‘The Hideous Old Lady of Fashion’: dressing the ageing body in Victorian Britain

Abstract

This article explores how the biological realities and cultural constructions of ageing combined to influence a daily decision taken by Victorian women: what to wear. The cartoons found in Punch, and the guidance given by fashion papers and journalistic and literary sources highlight the individualized experience of dressing the ageing body, and the knowledge and skill needed to chart a course of compromise between ageing and the expectations that came with longer-held identities such as class, gender and sexuality. The difficulties in navigating this transition demonstrate how ageing was an art, and doing it well was a merit.