Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Women's Fashion - 1910s

Women Golfing - 1905 (Middle Class Dress)

Evening Dress from 1912 - V&A Museum, London

Fashion Plate of the Upper Class in front of Harrods - 1909

Judging by the first few chapters in Women in Love, D. H. Lawrence seems to have a fixation with women's fashion of the time. He frequently dedicates paragraphs to outfit descriptions, especially those of Gudrun (i.e. p.7: "She was aware of her grass-green stockings, her large grass-green velour hat, her full soft coat . . ."). So, to better understand what Lawrence is talking about and to create a visualization for myself (specifically of Ursula and Gudrun), I looked up some pictures online of English fashion in the 1910s. My favorite is the third image of the women in front of Harrods. I would guess that Gudrun is aiming for this look, since she has just come back from London at the beginning of the novel. However, she and Ursula's means probably land them somewhere around the first image of middle class women. Hope this helps!

5 comments:

  1. These images are wonderful! Thank you. I wonder about the skirt length in 1914 or so: DHL is so obsessed with their tights--but these pictures make clear that ankles would have only been glimpsed, not seen.

    The tunic dress here http://blog.fidmmuseum.org/museum/2010/05/tunic-dress-c-1912.html is a little shorter and may better reflect the length of Gudrun & Ursula's dresses.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You’ve got some interesting points in this article. I would have never considered any of these if I didn’t come across this. Thanks!.
    womens tops and blouses

    ReplyDelete
  3. I admire this article for the well-researched content and excellent wording. I got so involved in this material that I couldn’t stop reading. I am impressed with your work and skill. Thank you so much.
    marine serre

    ReplyDelete