Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
What is interesting from the pictures posted, however, is the sheer variety of the Victorians' dress which indicates that there was actually a great deal less conformity then than there is now.
One thing I like about photographic documentation versus painted portraiture when establishing "how it was done" is that with portraiture there is always a degree of uncertainty about how the artist translated what they were seeing into the picture.

Most of us can spot the differences between knife pleats, box pleats and Reverse Kingussie (for instance), but a portrait painter may or may not have portrayed it accurately.

More specifically to Phil's comment, that's very insightful! The farther we are -- geographically, in time, or culturally -- from "how it was done," the fewer examples we have to draw upon to determine what's "right." Seeing these old photographs (and the coloured cuts that were done by one familiar with the topic) definitely opens up a lot of interesting discussions about how it's done now.

:ootd: