Part two of our Guide to Historical Novels will cover the beautiful and elaborate fashion of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Fashion reflects the political, social, and economic circumstances of the not only the wearer but of the country at the time. We learn about the clothing of the period through the incredible paintings of the time, though the majority is of aristocracy since they had the money and the means to commission such pieces.

1700-1750

During this time the silhouette for women involved skirts that were not only full but very wide with the help of undergarments called hoops and panniers. This was made particularly famous by Marie Antoinette of France, who had skirts up to three feet wide.  Ladies were corseted into a long body shape that was wide along the bust and small at the back and made their shoulder blades pull back till they almost touched which gave a very stiff and straight posture.

Wigs were also particularly popular, especially among the men, which were powdered and white. Make up was also worn, as well as tiny pieces of fabric, known as patches, in the shapes of dots, hearts, stars, etc. were applied to the face with adhesive. The fashion is thought to have originated as a way of disguising pox scars and other blemishes, but gradually developed coded meanings. A patch near the mouth signified flirtatiousness; one on the right cheek denoted marriage; one on the left cheek announced engagement; one at the corner signified a mistress.

1750- 1795

This period sees skirts mostly staying the same as the first half of the century but toward the end half of the 1700s we see skirts staying full but becoming a more a-line natural shape. The big fashion trend in this era was extreme wig hairstyles, which then moved onto elaborately decorated hats. Working-class people in 18th century England and America often wore the same garments as fashionable people but they owned fewer clothes and what they did own was made of cheaper and sturdier fabrics.

1795-1820

After the French Revolution, no one wanted to appear to be an aristocrat, so fashion in this period did a major turnaround as clothing became very pared back and all the big skirts and embellishments of the years before are completely discarded. This is when empire line dresses (where the skirt falls from under the bust) came into play and young ladies wore soft pastels while older women wore deeper colours. A respectable woman would also make sure she never left the house without gloves and a hat or a bonnet on.

Men also let go of some of the embellishments of the years prior, ditching lace and wigs in favor of natural, short, soft curls with long sideburns.  Older men, military officers, and those in conservative professions such as lawyers, judges, physicians, and servants retained their wigs and powder. Formal court dress also still required powdered hair.

1820-1850

By 1837 Queen Victoria had come to power in England at the young age of 18 and was a huge trendsetter during her reign from 1837-1901. One trend in particular still stands to this day – on her wedding to Prince Albert, Victoria wore white. Previous to that girls would marry in bright colours and that dress would generally be their Sunday church outfit. Victoria opted for white to symbolize her purity and from then on, girls have worn white. The advances of communication (such as photography) meant fashion trends changed more frequently from decade to decade.

Ladies fashion became structured once again, with corsets making a comeback. Initially, wide shoulders were popular which later moved onto wide hips. Big frills and flounces featured on dresses as well as puff sleeves, bustles and bows on the back.

1850-1900

This half of the 19^th century sees another pattern in fashion – the silhouette hits an extreme then quickly switches to a new narrower shape. By 1860 skirt hit a new level of width, this time at the hem, complete with plenty of frills. 1861 saw the death of Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert and she went into deep mourning, wearing black for the rest of her life. Much of the country went into mourning with her for a while; wearing clothing with colors that were dark and muted.

The 1870s saw the big change in silhouette with the fullness being moved to the back of the dress with bustles becoming extremely popular particularly in the decade that followed. By the end of the century the skirt was still bustled but downplayed as were embellishments and big puff sleeves (that got bigger and bigger every year) were the in thing.

That wraps up fashion! I personally feel sorry for the heroines I’ve read about in historical novels so far  – having to run around under all that fabric and in corsets, yikes.

Last week I made the observation that historical novels – namely ones set in the 1700-1800s, are making a comeback. For those of you like me who could never quite click with writers like Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters even though you really, really, wanted to, these books are the next best thing. However, since you still need a good grasp of the context to understand these books 100%, as well as help the visualization process, I did my research and have put together a helpful guide of history, vocabulary, social etiquette and fashion for you guys.

History

Now, most of the novels are set in England, since at the time it was not only the place to be but by the 1700s Great Britain was in a position of high power on a global scale.

This is mainly because of the defeat of the Spanish Armada sent out by King Phillip to conquer England in the late 1600s. By wiping out the largest navy in the world, England took Spain’s place as naval power.
By the 1700s, with no real naval challenged able to defeat the English they were on their way to global dominance through economic exchange and colonial enterprises.

Sometimes you might hear a character say something like “I heard they sent him to Australia”. That’s because in 1788 Australia was colonized by the English. They sent convicts (criminals who were often only guilty of petty crimes like stealing a loaf of bread) there to do all the hard labor as a way of solving the problem of overcrowded jails.

England’s main religion was the Church of England and Catholics (as well as any other religion) were often persecuted and generally regarded with suspicion. Many feared Catholicism would try to rise to power via France or Spain.

England and France had a tense relationship during the 18th century as they fought over colonies in North America including Canada.

France supported the American colonists in their fight for independence from British rule – which led to war and the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

During the 19th century France was generally regarded as the traditional and most-likely enemy of England. Only slowly towards the end of the century did feelings in England change to consider the rise of Germany as more threatening.

The French Revolution in 1789 led by Napoleon Bonaparte (who later becomes Emperor) would see the end of the French Monarchy.

The 19th century was BIG as far as inventions go. By now, the Industrial Revolution is in full swing and by the end of the century we see the invention of the battery, gas lighting, steam trains, tin cans, cameras/photography, matches, typewriters, postage stamps, sewing machines (woohoo!), washing machines, the telephone, toilet paper and Coca Cola among many, many more.

The Victorian era became notorious for the employment of young children in factories and mines and as chimney sweeps.  They were also hired as errand boys, shoe blacks and domestic servants.

Bedlam – this is a place that will come up quite often, not just in historical novels but in general pop culture, it’s still mentioned. Official known now as The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, it is the world’s first and oldest institution to specialize in the mentally ill. Back in the 18^th century though, it was known for its cruel and inhuman treatment of patients, and basically – a madhouse.

Patients were initially referred to as “curable” and “incurable”. Conditions were consistently dreadful, and the care amounted to little more than restraint with violent and dangerous patients manacled and chained to the floor. Many were wrongly sentenced to Bedlam but the noise was “so hideous, so great; that they are more able to drive a man that hath his wits rather out of them.”

In the 18th century people used to go to Bedlam to stare at the lunatics. For a penny one could peer into their cells, view the freaks of the “show of Bethlehem” and laugh at their antics. Entry was free on the first Tuesday of the month.

Opium addiction was rife during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, in many parts of the world including England, France, Canada, USA and China, where it originated. It was often put into everyday medicines in the form of Laudanum – which was considered a cure all. Many women were opium addicts, with Laudanum being prescribed by doctors for menstrual cramps, and other afflictions. The liquid would be poured into drinks, used in cooking or taken straight. Opium dens also surfaced during this time where many would waste their lives away in a drugged out.

Opium featured quite a lot in writing from the time – either with characters using them or with the author being under the influence at the time. In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian visits opium dens as one of many shady nights in town.The poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was a heavy opium user and is said to have written Kubla Khan after being in an opium haze.

Well, that about covers the finer points of the historical context, but it’s really the tip of the iceberg. I definitely recommend looking into it a bit more, especially if you love history like I do.

You may, or may not, have heard that the the Texas ACLU has just released its list of banned books for 2009 and Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy is among the list of prohibited books. This has sparked considerable discussion on our forum, and in the wider Internet community alike. Personally, I don’t really see the problem with the Vampire Academy novels, and frankly I was shocked to see that Speak by Laurie Anderson was on the list too. After a little digging, though, I discovered that this was not the first time this book had made its way onto this list. Speak has many important, empowering lessons for teens everywhere found within its pages.

We here at yaReads are very interested in the issue of censorship and the subsequent banning of books and we want to hear from you. Parents, fans, teens, teachers, everyone – what do you think? Should books like Vampire Academy be removed from high school reading lists and library shelves?

Comment below and tell us what you think.

In my recent interview with Maggie Stiefvater, she answered some questions about her new novel Shiver. The whole purpose of the interview was to promote the book. A member complained that I didn’t give a spoiler wanrning at the beginning of the interview. It was an honest mistake, and something that I usually make an effort to do, but it got me thinking… when publishing interviews with authors about their new novels, it is necessary?

As far as I’m concerned, if I’m going to read an interview with an author about their book, I assume that said interview will contain spoilers.

Am I alone in this? What do you guys think?

Richelle Mead’s fourth book in the Vampire Academy series, Blood Promise, was released last week. We interviewed Richelle in the lead up to the release date, and we reviewed the book and scheduled it for publication the day of the book’s release. Considering how popular the Vampire Academy series is, and all the discussions we’ve been seeing on various Internet sites (including this one), I expected a much bigger fuss. There was this enormous build up, but now everyone has gone quiet.

Where are the fans? Why aren’t they speaking out about this one?

I’m dying to know if they liked it. I’m dying to know if they didn’t. They can’t possibly still be reading, right? Is that the reason the Vampire Academy enthusiasts have dropped out of cyberspace?

Was the build up all for nothing? Did the fans NOT actually go ahead and purchase the book? Answers is what I’m after… I need to know. It’s killing me.

Our news and blog things sites have taken a bit of a hit lately. Both Ivy and I have been extremely busy with non-yaReads related things and consequently, some aspects of our site have been a bit neglected. For this we apologize and we hope all our readers are still alive and kicking!

I have to say, I’m getting horribly excited about the upcoming release of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I re-read the first novel in the trilogy, The Hunger Games, over the weekend and I just can’t stop thinking about it.

Lord oh Lord, how am I supposed to wait until September!? It feels like so far away.

So who else is starting to go a little Catching Fire crazy?