Gender, fashion and representation in nineteenth century British art

This Major Research Project (MRP) examines the artistic production of British culture in the second half of the Nineteenth Century from 1850–1900, while critically engaging with existing nineteenth century art and literature, in order to deepen the understanding of the immense role played by fashion in the lives of Victorian women. I have approached this research study not through the examination of actual dress in its materiality, but instead, through its visual representation in paintings. These sartorial embodiments of women’s dress could help extend our understanding of artworks that are rooted in visual narratives—both literally and figuratively. Thus, this project aims to re-imagine histories of art through the analysis of the clothed body of women in nineteenth century paintings—for it is through their sartorial choices that women defied the Victorian ideals of femininity and femaleness.