Just in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m pretty enamored by the Edwardian era. Obviously I love Titanic, but Somewhere in Time, Tuck Everlasting, and Downton Abbey also have a special place in my heart. I love the layered skirts, the elaborate updos, the beautiful jewelery, and the corseted figures. Sigh.
Not quite so “everyday” here…
Whenever I watch any of these films I am overtaken by a rather ridiculous and overbearing desire to be there… despite the fact that I would have been barely more than property back in those days. Oh well. I feel like the stunning homes and incredible dresses would have made up for it (scratch that if I would have been a servant, though… we all know this fantasy only works if I get to be stupidly wealthy).
So, given my undying love (and the conveniently timed popularity of Downton Abbey), I thought I would start up a bit of a series on the “Everyday Edwardian”—my ideas on how to introduce Edwardian inspired styling into your day-to-day life. Today will be a bit of an overview that focuses on the variety of ways the Edwardian period (and other historical eras) has been represented to us in popular culture. In the future I’ll go over silhouette, fashion, a wide variety of hair styles (I have devised many already!), make-up, jewellery, hats, and accessories, and anything else you can think to request!
I’m such a lady.
Interestingly enough, period movies are always a little bit biased to the time period in which they were made. There have been a lot of movies made about the Titanic—the first one was made starring an actress who was on the RMS Titanic when it sank. She even wore the clothes she wore on the maiden voyage as her costume.
I absolutely love this look!
Ever since, there’s been a movie or TV show every decade or so. Titanic (1943), Titanic (1953), A Night to Remember (1958), S.O.S. Titanic (1979), Titanic (1996), Titanic (1997), Titanic (2012)… and yeah. There are a lot more. It’s a pretty popular topic.
You could easily wear this hairstyle (or a version of it) today.
Anyhow, every time they make a movie or TV show about the Titanic, the costumes and overall character styling change to match the era in which the show or film was made. This is because we tend to perceive current fashions as “neutral”, so the filmmakers can throw some historical accents on top of everything and we take a look and figure that it’s pretty accurate. Then, 55 years later we start to think that the stars of the 1953 Titanic look like they’re starring in Mad Men.
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- Titanic (1943)
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- Titanic (1953)
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- A Night to Remember (1958)
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- S.O.S. Titanic (1979)
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- Titanic (1996)
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- Titanic (1997)
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- Downton Abbey (2011)
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- Titanic (2012)
The bias is very understandable—a lot of what was trendy in the 1910’s isn’t all that appealing these days. One of my favourites is how they used to save their hair sheddings and then ball them up and use them as custom-made bumpits they called “hair rats”. Their hair also tended to be a lot bigger and frizzier than we like now, and it wasn’t nearly as shiny or sleek.
Something else you might notice is the way the heroine is dressed vs. the way all the other characters are dressed. In Titanic (1997), Rose has all the most modern costumes—every other woman in the movie has far more historically accurate clothing and hairstyles.
Here you can see Rose is the only character not wearing a hat, she’s the only one with her hair down, and she’s also the only one showing cleavage. She doesn’t actually wear a hat in any scene other than the iconic boarding scene, and that is very historically inaccurate—especially for scenes where she is outdoors.
So; given the contemporary bias of all representations of the Edwardian era, I’ll be taking my cues from a combination of extant photos, more recent films and television shows, and current trends and sensibilities—by bringing the three together I should be able to find a perfect “everyday” middle ground. Stay tuned!
I have always liked Edwardian fashion as well so I look forward to reading more 🙂
Awesome! I’m glad to hear I have a kindred spirit or two in my love of Edwardian dress 🙂
I don’t know you, but I feel you would have fit in perfectly in that era. Your style suggest it and I find it quite charming.
Aww, thanks Delila! I was once told I had a face for period films, and I’m taking that as gospel truth 😉
This sounds really exciting! I’ve loved the Titanic and that time period’s fashions since I was 3. The differences in how we perceive both fascinates me too. I even wrote my first major college paper about how the Titanic movies have shaped the story of the ship and her one voyage to fit contemporary ideas and after a lot of “research” (aka movie watching) I noticed a lot of what you talked about here. Thanks for a great piece about an awesome topic!
Awesome! I love finding like minded Edwardian/Titanic nuts 😉 Your ‘research’ sounds awesome, gotta love homework that involves watching period films over and over again! Feel free to chime in with any requests or suggestions, I’m having tons of fun with this and almost don’t know where to begin, lol. I’ve got a few hairstyles up next, though 😉
Perfect timing. Just yesterday I was searching the web for everyday, modern looks that can hearken back to the Edwardian Era. I too adore the looks from Titanic the film and I love Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish’s styles. I will keep checking back and hope to see more ideas.
P.S. I love your entire blog. I have been following you since the beginning of Make It Count. You’re awesome!
Awesome! And I love that you’ve been following me since the beginning of MIC—I can’t believe I started that site over 11 years ago now. Wowza! I really should update it more… but at least the image gallery and video clips are still there are resources 🙂
I’ve got a couple Edwardian influenced hair styles I just loooove coming up soon, so stay tuned for those, and feel free to pass on any suggestions/requests for more additions to the series!
Do you sew your own clothes?
Hi Nancy! I don’t generally sew my own clothes, just costumes, and sometimes summer dresses and skirts. I don’t get much enjoyment out of sewing hoodies, jeans, and biking gear (which makes up the majority of my day-to-day wardrobe), but I loooove sewing Edwardian costumes, cute summer dresses, Halloween costumes, and other unique stuff you just can’t buy 🙂
Just can’t help passing this along… http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/02/10/the-forgotten-1950s-girl-gang/
Oh my goodness, this is just fantastic! I love it! How funny that they were considered to be rebellious, when now it’s just a little bit odd, and rather classy (or so I hope, haha). I am so envious that they could easily get authentic Edwardian clothes at vintage shops—I am so sick of all the floral printed polyester in the vintage shops here :/
Goodness! Edwardian fun, tea, DIY naturally~I believe I’ve found a kindred spiriti!
OOOoh, lovely! Shall we schedule an Edwardian themed digital tea party? 😉
I too am a lover of the Edwardian style. I wear a lot of long dresses and I do collect Downton Abbey type hats. Complete with beautiful hat pins. I get my hats reasonably priced online at Headcovers.com.
Awesome! It’s always lovely to meet another Edwardian lover 🙂 I haven’t had much luck finding good, long hatpins for less than a fortune, so right now I’m looking into buying blanks off eBay and then decorating them myself with beads and feathers. And thanks for the hats site!
This series was made for me! I adore the Edwardian look. The silhouette is really flattering, elegant, and practical. I’ve always viewed Edwardian style as having the best elements of Victorian, but in a calmed down form. Also my favorite artist, Alphonse Mucha, has some Edwardian influence in his illustrations, since he was working during that era.
Thanks for making this!
Yay, a fellow Edwardian-lover! I love Mucha, too—I visited an exhibit of his work when I was in Prague last year and SWOON 😀