Victorian Style Beaded Purse. 

Condition: Fabric is frayed in some spots inside. 

Size: 8 x 9 x 3/4 in. 
#2517 #6 . 

Victorian fashion consists of the various trends in British clothing that emerged and developed in the Empire throughout the Victorian era, roughly from the 1830s through the 1890s. Various movements in architecture, literature, and the decorative and visual arts as well as a changing perception of gender roles influenced fashion, along with leaps in technology and methods of distribution. Mass production of sewing machines in the 1850s as well as the advent of synthetic dyes were two of the biggest changes in fashion, meaning clothing could be made more quickly and cheaply. Advancement in printing and proliferation of fashion magazines allowed the masses to participate in the evolving trends of high fashion, opening the market of mass consumption and advertising. By 1905, clothing was increasingly factory made and often sold in large, fixed-price department stores, spurring a new age of consumerism with the rising middle class who benefited from the industrial revolution. Unlike in earlier centuries when women would often help their husbands and brothers in family businesses and in labor, advancements in agriculture diminished the need for farm laborers, and women were more likely to perform domestic work or, if married, give up work entirely. Dress reflected this new, increasingly sedentary lifestyle, and was not intended to be utilitarian. 

Purses, which have been around for thousands of years (the oldest being found on the body of Ötzi the Iceman who lived around 3,300 BC), became less about functionality and more about appearance, with ornateness, quality of stitching, and adornment with jewels, beads, or precious stones signifying social status. The shift in the use of the purse (and the size of it) led to the development of the handbag around 1900, directly influenced by the Victorian era focus on gender norms and aesthetics.

Fabric is frayed in some spots inside.