Edwardian Costumes
About Edwardian Costumes
Some things that are typical of Edwardian costumes are tailored jackets, embellished tea gowns, raised waistlines, & more daring V-shaped necklines. This was the last period where women wore corsets, in everyday life. The heavy, full dresses of the Victorian era gave way to a slimmer silhouette, with narrower, shorter skirts, straighter hemlines, and lighter fabrics.
The Edwardian era lasted during the brief reign of King Edward VII, from 1901 to 1910. The elite flaunted their wealth and wore rich fashions to tea parties, balls, garden parties, and the like. The popularity of leisure sports greatly accelerated the evolution of fashion, as clothing needed to be more flexible and accommodating.
These are Edwardian restyled outfits. All pieces were found at thrift stores, modified, and embellished. The tunics were adjusted to have hi-lo hemlines.
My customer loves to ragtime dance and wanted Edwardian costumes, designed specifically for that purpose. She bought materials for these outfits, which I created it from her designs. The fabrics are modern, but have a similar drape to period fabrics.
Her evening gown was made from my own design. The skirt has several tiers and is very flowy, with a raised waist. Short sleeves were typical for evening wear. I also made the headpiece.
Edwardian day ensemble. All of the pieces were found at thrift stores. I embellished the jacket lapel with small ribbon flowers and beaded fringe & added flowers to the hat.
The blouse and skirt were found at a thrift store. I made the raised-waist belt to harmonize with the skirt. You can see this kind of feature on Downton Abbey and The Titanic.
Adding a “yoke” is a common way to lengthen a skirt. To hide the yoke, I added a green silk skirt. This allowed us to hide her ankles for the sake of Edwardian “propriety”.
A pashmina scarf was used to embellish a matching skirt and top. The belt is made from pashmina scraps. The fabric allowed me to achieve a particularly flowy drape.
