Sunday, May 9, 2010

THE ENGLISH SOCIETY IN THE 19th CENTURY




At the start of the 19th century, England had become the first country that experimented the industrial revolution and this entailed an increment in the population and the beginning of an industrial and urban society. Many English people immigrated to the United States, but at the same time immigrants were arriving from other countries like Ireland, Russia, etc.

In this century, a major part of society worked in industry. This caused a loss of jobs of the small craftsmen. The factories demanded specially women and children to work so they could pay lower salaries: children worked more than 12 hours. The following years, new laws were created to delete this working system based in child labour and exploitation.



At the start of the century, the political system was an oligarchy, which means, only a masculine minority had the right to vote; all though with time the suffrage arrived to men of all social classes. The English population was mainly working class. There were very little members of the middle class, as the minimum requisite to be considered one was to have a minimum of one servant, a job mainly occupied by women. It was a patriarchal society. A family was composed a big group of members, as there was a high risk of children's mortality.

In this blog we will take a look at the English fashion in the 19th century, enriched by the splendour of the textile industry. The style combined a great diversity of textures and colours, which varied during the years. Men's aesthetics with their curly hair, moustaches and sideburns was a perfect outfit to look good with the top hats, as well as the jacket and the tight trousers. Meanwhile the women, had their curly hair tied up in a refined way, it was emphasized by the contrasts of the sleeves and wide skirts of live colors enriched with valuable jewels.

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