Sitting room

Late summer afternoon 1882 and the women of the household are gathered in the sitting room.

This room features four figures in clothes that date from the 1873 to early 1880s period. It was typical of the time that some people wore more up-to-date styles than others; whether people wore the very latest fashions depended on their tastes, income and also their age.

Costumes on display

This period saw many changes in the fashionable body shape or silhouette that are clearly shown by the outfits displayed. All four dresses are examples of the bustle style, which was a way of exaggerating the size and shape of the bottom through the use of specialised underwear.

A silk dress coloured with a synthetic purple dye highlights the fact that new technologies were being developed in the Victorian era. This dress would have been worn by the most fashionable woman in the room as its shape and ruched detailing is typical of styles seen in fashion plates and journals of the early 1880s.

A grey silk dress on show was originally worn in 1873 by a Scottish bride, reflecting the popular practice of the time to wear coloured, formal day clothes for a wedding. White wedding dresses appeared from the mid-eighteenth century and became common from around 1800.

Furnishings

In the fireplace stands an embroidered fire screen dating from about 1850-60. On the mantlepiece two hand screens can be seen: these were used to shield the face from the fire.