mores changed at a rapid pace, and keeping up with them was vital to maintaining social position. Friends and neighbors often judged dress and action because presentation was so important in defining social roles during the Victorian Era. Because appearance indicated social status, many middle class women spent much of their time making sure their clothing, families, and homes met the rigorous standards of the day. This meant keeping to a strict schedule of cleaning, cooking, and sewing.
Many of these women were part of the new middle class that rose with industrialization. They were the wives of factory managers, accountants, clerks, lawyers, doctors, and civil servants. All professions that expanded as industrialization exploded during the 19th century. The newly crowned middle class citizens adopted the mourning customs established and practiced by the aristocracy, and in many cases elaborated upon them. Properly following elaborate mourning rituals became a way of proving middle class status. The rules were complicated, and women who had questions turned to publications that offered guidance and advice to any middle-class citizen unsure of proper mourning etiquette. Even as technology and industrialization changed the world outside her door in ways that she often found disconcerting, it also brought advances she loved. Inexpensive magazines which catered specifically to women offered escape and camaraderie in the form of serialized stories and desperately needed advice.
Many of these women were part of the new middle class that rose with industrialization. They were the wives of factory managers, accountants, clerks, lawyers, doctors, and civil servants. All professions that expanded as industrialization exploded during the 19th century. The newly crowned middle class citizens adopted the mourning customs established and practiced by the aristocracy, and in many cases elaborated upon them. Properly following elaborate mourning rituals became a way of proving middle class status. The rules were complicated, and women who had questions turned to publications that offered guidance and advice to any middle-class citizen unsure of proper mourning etiquette. Even as technology and industrialization changed the world outside her door in ways that she often found disconcerting, it also brought advances she loved. Inexpensive magazines which catered specifically to women offered escape and camaraderie in the form of serialized stories and desperately needed advice.
Buying the idea of conspicuous consumption
Illustrated London News, 1891.
The Victorian Era was a time that saw the creation of a massive amount of wealth and a culture consumed with spending that wealth on inexpensive, mass-produced goods. The Victorian middle class participated in a rapidly commercializing world where the trinkets that made life comfortable quickly moved from store shelves to consumer households. Publishers began to sell space to merchants, lowering the price of newspapers and magazines. This new affordability created an increase in subscriptions to media and, not coincidentally, increased the number of people reading the advertisements. Merchants realized how effective this new selling plan was and created larger ads. They began to include idealized versions of the perfect middle class housewife as a way to sell goods to women eager to consolidate social position through the accumulation of things. This targeted advertising drew female customers into stores. It also had the unexpected consequences as middle class women realized they had choices in where and how they spent their money. The way goods were marketed and sold during the second half of the 19th century changed as merchants realized advertising to women drove business. With that realization retail was transformed.
Illustrated London News, 1889
Middle class women and mourning
Death rates were high during the Victorian Era and mourning was an aspect of life that almost every middle class household dealt with. Displaying grief through the consumption and display of mourning goods allowed middle class women to show their understanding of cultural rules. Of course, if they were unsure of what those rules were, they could find out by turning to their favorite magazine. Explaining proper mourning etiquette was a frequent subject in women's magazines. There were articles dedicated to answering questions regarding complicated mourning rules. In 1881 Sylvia's Home Journal even created a helpful list of clothing necessary for a new widow to purchase. It included a best dress covered in crape, 12 collars and cuffs, 12 handkerchiefs with black borders, and 4 black hose. Mourning was big business and mourning emporiums were happy to help women purchase all the goods necessary for proper mourning. This obsession with status created an opportunity for merchants to link consumption and middle class life in order to sell goods, and they did this with great success.
Looking at how mourning goods were marketed and sold allows a glimpse into the world of a Victorian middle class household. Advertising, quite by accident, created new opportunities for middle class women to interact with commerce, an area that was traditionally considered part of the male sphere of influence. All that changed as advertising successfully ushered in the rise of the female consumer and the era of the department store.
Looking at how mourning goods were marketed and sold allows a glimpse into the world of a Victorian middle class household. Advertising, quite by accident, created new opportunities for middle class women to interact with commerce, an area that was traditionally considered part of the male sphere of influence. All that changed as advertising successfully ushered in the rise of the female consumer and the era of the department store.
Small, dark, stores
In the years before the creation of department stores shopping involved going into small shops that sold one kind of item. A woman wanting to purchase a dress had to visit the linen draper for fabric, the haberdasher for trimming, and the dressmaker for designs. Once a design was approved the dress was created which involved a return trip to try on the item for any final alterations. There was no one shop that carried everything a middle class woman needed. Purchasing a complete outfit required entering several stores and dealing with many proprietors and shop assistants, most of whom charged the shopper based on her appearance.
The rise of department stores
Edgar and Swan department store, London.
For a Victorian woman shopping in 1860 was more of a chore than a treat. Since most middle class lived in the suburbs shopping involved taking the train into the city. Because only men could get credit during the Victorian Era, women had to be sure they either went to stores that knew them or accepted cash. Attending to personal needs was troublesome due to the long dresses, corsets, and crinolines worn. It was also difficult to find a safe clean restroom. Most businesses were not set up to accommodate female needs so shopping trips had to be well planned or well timed. There were few respectable restaurants where women could sit and eat, so at the end of a long day it was back on the train to home without stopping to refresh herself. These were just a few of the challenges that women faced in the early Victorian Era. The rise of department stores changed all that. These businesses understood what women wanted and needed, and created a shopping experience with the female customer in mind. They offered well lit interiors, elegantly displayed goods with prices clearly marked, and friendly staff to answer all questions and assist customers. They added restaurants where women could sit in safety and have tea with friends and cloakrooms with the privacy and comfort women needed to attend to physical needs. And, in a time when men were the only ones able to get credit, department stores moved to cash only policies making it easier for women to shop.
By appointment to her Majesty, The Queen
Illustrated London News, 1872.
The Victorian Era was a time when the presentation of home and self were essential to social success. Rapid industrialization created a world in which merchandise became both inexpensive and readily available. This created an environment where the things that were purchased and displayed by middle class women told others about her social status and knowledge of proper customs and etiquette. Cagey businessmen realized how important using Queen Victoria's seal of approval was to linking commerce and status to middle class women intent on maintaining social position. As a result they often used her name in their advertisements to promote the idea that the products being sold were of the highest quality and cache. In Victorian culture gentility and refinement were highly prized and owning certain goods represented attainment of those qualities.. Queen Victoria was the ultimate arbiter of what was acceptable and middle class women purchased almost anything that she did., or at least the goods merchants claimed she used, in order to share her glow of respectability.
Further Readings
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