Victorian Life: Clothes by Liz Gogerly. Wayland, 2008; ISBN: 978 0 7502 5368 0

Reviewed by Alf Wilkinson

An exploration of Victorian clothes - for rich and poor - for upper KS2 pupils. The text briefly sets the context of the Victorian period, and uses examples of famous people - Florence Nightingale, Queen Victoria, William Gladstone - to show how clothes changed throughout the reign of Queen Victoria. There are plenty of illustrations, although I find the photographs more helpful than the paintings in showing what people wore. The photograph of a lady being helped into her crinoline dress, used on the cover, is bound to get children talking! The first-hand accounts of life, dressing for dinner, or whatever, are fascinating, as is the extract from the Duchess of Marlborough about needing 16 different outfits for a four-day visit to friends! A useful library source, pulling together a variety of resources that bring to life the 'ordinary' aspects of the Victorians. Teachers will find much here to use with pupils.