formal dress for upper- and middle-class Englishmen and women in the 1870s

Jacket

A form of the single-breasted lounging (or lounge) jacket known as the Albert. More than a decade earlier (in the '60s) the the modern men's suit -- or lounge suit, as it is known in Great Britain -- first became popular when jacklet, trousers, and waistcoat appeared in the same fabric.

Trousers

Throughout the 1870s tubular trousers "were at equal length at knee and ankle," and after the 1860s straps under the foot became uncommon, though the man with wide-brimmed hat one seems to be wearing trousers with them (142)

Footwear

Short ankle-length boots with either elastic sides or laces.

Source of Image

Detail from an illustration by George Du Maurier for the February 1876 Cornhill Magazine.

References

Nunn, Joan. Fashion in Costume, 1200-2000. 2nd edition. Chicago: New Amsterdam Books, 2000.


Last modified 11 June 2001