Constance and Oscar Wilde’s Contributions to Fashion
The Rational Dress Society had an influence on Victorian style shifts
Layers of clothing, corsets, and long skirts were features of Victorian fashion. Various design elements aided the pursuit of the era’s much-desired hourglass silhouette. The style came with its costs, though: clothing could impede movement, be stifling in hot weather, and the tight-lacing of corsets could injure wearers.
Aestheticism rose in the latter quarter of the 19th century — some of its proponents claimed the stylistic conventions of the day objectified women. Oscar Wilde, a famous aesthete, would be one of the more prominent voices to speak out against certain fashion trends.
A road to custom dress
Oscar Wilde, the writer/philosopher, was a fixture of London society in the 1870s, in part as a result of his sense of dress. The 1881 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Patience would even lampoon his unique fashion sense. Unperturbed, Wilde turned the publicity to his advantage in the following year, when he undertook a North American lecture tour for the operetta, dressed in iconic coats and wide-brimmed hats.
Only a couple of years later, fashion would become even more prominent in his life. In 1884, Wilde married Constance…
