Suzi Clarke

19th Century Costumes

Thank goodness for Jane Austen and Mr. Darcy! There has been a great upsurge in interest in the early 19th century since Mr. Darcy rose dripping from that lake in the BBC television version of Pride and Prejudice.

On the big screen, Emma and Sense and Sensibility have also been influential, and there has been a corresponding increase in orders for clothes of this period for all ages and sizes.

Fashions during this century changed particularly rapidly and about every five years from 1830 till the end of the century there are obvious changes. Fortunately Victorian styles are also much in demand today for a variety of events.

Something rather different is required for members of the Napoleonic Association to wear on their battlefield excursions. Uniforms are a rather specialised area and I do not normally include them in my range, but camp followers can be very entertaining to work on.

For Swindon Museum and Art Gallery I made clothes for a well-dressed man and woman of about 1870, together with exact but child-sized copies, and outfits for a child-sized maid and butler.

I have also reproduced clothes and correct underwear for other museum education programmes including Gunnersbury Park, London and Walsall Museum and Art Gallery.