Women Of The Old East End
February 20, 2018
From Philip Mernick‘s fine collection of cartes de visite by nineteenth century East End photographers, gathered over the past twenty years, we select portraits of women arranged chronologically to show the evolving styles of dress and changing roles of female existence
1863
1863
1867
1860s
c. 1870
c.1870
c. 1870
1870s
1880
1880s
1880s
1884
1884
1886
1880s
1880s
1880s
1890s
c. 1890
1890s
1890s
c. 1900
c. 1910
c. 1910 Theatrical performer by William Whiffin
c. 1940 Driver
Photographs reproduced courtesy of Philip Mernick
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The evolution of the female smile. It began to appear about 1870, before then being very much frowned upon. By 1940 it had fully developed.
Wonderfull,what a differance it makes when things are in a collection and relate to one another. I spend time at Dimbola lodge,the former home of Julia Margaret Cameron now a study centre and museum, we are so lucky to be able to see the past through photography.
The history-of-costume mavens applaud!
And my waistline and midriff ache, just looking at these constrained women.
Oh, just imagine how good it must have felt to get out of these corsets at the end of the day!?
All of that aside…….what amazing FACES. I wanted to know each and every story.
Thanks for shining a light.
These ladies would have been the “posh” ones, the upper class people mainly lived in the large houses along Bow Road and Tredegar Square. The ordinary East Enders could not afford the luxury of photography, after the rent man had taken his money they had little left to live on.
Gary
Wow, there is some serious corsetry going on there!
I don’t really have a favourite but a few of them do remind me of the famous East End drag queen Dockyard Doris.
A formidable looking group of women, wearing some wonderful fashions made from some pretty sumptuous materials