Fashions from the Girl's Own Annual, 1894-1895

The Girl's Own Paper began in 1880. Unlike its counterpart, The Boy's Own Paper, which specialised in adventure stories, the G.O.P. contained domestic and romantic fiction, along with good advice on health, beauty, cookery, clothing - and careers!

Through the Victorian era the Girl's Own Paper published a fashion column once a month. These were aimed at older "girls" - young women, really - from the prosperous, if not wealthy, middle classes. They described the ups and downs, and fads and fancies of fashion, offered dressmaking advice for those who wanted to follow the trends on a limited budget - and unlike today's fashion publications, never hesitated to criticize or admonish.

Looking back, these fashion columns give us an excellent picture of mainstream, if not ultra-fashionable, Victorian fashion. The following is a selection from one annual volume of The Girl's Own Paper.

"The tailor-made gown is as popular as ever to-day, and the new materials for thick gowns of all kinds are really numberless."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 27th of October 1894

"Everyone's inquiry at the early part of the winter season was, "Which will be worn, capes or jackets?" - a question which seems to have been decided in favour of neither, for both of them are used. The tall people, as a general rule, have adopted the cape, while the long and stylish-looking jacket chiefly numbers the people of medium height among its wearers. The popularity of the cape will, of course, endure as long as the sleeves remain so immense..."

"Blouses are quite as much worn as ever, and now seem to be made of everything, the most recent fancy being velveteen. The other day I saw a maroon-coloured one which looked very warm and comfortable, and was becoming as well. In fact, it seems difficult to distinguish between a bodice and a blouse, except that the latter differs from its accompanying skirt, and is rather more decorative than a bodice would be."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 24th of November 1894

"The question for bicycling for women seems likely to settle itself, and we shall be no longer perplexed by differing opinions as to what we should wear for the purpose, if it be true, as the newspapers inform us, that many of the women of title in England are taking lessons, and becoming expert riders. We shall probably, in this case, have some well dressed people to judge from, and we need not be led by any of the "new women" of whom we are always hearing, nor by the French ladies who have made themselves conspicuous by wearing the ugliest of costumes."

"A writer in one of the new periodicals asserts that there is "a boom in yellow" coming, which will supersede, if it have not done so already, the passion for green, and give us a colour sensation more positive as well as more enlivening; for in dress, as well as the present decoration of our houses, we are inclining to be more light and more joyous."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 29th of December 1894

"The event of last week was the exhibition of the Anticorset League, which was held in the Queen's Hall for two days only. The corset or bodice, exhibited as the only one recommended by the League, is a very good substitute, and seems to differ but little from it, save in the absence of the front busk. This is replaced by buttons and button-holes; the lacing, however, remains in the back..."

"The efforts made for the past year to introduce trimmed skirts have been practically useless. Nobody seems to take to them at all ; and the cut of the new skirts, with their godet pleats is graceful at every age, and is not peculiarly and distinctively suitable to either youth or age."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 26th of January, 1895

"The little neck-boas have become quite a uniform, but the best of them are now without the painful-looking little heads, and have two tails of the same fur at the ends."

"The popular shades of the season are cornflower-blue, deep magenta, periwinkle-blue, violet, pale bleau de ciel, green, and rose-pink. On both hats and bonnets violets of every shade of violet colour are seen, arranged with long stalks and one or two leaves."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 23rd of January, 1895

"The first thing to mention this month is, I think, the increased size of the skirts, which reach to nine yards round in the extremest case, and in lesser styles to about six."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 30th of March, 1895

"In reference to skirts, there is not much to be said, save that they appear to grow wider, and to require more material, every day. Six yards and a half are now needed for a gown, the material being forty-eight inches wide."

"Black satin blouses are both useful and smart, but white satin ones trimmed with lace are quite the newest idea for very best frocks. Striped silk and black satin on white silk, called in France Pekin, are also very pretty, and novel."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 27th of April, 1895

"The last new idea in the way of underclothing is satin knickerbockers, black being the colour most generally selected."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 25th of May, 1895

"There is no doubt about the popularity of the blouse. From the highest to the lowest everyone seems to wear it, and it is wonderful what numerous forms it can take... I have before spoken of the wonderfully beautiful colours in which it is now produced, and the pale hues for evening wear being very remarkable in tone and texture."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 29th of June, 1895

"I must devote a few lines to the bicycle. Now that fashion has adopted it, and made it "smart", I have no doubt it will take its place amongst the pastimes of Englishwomen of all ages. From our princesses downwards its use is gradually spreading, and even men of the best position are advocating it as a safe and excellent exercise."

"... The same seems to be the case in France and America; where the ladies are even in advance of ours, in their ideas of costume, and how its form should be adapted for the exercise. In both these countries a modified Turkish trouser, very full, with a high gaiter, seems to be liked; while here, a short well-fitting cloth skirt to the ankle is more liked than the divided skirt which has been so much recommended."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 27th of July, 1895

"Cornflower-blue has been the favourite colour this summer, and it has been found in everything, from gauzes and nets to cloth. Pink, shaded to reds, and all shades of green, ran the cornflowers very hard, and I think I notice a strong fancy, which probably will be greater later on, for yellows of all shades, but chiefly those which run down to a rich terra cotta."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 31st of August, 1895

"The sleeves of autumn are quite as large as those of the spring, and quite as much puffed-up with wire-like material to make them stand out, and these large sleeves do not seem to be declining in popularity at all, either here or on the Continent. From five to six yards are expended in making them, nearly as much as would have made a frock in days of old."

"I hear it rumoured that when the time for selecting our autumn gowns arrives, we shall find we are no longer to pile on our colours indiscriminately; but we are to wear everything to match, from our gloves, to our stockings, our bonnets, and gowns. This season we have had a return to our old fashion of the kind, in the adoption of white shoes and stockings for white dresses, and everyone thought how very well they looked; even though having worn black shoes and black stockings so long, we imagine our feet look huge in white ones."

"Girls' Attire : The Newest and Best", by The Lady Dressmaker, 28th of September, 1895

Suggested reading: Wendy Forrester Great-Grandmama's weekly: a celebration of The Girl's Own Paper 1880-1901 (Guilford and London: Lutterworth Press, 1980. ISBN 0718824504)