Victorian Fashion Ephemera
This free printable vintage ephemera features pages from a clothing catalog dating back to the Victorian era. If you scroll all the way down, you will find three different sheets available for download. The sky’s the limit when it comes to journaling ideas for these ladies. I could see using a whole page as a background for a journal spread, cutting the ladies out in pairs or trios and adding them to a page, or fussy cutting them individually.
I added these to the Victorian section of my library of free printables, so be sure to also check there for more content. You may also like these sewing diagrams from the same time period that are posted in my sewing section.
The catalog these illustrations belong to was printed in 1882. Women's fashions in the 1880s were characterized by their elaborate and ornate style, as well as their adherence to strict social conventions.
At the beginning of the decade, the hourglass silhouette that had been popular in the previous decade continued to be fashionable, with tightly fitting bodices, full skirts, and exaggerated hips achieved through the use of bustles. However, as the decade progressed, this silhouette became more elongated and slender, with a more natural waistline.
The typical outfit for women in the 1880s included a long, high-necked bodice with tight-fitting sleeves that tapered at the wrists, paired with a full skirt that was often made from heavy fabrics such as wool, silk, or velvet. The bodice was usually adorned with elaborate trimmings such as lace, ruffles, or pleats, and often featured a bustle at the back to create the desired silhouette. Gloves, hats, and parasols were also important accessories.
Clothing catalogs in the Victorian era were an important tool for both retailers and consumers, allowing people to browse and purchase clothing from the comfort of their own homes.
These catalogs were typically printed on high-quality paper and featured detailed illustrations of the clothing items for sale. The illustrations were often accompanied by descriptions of the fabrics, colors, and styles of each item, as well as the prices and sizes available.
Catalogs were especially popular in rural areas where access to fashionable clothing was limited, as well as among women who were interested in the latest fashion trends but unable to travel to large cities to shop.
Overall, clothing catalogs played an important role in the Victorian era, democratizing fashion and making it accessible to a wider range of people than ever before.
Print these collage sheets and add them to your supplies for art journaling, junk journaling, bullet journaling, collage, artist trading cards (ATCs), scrapbooking, and other mixed media artwork and crafts.
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You may also enjoy these free collage sheets.
Terms of use:
Free to use for personal or commercial projects. You may print the collage sheets as many times as you wish for your personal crafts or in your projects to sell, including: art journals, scrapbooks, junk journals, collage art, etc. You may not redistribute or sell the collage sheets “as is" in either print or digital form.
If you wish to share the files on your own website, please do not make the files available for download directly from your site. Instead, include an image with a link back to this site.
To the best of my knowledge, these are all royalty free images that are in the Public Domain in the US. However, you should always do your own research if you plan to use them commercially.
