This is another material dedicated to the stage costumes used in a new Canadian TV series called “Anne with an E”. Here, we will talk about the typical fashionable outfits from the period – the turn of the 20th century. Which underpinnings did women wear? What did their dresses, hairstyles, hats, and other accessories look like? And how did the costume designers incorporate that era’s fashion trends in the movie costumes of this series? You’ll see beautiful authentic garments from museum collections that gave inspiration to the wardrobe team.
This article is based on the video from YouTube channel “Costume CO”.
Read also: Stage costumes in “Anne with an E” TV show. Anne Shirley-Cuthbert and the Avonlea girls
Stage costumes in Canadian “Anne with an E” series – examples, main features, indigenous clothes
To give you some context, here are a few examples of the silhouette of women's dresses from the late part of the 19th century. More importantly, it was the understructures worn by the women that gave us this exaggerated nip waist - full hip.
Dress, late 1890s
American dress, 1897
Jessica Glasscock writes in her essay for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum, “With the increased reliance on steel boning and ever more complex pieced construction, the corset became capable of delivering an armored underpinning to conform the body to an hourglass silhouette. The innovations in corset construction also allowed for more pressure to be placed on the waistline than had been possible in the 18th century”.
American dress, 1898-1900
Dress, about 1900
Alex Reda said, “It was great to not have aunt Josephine wearing a corset for this episode, which is a huge deal for that period”.
Fashion writer Dolores Monet writes that “The Aesthetics viewed corsets and the rigidity of the day as unattractive and artificial. It was an essence of fashion revolution”.
Aesthetic dress was a fashion movement in the second half of the 19th century that rejected highly structured and heavily trimmed Victorian trends in favor of beautiful materials and simplicity of design, like we see with aunt Josephine’s gown.
In this painting by William Powell Frith, we see examples of this style of dress.
The John Bright Collection states that “The characteristics of Aesthetic dress, which these gowns tended to incorporate, can be seen in this example: a style based on medieval or classical dress, loose and appearance, made from fine soft fabrics in subtle colors, and embroidered in distinctive stylized designs”.
Tea gown, late 1890s
Foundation garments are the unsung heroes of costume design because they are rarely seen but create the correct silhouette. Much is made about the corset throughout the three seasons of “Anne with an E” and its themes of coming-of-age and female modesty in contrast to Victorian dress reform.
So you'll notice that all of the adult women in “Anne with an E” wear corsets. There are only two exceptions mentioned in the show: Miss Stacy and Mrs. Barry.
This style of boned corset pictured here was called a long short corset because of the height of the sides. It featured a front busk with back lacing. The corset on the left, sold for $1 in 1899.
Corsets, 1899, 1900-1905
The corset was worn over a chemise made of cotton or linen that absorbed sweat and oils and created a barrier between the skin and the corset, which was never washed.
Here's another example – a stunning embroidered corset (1890-1900) trimmed with lace from Augusta auctions. Just because it was hidden, didn't mean that it couldn't be beautiful.
Here are two examples of corset covers from McCord Museum.
Corset covers, 1900-1910, 1890-1900
According to Underpinnings Museum, such a garment would have ordinarily been worn over a corset to conceal the corset color and lines from showing through outer garments. Corsets were often brightly colored, and hardware such as busks and petticoats could create unsightly lines through fine fabrics.
Part of a woman's underpinnings wardrobe would also include cotton or linen drawers – either opened or closed – and long petticoats like we see pictured here. These are all from the McCord Museum.
Underpinnings, about 1900
Miss Stacy's masculine style silhouette is looked down upon by the less than progressive Mothers Sewing Club.
McCord Museum states that “By the late 19th century, taboos against cross-gender dressing for women had eroded. Like a riding habit, a tailor-made suit was usually of wool and incorporated obviously mannish details, though it fit like conventional women's clothing. It was worn with a shirtwaist blouse, modeled on a man's shirt, and a ribbon tie; the allusion to menswear was obvious”.
Woman’s suits, 1900, 1898
Waistcoat, circa 1890
Even though Winifred Rose is a minor character, she has great costumes.
This particular outfit appears to be influenced by the Nautical look – originally, initially intended as children and boy’s clothing, in the early 20th-century America, sailor dresses were very popularly known as “Peter Thompson dress”, after the former naval tailor credited with creating the style.
Dress, 1898-1900
Peter Thompson suit, American, 1902
This tea hat is beautiful. According to the McCord Museum, “Following fashion trends set in France, Canadian women of means could be seen at sporting elaborate, intentionally eye-catching headpieces. In 1872 one such journalist described a typical bonnet of his day as ‘that meaningless little nutshell outrageously decked with bunches of ribbons, flowers, feathers, which gives at present to our wives and daughters so alarming a look of insanity’”.
French fashion plates, 1895, 1897
McCord also states that “Keeping your head covered is an almost universal sign of female modesty and in the 19th century, Canadian women were equally subject to this unwritten law. Yet ironically, some of the most stylish women's hats were anything but modest”.
Photograph, 1897
Speaking of hats, Mrs. Eliza Barry has some of the finest hats and outfits in Avonlea.
Read also: Stage costumes in “Anne with an E” TV show. Anne Shirley-Cuthbert and the Avonlea girls
Stage costumes in Canadian “Anne with an E” series – examples, main features, indigenous clothes
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