My Love for Victorian/Edwardian-era Modelling
- JE Stanway
- May 16, 2021
- 2 min read
May 16, 2021
I recently finished a photoshoot for The Postmodern Journal, which I've labelled "Meg March at the Ball." I tried my best to make the photos resemble Victorian-Era film plates, as well as to curl my hair and use makeup methods that models of the era would have used, such as deep-pink powder and lip rouge. I've always admired the style of Victorian/Edwardian Fashion Plates, in particular, the shoots that Maude Fealy was a part of. There was such a focus on femininity and natural beauty. They only used the most minimal of beauty products, and often you'd see models in delicate muslins with their hair laying on their shoulders.
I believe the lack of hairpins was such a statement at the time, considering women over the age of eighteen generally didn't wear their hair down. Women used to grow their hair quite long, many had hair so long you could sit on it. They did their hair up in paper curlers, which caused tight corkscrew curls to fall and loosen, adding a natural buoyancy and volume. I followed the tight curl method for these photos, and couldn't believe how much body I had in my hair, even though my hair is naturally curly. In my Edwardian-fashioned photos (which I'll post in another article), I pulled my hair into a voluminous pompadour with hardly any effort. When I think about how much work goes into the fashion and modelling industry nowadays, how no one can be on camera without spending hours with a hair and makeup team, it really makes me appreciate the turn-of-the-century for how much they valued natural beauty, and what they focused on emphasizing.
Models of the era were often curvier than you'll see nowadays, as curves were considered quite fashionable. The same went for silent film stars; they didn't have to be sticks to be considered beautiful.
Perhaps that's one of the reasons I have such a deep love for the Victorian and Edwardian era- there wasn't such a focus on phoniness and having the perfect body. People worked hard and ate real food, therefore a lot of women would have more muscle and more fat on their body; but in a healthy way, a sort of industrious beauty. When I see photos and films from this time period, it gladens me to see the loveliness, the almost effortless beauty that the women involved exuded. There was a time when people weren't being fed lies about their appearance, and they didn't have to be a size 2 to be considered worthy of photographing.
Which fashion era is your favorite and why? Let me know in the comments!
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