Why Did Victorian Women Change Their Clothing 5 times a Day? | An Explanation 

Adelaide - This was my Grandmother. So yes it means I am not far off of 90 myself. Father was born 1902 the last of 4 children. Grandfather was a moderately well known London architect and they lived in the country a trains ride from London. They had a maid of all work, a gardener and an ostler to see to the horse and carriage. But life was not easy, grandmother did much of the work like bottling fruit, washing and ironing and seeing to the children. But father remembers her in what he called Merry Widow style clothes. She pinned brushes under the back of the dress to pick up the mud and horse dirt, they were removed and washed. My father as a boy was dressed in a sailor suit and hat to be taken to the local town in the carriage to go shopping. Grandma saw me as a baby and I have a photo of her holding me, but she died soon after. I studied Historical Costume myself at Art School in the 50s and have remained interested all my life. A very good video and well made clothes.

I love the little time anchoring bits-“when your mother was a girl” “when you got married”- it really helps with the timeline and humanizes the fashion as things worn by people instead of just pretty pictures

By God's mercy. Watching this just made me beyond grateful for my leggings and shirt. Not gonna lie, that silhouette was divine, but all those buttons and layers of cloth would kill me. Thanks for the wholesome content! 🤩

My grandfather was the youngest of 22 children, all single births! Seriously, my great grandmother was the british equivalent of “Irish Maggie” who wore the same dress all the time, but a succession of aprons, worn one on top of the other. A sacking apron on top for clearing the grates, scrubbing the floors and etc. under that the housework apron, for dusting, sweeping etc, anther one for kitchen prep and taking food deliveries at the kitchen door. Finally the neat white apron for answering the door to visitors! I used to use “Granny’s Aprons” as a maths project with my first grade classes!

modern men: women take so long to get ready! victorian women: hold my basket

This was hilarious! Are we really so different today though? I eat breakfast in my pajamas, change to office attire for an 8-hour gauntlet of zoom calls and excel wrangling, then change into comfy clothes to cook, clean, and relax at the end of the day, then back into a cozy robe or pajamas for one last round of RU-vid binging before bed...

I just had a weird flashback to my childhood where i had "play clothes", school clothes, house clothes, "good clothes". I used to think it was an germ phobia of something but my Great-grandmother, Grandmother, and Mother were raised this way. My family made 99.9% of whatever was worn other then under garmets or super special occasions. I was blessed enough to have inherhited a closet of period clothing(damn me for being born waay taller and fuller is chest then all the previous women in my family).

My father was born in 1892 and was one of five children. They lived in Brooklyn and my Grandfather worked for a haberdashery with Jane Fonda's grandfather. I remember my father and Grandmother were always so well dressed. Impeccable. And after my father died, my mother remarked that she never in all their years of marriage had to pick up one sock or any clothes that he dropped on the floor. Today is Veterans' Day. My father fought in all seven major European battles in WW One. The trenches were awful. Thank God we won.

This one inspired me to actually do the household chores for today, I put on an apron and pretended I have to explain all the wonders of modern living to a victorian woman

My grandmother was part of that Victorian stereotype. She was only 8 years old when her parents sent her to work for another family. She had to clean, cook and do everything else that no one wanted to do in exchange for money being sent back home to her parents. This was in Europe. She ended up moving to the U.S. as a young adult with her husband. She had 7 kids (2 died as infants) My Dad was born as a first generation American. I cannot imagine being shipped to another family at such a young age to do hard work. Not to mention moving to a country where you don’t know the language. The Victorian era seemed so glamorous but when we dig a little deeper, we see how difficult it was for some people. Thank you for the video, I really enjoyed it.

My great grandmother had 22 children! Only two died and they were two boys who were killed in WW1 fighting in France. A story was that if my family walked out of a certain factory it would close down! Thanks so much for the video. I studied costume and costume history, what a faff!!!

Hi Adelaide - thank you for such informative videos. I was raised by my grand-mother (born 1889, died at 102 years of age). My grand-mother was a college graduate but according to local customs, had to get married "... cause that was the purpose of a woman to raise a family..." The community married her to a farmer of the same age. Despite being raised on a farm, riding horses, doing farming chores, I never saw my grand-mother wearing pants or shorts. She always wore a skirt or a dress, with or w/o an apron for house/garden work. She made her own clothes (and mine). I am amazed on all the work that older generations did without the niceties that we enjoy. Thank you for sharing part of our history with younger generations, Ciao, L

So, most of the time, even watching a funny video, I just chuckle a bit. But then I heard "Irish Maggie does her best, but she's only six years old," and I laughed so hard I woke up my actual six-year-old. Oh, man. Thank you so much for that laugh. I truly needed it.

You said we could skip the getting dressed scenes, but I couldn't look away. It's just too much! We take lessons for things less complicated than putting on that day dress!

I’m a middle class house wife and I have several outfits I wear a day. A sturdy house outfit for cleaning, work out clothes, a nice outfit for picking up the kids and talking to other moms, back into the cleaning outfit! Then a pajama set.

Wow. That brings back memories of my grandmother. She was born in 1881, and there were pictures of her as a very young woman. She had her hair in a Gibson Girl hairdo, and she wore a high neck blouse, with the pintucks in the front, the legolamb sleeves, with the corset and the petticoats under a skirt that flared in the back. Of course, she also had the shoes that button up. They had a black manservant, who had just stayed doing what he did, even after he was emancipated. He was just part of the family. My mom called him "Uncle Theodore". Nanny still wore a corset when I was a little girl. And the black special occasion dress with the lace collar. One day she went wild, and bought a bright red hat, though, lol. The world went from horse and buggy to the men on the moon in her lifetime.

We're really not all that different now. I get up, change into my scrubs, go to work, come home, change OUT of my scrubs and into cozy home clothes, probably change again if I need to go to the store or something, and would also need a specialized outfit if I were going to a party or planning to work out. The Victorian wardrobe only seems weird to us because of the relative complexity and time required, but we still have functional costume changes today.

My grandma and most of the women in the town washed clothes on Mondays. They were hung up till almost dry then she'd usually roll them loosely and iron them the next day. Baking was done on Tuesdays or Wednesdays and Market days were Thursdays and Saturdays (the days the farmer's markets were held). Sweeping and trash burning was done on Fridays. If anyone burned trash on any other day they were considered an a-hole (it might have been even illegal) because the soot would get on things like laundry or if someone were painting.

My Nanna was Clarice Adelaide, she sadly passed in 1999. She still wore a corset, bloomers, stockings attached to the corset, underskirt, full slip for bust & down to mid thigh, underskirt/petticoat. Only in the summer heat would she consider taking off anything.

Those of us of a Certain Age (80s kids) remember dressing up slightly to go to school, and then having to change into "play clothes" upon returning home. Also dressing up for church was A Thing until the 2000s when we all switched to Business Casual. One still gets changed several times a day- one would not go to yoga and then the office in the same attire, after all!

HOLY HECK!!! I had no idea women went through this, back then. I actually appreciate the putting on and taking off sequences, because they show us an approximation of the real difficulties. I also find it hilarious that you lounge around in various outfits, while there's a whole bunch of modern stuff in the background like the electric piano. Equal parts Snark and historical accuracy, combined to make a really great video. Thanks for the effort!

This is fascinating.... I almost had a panic attack while watching the buttoning of the going out dress...The thought of being trapped in an outfit was daunting...❣️

My dad’s mother inherited her grand-moms fire heated, heavy non-electric, clothes iron and still used it when my dad was a kid. It weighed a ton, but apparently once used to it, pretty much did the job, and could be used for life - not sure you could break it if you tried.

My takeaway is that life was very structured during that time. Women learned to push aside discomforts like being sick, tired or stress and were cornerstones in their home. Their personal appearance carried over how their family was viewed. My mother had tried to get my great grandmother to wear a pair of pants under her dress in the winters of western New York in the snow belt, and she thought it was rubbish for women to wear men's clothes! :)

honestly the modern equivalent would be changing out of your PJs into your athletic wear for a morning workout if you have one, then changing into work clothes, whatever those are for your profession, and then changing into more casual clothing (or athletic wear for an evening workout) for after work, before changing into you PJs once again for bedtime. I usually change about three or four times a day, personally. And of course we have specialized clothing as well, swimsuits and cycling clothing might look different today, but they still exist. Motor cyclists have their own special gear, and I've got an entire wardrobe of outdoor clothing for multiday hikes and camping.

This is both very informative and HILARIOUS 😂 I hope Irish Maggie and the 27 children are doing well

I always thought I wanted to live back in that era, but this has shown me that I’m glad I was born when I was!

All the best parts of a BBC period drama, and none of the contrived plot twists. Loved every minute, thank you so much for sharing all the little getting-dressed details! That plaid workdress especially stole my heart. Would love info on whether you sew your garments and if so what patterns you use, or, if not, where you source them. Thank you!!!

This was so fun and informative. I pity the husband trying to put all the 27 children in bed alone! In Finland the hats symbolised upper class. The working class people wore square scarves that were folded diagonally and tied under the chin. My grandma, who was a farm wife, still wore a scarf until she died. I think she only tool hers off to sleep and to wash. Hats became more common in cities and then the countryfolk were gossiping about those folks that moved to the city and came back wearing a hat!

This is absolutely awesome. I know we are all thinking how ridiculous it is to take this long to get dressed, but we sometimes spend just as long or more to do our makeup and hair when going out. We have decided to focus more time on that than clothing. Everything changes and stays the same. So appreciate your content and using the word "monobosom." 🤣

The concept of changing clothes for the appropriate occasion hasn't changed. It's just that less occasions require formal wear nowadays.

This was great. My grandmother was born in 1900. My mom says she wore hat and gloves to town whenever they went. Her hat, gloves and shoes always matched.

The vaccum! 😂 I love the video, and I laughed a lot. Seriously however, after a few months researching historical clothing, you get to understand they did things like us most of the time. Tea gown after waking up and before going to bed = loungewear Fashionable gown for outside = what people consider normal clothes (some jeans and t-shirt for a lot of people) House dress = old comfortable clothes to do chores And then it doesn't seem so far fetched.

You make some good points. People hear something about the past and just repeat what they hear without thinking. Maybe rich women changed five times a day, but not my grandma and great-grandma. I knew my grandma, born in 1883, well and she told me a lot of things. You are right about the "house dress" for in the morning. "Get your work done up in the morning," was the saying. And in our family a lot more of the work was done by the women of the family. They did have a maid, but the maid was usually pretty incompetent. My grandma never forgot the maid who emptied the leftover tea out the window all over my grandma's new blouse! She had made it of white lawn with pin tucks and insertion and it was beautiful. When it was done she dampened it and ironed it and hung it on the line to let the dampness thoroughly dry. And the maid threw the tea all over it! Grandma had no confidence in servants. After housework, etc. in the morning grandma (and great-grandma, b. 1867) got cleaned up and put on afternoon clothes. If they were not going out, these would not be elaborate gowns, but nice enough to receive a friend if they dropped in. By the time my grandma was grown, about 1900, there was a telephone and groceries were ordered by phone and delivered, so there was no need of a market basket with your good clothes. If you went out shopping or paying calls you changed back into the house dress to cook dinner and unless there was company coming you stayed in that dress until bedtime. Something you don't mention is a "combing jacket." I still have one of these made by my grandma. It is made of a strip of light toweling. A slit is cut and an opening for the neck to make something to throw over the shoulders after one is dressed while you comb your hair. That way any hairs that fall, fall on the combing jacket and not your clothes. The one I have is finished around the edges with pretty crochet work. I hope you find all this interesting, as I found your video!

The contrasting collar on your green plaid dress is adorable

I have always done multiple clothing changes a day. First dog walking clothes, then a comfy sweater dress for most of the day, then change to go teach a yoga class, shower and change into clean clothes when it's not quite PJ hours yet

as someone who struggles with not having enough hours in the day, i think id simply go insane over the amount of "wasted" time on clothing changes 😭

5 outfit changes sounds ridiculous, until I count out how many times I change in a day and realise it's *6 times* 1) Birthday suit to comfy clothes 2) Comfy clothes to work clothes 3) Work clothes to gym clothes, to go gym 4) Gym clothes to work/clean clothes (to take public transport back home) 5) Work clothes to comfy clothes 6) Comfy clothes to birthday suit

That market dress was divine!

So it's like having sweats on in the morning, putting jeans on to go out, maybe changing into an old shirt when you do chores, and if you have time wearing sweats again before you go to bed. Lovely information, loved the dresses, and thank you for showing us actually getting into them.

Wow I'm honestly fascinated by the vacuum. I had no idea they were that old. I guess I just assumed they were invented around the 1940s/50s

As some others have said, I was struck by how similar we really are today, I’ll wake up in my pyjamas, change into my robe, have coffee, change into my work out clothes, come home shower, change into my home casual clothes, if I have to go out I’ll put on my nicer ‘shopping’ clothes, when I come home I change back into my comfy clothes, then change again after dinner into my pyjamas again. So I’m probably doing even more dress changes then in the video. Of course the difference is mine take a couple of minutes, but I’d argue I’m doing way more washing 😅

I love your 'Censored' sign. I'm glad that you are keeping even your dressing section historically accurate. Love your morning paper commentaries. I also love your choice of music and your telegram. 😊🌺🌺

Her tea gown in modern day would be considered insanely fancy and worn to banquets, dinner dates, weddings, etc... Amazing

How did I end up here?! Who knows but so glad I did! The effort that went into this video and the women of the time are just unbelievable!!!! Loved every minute “your brother is dead STOP” hahahaha I’m obsessed

6yo Irish Maggie killed me! 😆 And the fact that you even included a disclaimer that people didn't have 27 children and didn't employ 6 year olds made me consider other extreme stereotypes that some people believe about the era, that should also come with a disclaimer. (But people did sometimes have 12 children and employ 12 year olds, so it was only a slight exaggeration!)

My first instinctive guess for an answer to your headlining question is “failed escape”. Second would be “bramble under the bell”

As a woman who is naturally pretty hot all the time, I’m sweating just watching this. My lord, I’m grateful to have been born in the era I was born in. And can you imagine having to get these complicated dresses taken in or let out if you should ever lose or gain five or ten pounds? My weight fluctuates quite a bit. I can sew, but my goodness, I’d be sewing endlessly for the whole family, it seems.

This was a wonderful and informative video. I dress vintage (1940's - 1950's) most days and I too change clothes a few times a day. Robe in the morning for breakfast, housedress for cleaning, and a nice dress for running errands. It goes to show how we haven't changed as much over the years as people would like to think.

I have no idea how the algorithm decided to randomly put this video in my recommended videos but I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks for the fun historic glimpse into the dress habits of our ancestors. ❤

My paternal great grandmother use to change three times a day but by the 1950s it got down to two times as they didn’t have as many staff. You had an outfit for the morning. Then change into an outfit for having visitors in the afternoon then an outfit for dinner in the evening. The only other change would be if going for a walk or riding that would require two different kind out outfit. You couldn’t wear a walking outfit to ride as the skirt was more straight. A friend of the family managed to embarrass herself by trying to go side saddle in her walking skirt. As she got on the horse the skirt moved upwards exposing her knee to the shock of her friends and the delight of my male relative who wrote about her alabaster knee in his diary.

I just want to point out something funny I noticed from your thumbnail. Photos back in the Victorian era took about 30 seconds to a minute to capture an image. So this girl held that bawling face for such a time. Aboslutely hilarious 😂😂😂

Omg my family was a legit stereotype 😂 My 11th great grandmother actually had 25 children, 21 of whom lived well into adulthood and my 10th great grandmother had 20 children, of whom 18 lived well into adulthood. Idk how either of them did it; it had to have been an absolutely wild house lol

That telegraph killed me 😂You are hilarious! "your brother is dead STOP"

I love that “working around the house dress” and would actually wear it.

the checkered dress she wears while cleaning is lowkey really cute?? I could definitely see that style coming back (w/o the corset lol)

essentially, people always had some type of mornign and evening "i'm at home and don't have to impress anybody" type of loungewear

Well, that was fun! I’m 62, and when I was a little girl, I remember playing with my great grandmother’s darning eggs and button hooks, and looking at-but not touching-her 4-inch-long hat pins. I still have my grandfather’s collar box full of celluloid collars. Times sure have changed. Dressing, so much easier!

Oh my goodness, what a delight this was to watch. You did an excellent job in clearly explaining each and every part of the video. My grandmother died at 106, and used to tell me about the clothing of her time. I am almost 70, and there's a part of me that wishes we could go back to people trying to look tidy when then went out. Thank you so much for your very hard work on this. Just wonderful.

Aprons are supremely practical! And you can customize them for purposes… the sewing one with pockets for yarn and needles and scissors… the splash protecting cooking one…

Can you imagine what a hot flash was like in all of those clothes? Props to these women!

I am 74 and my grandmother lived in a very small town in the middle of Texas. I remember that she always put on make up, a hat and gloves to go into town which was only a few blocks away. It seemed so curious to me at the time. My how customs change over time. Sometimes now in the cities, I have even seen people go to Walmart at night in their pajamas!!!!!!

*Me thinking to myself at the beginning * ugh this is going to ruin my algorithm if I click on this girl, I already follow an old time clothing channel… * 5 mins lay-tier* SUBSCRIBED 🙌🏼

I have some more modern things like this that my mom and grandma had taught me. Like, you DON'T leave the house in PJs (no matter how quick the run). They always put make up on (I rarely ever wear any, myself). But we also have "lounge clothes", aka not jeans or other bottoms that aren't just plain comfy! And then of course more fancy wear, or hiking specific clothing (things I'm not afraid to dirty or tear).

The most interesting part for me was actually how quick the changes are when someone knows what they're doing.

"Having reached its apotheosis in both form and function, fashion has no reason ever to change again." Mood.

This was a fascinating video, both highly education and entertaining! Thank you for leaving in the getting-dressed parts, they not only gave us a rare glimpse into how the various pieces of an outfit were put on, but it gave me a whole new appreciation for my own clothes and how easy they are to put on in comparison. The humorous bits were also a nice touch, especially those about the phone and plane being impossible, but airships from Mars were a plausible thing. Science? Never heard of that!

i really enjoyed your video and I think people forget that we still do this today subconsciously! We have clothes we wear for work, sleep, going out to dinner, special events, lounging around the house, for cleaning, swimming, camping, exercise, maybe even travelling (I wear slacks on a plane or long trips because it's more comfortable). I find that I naturally change clothes usually when I go to the supermarket because I don't want people seeing me in my lounging clothes. This seems to be changing in society though as more people are wearing lounging clothes when they go out too.

If anyone didn’t know that the 27 children wasn’t a joke, well…great video. Things definitely moved slower. Even in my day with pantyhose, big hair, makeup, slips, etc., it was just what you did but in retrospect, it was a lot of work.

Definitely the same today. I've always had pajamas, work/house/yard clothes, town clothes, and clothes I throw on when someone pops up and I need to look presentable for visiting. I don't change into each of these every single day (because the life of an introvert means visiting is rare) but I have very specific outfits for very specific times.

The bit about leg-of-mutton sleeves reminds me of the Skinny Jeans Purists

"There is no need for extended greetings" Perfect!! l like your style!

Dress shields, armpit/sweat pads are still in use by many women in our era. Some things are a good idea and stick around. That 1850's dress with the lace is lovely.

My grandmother, who had a large part in raising me, was born in 1891. Her mother must have worn the middle or working class clothes. It was a pleasure to watch your video! It helped me to visualize their lives and feel close, rather than remote, to my great grandmother. Thank you!

The plaid get-up looks beautiful with your complexion... thank you for putting this together.

My grandmother was a dressmaker back in that time. I grew up with a trunk of costumes that I loved!

Very interesting, and changing process is not boring. It shows how much energy and patience those ladies must had had to deal with all the corsets, covers, underskirts etc

Have you ever thought about making historical comedy skirts? Your sarcastic jokes and non chalant delivery had me in stitched! Plush fishie accompanied by two whole lemons is now forever in my heart

I love the care that you put into each of the ladies’ outfits - just like a lady would have taken. I particularly like the little details, like Ms. working class’s beautiful lace collar and gloves.

knowing about how laundry was done, makes all these changes make a lot more sense

I have an iron, just like the one shown, from my grandmother who was born in the late 1870s. She gave birth to my father when she was in her mid 40s. When I was a teenager, I heated that iron on the stove and did all my ironing with it. Thought it was one of the coolest things ever, and no getting burned by steam. Really enjoyed this.

This was so entertaining. I liked her jumping right into the the video and forgoing a boring prolog. I wouldn't have the patience to dress myself like that today, but how intriguing were these fashions! One part I did not like was the high volume of the music. It was annoying. I had to turn it down then quickly up to hear her speak. She is so pretty and made a good model for the attire. I'm glad for the comfort of today's fashions, yet I would love to wear the Victorian look with today's comfort. What a delightful treat this was for me.

I love how Irish Maggie was six years old. But of course! Child labor was all the vogue!

That was exhausting. All I could think during the changing montages, was “Thank GAWD for velcro, elastics, adhesives, and zippers”

I can't imagine wearing so many "layers" of clothing, it seems like it would be stifling and so very uncomfortable. 😱 Just discovered your Channel, LOVE this !!!

This was a fun way of not only seeing into the mechanics of Victorian costuming, but also to learn more about daily life. Thank you

Having a lot of children was extremely common up until relatively recently in the West, and still happens quite frequently in the Global South.. Perhaps 26 was not frequent, but my grandfather was the youngest of 23 children, all single births, and we have a cousin on my mother's side who was one of 26 children, same mother-and in Ireland!

It's Christmas day 2022, I will forever be grateful I was born in this day when everything has become a lot less strenuous. Loved this video!

So fun! Thank you for all of you creativity. Underarm shields and waist tapes - two things I’ve not seen other you-tubers mention.

FYI my great grandpa was the oldest of 23 children. On another note keep in mind deodorant was not really what it is today. No air conditioning, coolers, or electric fans. Airing out layers of clothing helped keep you and your clothing fresh. Many women didn’t have more than a handful of complete outfits. Also, laundry “day” could take 2-3 depending on soaking, weather, ironing, etc. I’m glad she touched on the fashion moving more slowly compared to today. Also glad she touched on accessories. They were more affordable and if done properly-they could change the entire look of the exact same dress. (Still practiced today by people who are both fashion and money savvy)

I'm sure it was tedious making this video but I really loved it! Examining the everyday lives of regular people is my favorite aspect of history, and this was an interesting window into the lives of Victorian women and such a fun video. Thanks for making it! ❤

"The Entertainer." I love that song!

"Irish Maggie does her best, but she's only 6 years old..." That part really got me 😂 But honestly, I sometimes change several times a day for practical purposes, for example, if I'm going to do some gardening or grimy housework, I'll put on some older clothes I don't mind getting dirty. I also like to put on something more comfortable when I get back from work, and then into pajamas right before bed (though sometimes I'll just go straight to the pajamas). The main difference seems to be that it takes me about 2 minutes to change rather than 5+.

I found the underarm deodorant pads very interesting because, although I was born in 1950, one of my classmates in high school used them. As a free hippy 70's spirit I hated the feel of them but had lots of underarm perspiration and tried them out - until my Godmother turned me on to Mitchum. I had no idea these were so old. Fab video full of real life history.

The mercerized cotton suit is gorgeous 😍 I love how people would “dress up” to go out in public.

The vacuum cleaner omg 😳 a spray funky contraption LoL 🤣

I love how you placed each outfit into context and explained the practicality that the outfits could serve. Thanks including the wardrobe changes. I love to see how different outfits can come together.

My grandmother, born in 1898, said that her elders argued over whether it was proper to only wear one petticoat or if you had to wear two!

Good vid. I read a lot of period novels. I’d be greatly interested in the changing for upper class dining and going to balls, teas, musicales and paying calls.

I LOVE your narration and sense of humor. But can you turn down the music in-between the dialogue? - It was hurting my ears - and I'd turn it down, but then when you started narrating again, I couldn't hear you as easily. So I was in a quandary. But your totally worth listening to!!! very educational and entertaining.