Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era

Lace bertha neckline 1856 very usual on early Victorian evening dress.

Illustration from Punch, 1857, showing the complete understructure of a fashionable woman's wardrobe.

An American suffragist and reformer, Amelia Bloomer led the forefront of dress reform in the 1850's propagating what became known as The Bloomer Costume (originally designed by Elizabeth Smith Miller), a very modest ensemble consisting of a knee length gown worn over demure Turkish trousers.

It is a measure of how severely cumbersome and repressed mid-19th Century Western women's clothes were that a garment worn by conservative Moslem women was so comparatively freeing in style that it actively shocked most contemporary observers.

Now look carefully at the 1870s picture again and notice that there is fullness at the front of the dress with this style of bustle. So around 1870 the bustle shows festooning drapery almost completely down the front or with an apron effect as shown in the 1870 header illustration. Also the hairstyle is very important. Note the fullness of ringlets and plaits.

Slim fitting trained dress with cuirasse bodice 1876. By 1878 the cuirasse bodice reached the thighs.