Victorian kit on a budget?

[IanS]

I usually do 17th Cent but have one event which is the Victorian Christmas at Portsmouth dock yards so need some ideas for cheap Victorian kit. The kit doesn’t have to be 100% authentic but just look the part since most of the other people there will be in modern stage costumes but I don’t want to be going out and getting expensive frock coats and the whole set up for something that would only get used maybe 1-2 days a year. The other problem being i'm a large chap 6 foot with size 50 chest so most of the fancy dress stuff you get looks wrong and wont fit.

So any ideas please?

[Mark Griffin]

2nd hand wedding hire stuff. But does rather depend on what you want to be....

[Phil the Grips]

I had a similar issue as a chap of the more "heroic" stature and the best options I could find were-
Modern wedding suits-
Ebay

"Cowboy" gear-
http://www.flbwesternwear.co.uk/epages/ ... _Ensembles

Basic suit-
http://www.civilwarsutler.co.uk/products/gentleman/

[IanS]

So something like these would be pasable?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230794801505? ... 1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230794820109? ... 1423.l2649

[Mark Griffin]

this seller good for cheap shirts and sundries

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Civil-War-Sutl ... 4340.l2563

[IanS]

Just got a jackets and bidding on dress shirt and trousers

[Mark Griffin]

a wee hint. get a flamboyant cravat rather than straight tie, bow tie or a bootlace. the bootlace especially makes you look like a western re-enactor.

Griff

[Phil the Grips]

Likes the ones from here-
http://www.darcyclothing.com/shop/

[IanS]

Oddly enough i was just thinking do i go tie or cravat.
Although was thinking navy to go with the jacket and presumbly grey top hat since black would look odd.

[Mark Griffin]

problem is the grey topper is a relatively modern invention for very formal occasions. I'd personally go black. Unless you have lots of weddings or race meetings and investitures coming up....

[IanS]

I presume tweed flat cap would be totally wrong?

[Phil the Grips]

Yes- unless you're Sean Connery in The Great Train Robbery and actually clambering along the carriage rooftops.

[Mark Griffin]

brown derby, its the only way!

There are suppliers on line who will do a short topper and brown derbys for 318 and 330 respectively, just dont ask for where before June 12th!

Deerstalker is good....

[Medicus Matt]

brown derby, its the only way!

With a grey coat and pinstripes?

You'll be advising him to wear brown shoes next.

Oik.

[IanS]

I presume it would be blue pinstripe trousers as in the picture with the jacket and grey or navy waistcoat then black top hat or bowler?

How much colour mixing could you do and still be authentic. Could you get a way with a loud Paisley Cravat and waist coat of differnt colour or best to stick to solid colours?

[Dave B]

Looking at pictures of victorian men, other than at formal events they mixed colours, tweeds and checks in a pretty flamboyant way.

By the way, if you want plain trousers, the cut of the fishtail back No.1 dress blues hasn't changed. I bought a pair on fleabay for about £18 and just unpicked the red stripe from the side, to use for doing a demo of victorian martial arts. they are really good quality wool trousers, very nice for reenacting in the cold and wet.

[CaptGrant]

I wont be there in stage costume!!! Mix up your colours....early Vics liked tartans and bright vibrant colours..that is until Ol Albert died in 61! NIce tall toppers are good...not the little wedding ones you see everyone wearing. Feet, a nice pair of gents boots..elasticated jodphur boots are perfect.

Alternatively spend a fortune on made to measure stuff!!!

[Phil the Grips]

Looking at pictures of victorian men, other than at formal events they mixed colours, tweeds and checks in a pretty flamboyant way.

Is Glengarry, boating blazer, tweed britches, hose, spatterdahes and brogues ecclectic enough?

[IanS]

Finally got my Vic Kit together:

[1850victorian]

What social status? What date? Remember that colour and clothing are dependant on date and social status

[1850victorian]

Black was a popular colour way before Prince Albert died. It always amazes me when this statement is made, black was used universally by all classes yes it is true to say plaids ,window pane wool fabrics were used in a verity of colours , waistcoats can be seen in a wide range of silk brocades but don,t exclude black. I have studied many contemporary paintings and photographic images as well as first person accounts and black is always seen as well as other colours.

If black was not popular until Alberts death then why is it that most frock coats made in the 1840,s and 50,s that survive in various collections are black? I agree colour was seen in men's clothing and was popular but don,t exclude black.

This is a interesting article on the development of the dye industry in the mid 19th century and the use in second halve of the century of Aniline dyes this added the bright colours to the Victorian colour palette , http://www.wollheim-memorial.de/en/ents ... dustrie_en. When we talk of bright colours before aniline dyes we are talking about vegetable based dyes yes they were colourful but not like the colours produced later. If using non vegetable dyed cloth for your mid Victorian impressions be careful not to use anything that could not be made by using a vegetable dye

[Mark Griffin]

Just got myself an excellent John Bull style hat from Kitty Hats in High Wycombe and stove pipes from Armordillo at Torm.

[John Waller]

The Berwick Street Hat Shop is worth checking out if you are in Town or online at https://www.euroaccessories.co.uk/

Lots of good fabric shops there as well.

[johncas]

Ebay all my stuff is original got them off ebay at cheap prices paid £50 for an edwardian frockcoat and under £20 for a victorian waistcoat try ebay you can get a bargin

[IanS]

Ebay all my stuff is original got them off ebay at cheap prices paid £50 for an edwardian frockcoat and under £20 for a victorian waistcoat try ebay you can get a bargin

Thanks for reply.
Original post was 6 years ago but E-Bay was the route i went in the end for kit.

[Henri De Ceredigion]

I usually do 17th Cent but have one event which is the Victorian Christmas at Portsmouth dock yards so need some ideas for cheap Victorian kit. The kit doesn’t have to be 100% authentic but just look the part since most of the other people there will be in modern stage costumes but I don’t want to be going out and getting expensive frock coats and the whole set up for something that would only get used maybe 1-2 days a year. The other problem being i'm a large chap 6 foot with size 50 chest so most of the fancy dress stuff you get looks wrong and wont fit. So any ideas please?

I've just noticed this (some six years later) and believe that the general assumption posted by others is generally correct, case in point (assuming that my awful 3MBps download, 320kbps upload can manage it) this is a picture that was taken when I appeared at a Christmas concert in Aberaeron in 2014 retelling the tale of "The Incident at the Lake" part of the Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens (and was told by a large number of people I looked very Victorian indeed)