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The thought of the Victorian period reminds us of the rich, fashionable clothes worn by the men and women of this time. The Victorian period is the time when numerous changes took place in the lifestyle, clothing and other important factors governing the lives of these people. However, the fabric used during this time is no longer used today primarily because it is very expensive to manufacture.

In the late 1600s the English Textile Industry started producing cheaper silks in Britain. The fabric used by the rich and the aristocratic classes was silk. The usage of silk or even satin would indicate the wealth that family had and was thus regarded as a status symbol.
The poorer families however, wore simple clothes made from cheap fabric like cotton, linen, wool and were easily accessible around their houses. Thus, fabric dictated the status of a person in the society.
Another fabric used in Victorian era was Crepe. Crepe is crinkled surface of the light weight fabric. This fabric would be used to make a widows dress with a plain collar and broad weepers cuffs made of white muslin and crepe bonnet with veil.

Crepe was a fabric that was associated with mourning and is like silk. Dresses that were made from Henrietta and Melrose were trimmed with crepe. Henrietta cloth was a twilled fabric with a silk warp. Melrose was linen named after the town in Scotland it came from.
Bombazine was a fabric made from the mixture of silk and wool. This kind of fabric was normally used by the poor section of the society in the beginning of the Victorian period. There are references of women dyeing their black dresses when they were in full mourning. Collars, caps and cuffs were also made from lawn.
The word Lawn is derived from the word Laon which is a town in France. The fabric is linen and is used for making garments worn by clergy. The less wealthy people made caps and collars from muslin. Cambric was used to make mourning handkerchiefs. It is a plain, soft linen fabric at times was woven in cotton.
Silk and stuft was generally used for making petticoats. For making stockings, cashmere, silk or balbriggan were used. Balbriggan was also used for undergarments as it was lightweight and elastic which was perfectly suitable for the purpose.
More information on Victorian costumes and fashion:
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