Fashion of the time

The Victorian style of a tight corset for women had started to go out of style, and lacy shirts with hobble skirts were popular. Hobble skirts were very wide at the hips and very narrow at the ankles, and therefore hard to walk in! The early 1900s saw the start of women wearing work uniforms, with some women even wearing trousers.

Men wore two or three piece suits – trousers, a jacket and maybe a waistcoat. They also wore spats over their shoes to keep them clean, but spats were also considered to be very stylish. For formal occasions, men wore a tail coat with a waistcoat and a white bowtie.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/HobbleSkirtPostcard.jpg

A photograph of a man in a three piece suit and a woman wearing a hobble skirt

Fashion also indicated importance and trade hats in particular could show that you were in charge at work, or that you had a steady salary. For example, a foreman on a building site wore a bowler and was sometimes called ‘The Hat’. It showed everyone that he was in charge, but also protected him from falling rivets from the building work.

An illustration of a man wearing a bowler hat ©Shirley Hughes 2014