Drawing of Victorian woman 1900s

Victorian fashion comprises the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and grew in province throughout the Victorian era and the reign of Queen Victoria, a period which would last from June 1837 to January 1901. Covering nearly two thirds of the 19th century, the 63 year reign would see numerous changes in fashion. These changes would include, but not be limited to, changes in clothing, architecture, literature, and the decorative and visual arts.

By 1907, clothing was increasingly factory-made and often sold in large, fixed price department stores. Custom sewing and home sewing were still significant, but on the decline. New machinery and materials changed clothing in many ways.

The introduction of the lock-stitch sewing machine in mid-century simplified both home and boutique dressmaking, and enabled a fashion for lavish application of trim that would have been prohibitively time-consuming if done by hand. Lace machinery made lace at a fraction of the cost of the old, laborious methods.

New materials from far-flung British colonies gave rise to new types of clothing (such as rubber, which made gumboots and mackintoshes possible.) Chemists developed new, cheap, bright dyes that displaced the old animal or vegetable dyes.

Women's fashion[link]

In the 1840s and 1850s, women's gowns developed narrow and sloping shoulders, low and pointed waists, and bell-shaped skirts. Corsets, an ankle-length chemise-like skirt, and layers of flounced petticoats were worn under the gowns. By the 1850s the number of petticoats was reduced and the crinoline was worn; as such the size of the skirts expanded. Day dresses had a solid bodice and evening gowns had a very low neckline and were worn off the shoulder with sheer shawls and opera-length gloves.

In the 1860s, the skirts became flatter at the front and projected out more behind the woman. Day dresses had wide pagoda sleeves and high necklines with lace or tatted collars. Evening dresses had low necklines and short sleeves, and were worn with short gloves or fingerless lace or crocheted mitts.

In the 1870s, uncorseted tea gowns were introduced for informal entertaining at home and steadily grew in popularity. Bustles were used to replace the crinoline to hold the skirts up behind the woman, even for "seaside dresses".

In the 1880s, riding habits had a matching jacket and skirt (without a bustle), a high-collared shirt or chemisette, and a top hat with a veil. Hunting costumes had draped ankle-length skirts worn with boots or gaiters. Clothing worn when out walking had a long jacket and skirt, worn with the bustle, and a small hat or bonnet. Travelers wore long coats like dusters.

In the 1890s, women's fashion became simpler and less extravagant; both bustles and crinoline fell out of use and dresses were not as tight as before. Corsets were still used but became slightly longer, giving women a slight S-curve silhouette. Skirts took on a trumpet shape, fitting closely over the hip with a wasp-waist cut and flaring just above the knee. High necks and puffed sleeves became popular. Sportswear for women, such as bicycling dresses, tennis dresses, and swimwear became popular.

Women's hats[link]

Emma Hill by Ford Madox Brown (1853), a woman wearing a later version of the poke bonnet.

Opera singer Emmy Destinn wearing a plume-covered hat, around 1909.

Women's hats during the Victorian era are stereotypically thought of as the enormous, feather- and flower-laden creations that were fashionable in the late-Victorian period. They evolved through many trends over the decades before reaching the later style.

The exaggerated structure of certain Victorian dress elements was part of an effort by designers to emphasize the popular silhouette of the moment. Millinery was incorporated into this design strategy. During the early Victorian decades, voluminous skirts held up with crinolines, and then hoop skirts, were the focal point of the silhouette. To enhance the style without distracting from it, hats were modest in size and design, straw and fabric bonnets being the popular choice. Poke bonnets, which had been worn during the late Regency period, had high, small crowns and brims that grew larger until the 1830s, when the face of a woman wearing a poke bonnet could only be seen directly from the front. They had rounded brims, echoing the rounded form of the bell-shaped hoop skirts. In the 1870s, the fashionable silhouette discarded the hoop skirt for a slimmer style. The dresses were extremely tight around the corseted torso and the waist and upper legs; Punch ran many cartoons showing women who could neither sit not climb stairs in their tight dresses.^[1] The crinoline was replaced by the bustle in the rear. To emphasize the volume in the bustle, women's hats shrank in size. Small hats were perched towards the front of the head, over the forehead. To complement the small hat, women wore their hair in elaborate curls. Some women wore hairpieces called "scalpettes" and "frizzettes" to add to the volume of their hair.^[1]

The silhouette changed once again as the Victorian era drew to a close. The shape was essentially an inverted triangle, with a wide-brimmed hat on top, a full upper body with puffed sleeves, no bustle, and a skirt that narrowed at the ankles^[2] (the hobble skirt was a fad shortly after the end of the Victorian era). The enormous wide-brimmed hats were covered with elaborate creations of silk flowers, ribbons, and above all, exotic plumes; hats sometimes included entire exotic birds that had been stuffed. Many of these plumes came from birds in the Florida everglades, which were nearly entirely decimated by overhunting. By 1899, early environmentalists like Adeline Knapp were engaged in efforts to curtail the hunting for plumes. By 1900, more than five million birds a year were being slaughtered, and nearly 95 percent of Florida's shore birds had been killed by plume hunters.^[3]

Men's fashion[link]

Drawing of Victorian men 1870s

During the 1840s, men wore tight-fitting, calf length frock coats and a waistcoat or vest. The vests were single- or double-breasted, with shawl or notched collars, and might be finished in double points at the lowered waist. For more formal occasions, a cutaway morning coat was worn with light trousers during the daytime, and a dark tail coat and trousers was worn in the evening. The shirts were made of linen or cotton with low collars, occasionally turned down, and were worn with wide cravats or neck ties. Trousers had fly fronts, and breeches were used for formal functions and when horseback riding. Men wore top hats, with wide brims in sunny weather.

During the 1850s, men started wearing shirts with high upstanding or turnover collars and four-in-hand neckties tied in a bow, or tied in a knot with the pointed ends sticking out like "wings". The upper-class continued to wear top hats, and bowler hats were worn by the working class.

In the 1860s, men started wearing wider neckties that were tied in a bow or looped into a loose knot and fastened with a stickpin. Frock coats were shortened to knee-length and were worn for business, while the mid-thigh length sack coat slowly displaced the frock coat for less-formal occasions. Top hats briefly became the very tall "stovepipe" shape, but a variety of other hat shapes were popular.

During the 1870s, three-piece suits grew in popularity along with patterned fabrics for shirts. Neckties were the four-in-hand and, later, the Ascot ties. A narrow ribbon tie was an alternative for tropical climates, especially in the Americas. Both frock coats and sack coats became shorter. Flat straw boaters were worn when boating.

During the 1880s, formal evening dress remained a dark tail coat and trousers with a dark waistcoat, a white bow tie, and a shirt with a winged collar. In mid-decade, the dinner jacket or tuxedo, was used in more relaxed formal occasions. The Norfolk jacket and tweed or woolen breeches were used for rugged outdoor pursuits such as shooting. Knee-length topcoats, often with contrasting velvet or fur collars, and calf-length overcoats were worn in winter. Men's shoes had higher heels and a narrow toe.

Starting from the 1890s, the blazer was introduced, and was worn for sports, sailing, and other casual activities.^[4]

Throughout much of the Victorian Era most men wore fairly short hair. This was often accompanied by various forms of facial hair including moustaches, side-burns, and full beards. A clean-shaven face did not come back into fashion until the end of the 1880s and early 1890s.^[5]

Distinguishing what men really wore from what was marketed to them in periodicals and advertisements is problematic, as reliable records do not exist.^[6]

Mourning black[link]

Victoria's five daughters (Alice, Helena, Beatrice, Victoria and Louise), photographed wearing mourning black beneath a bust of their late father, Prince Albert (1862).

In Britain, black is the colour traditionally associated with mourning for the dead. The customs and etiquette expected of men, and especially women, were rigid during much of the Victorian era. The expectations depended on a complex hierarchy of close or distant relationship with the deceased. The closer the relationship, the longer the mourning period and the wearing of black. The wearing of full black was known as First Mourning, which had its own expected attire, including fabrics, and an expected duration of 4 to 18 months. Following the initial period of First Mourning, the mourner would progress to Second Mourning, a transition period of wearing less black, which was followed by Ordinary Mourning, and then Half-mourning. Some of these stages of mourning were shortened or skipped completely if the mourner's relationship to the deceased was more distant. Half-mourning was a transition period when black was replaced by acceptable colours such as lavender and mauve, possibly considered acceptable transition colours because of the tradition of Church of England (and Catholic) clergy wearing lavender or mauve stoles for funeral services, to represent the Passion of Christ.^[7]

Manners and Rules of Good Society, or, Solecisms to be Avoided (London, Frederick Warne & Co., 1887) gives clear instructions, such as the following:^[8]

The complexity of these etiquette rules extends to specific mourning periods and attire for siblings, step-parents, aunts and uncles distinguished by blood and by marriage, nieces, nephews, first and second cousins, children, infants, and "connections" (who were entitled to ordinary mourning for a period of "1-3 weeks, depending on level of intimacy"). Men were expected to wear mourning black to a lesser extent than women, and for a shorter mourning period. After the mid-19th century, men would wear a black hatband and black suit, but for only half the prescribed period of mourning expected of women. Widowers were expected to mourn for a mere three months, whereas the proper mourning period expected for widows was up to four years.^[9] Women who mourned in black for longer periods were accorded great respect in public for their devotion to the departed, the most prominent example being Queen Victoria herself.

Women with lesser financial means tried to keep up with the example being set by the middle and upper classes by dyeing their daily dress. Dyers made most of their income during the Victorian period by dyeing clothes black for mourning.^[10]

Home décor[link]

Home decor started spare, veered into the elaborately draped and decorated style we today regard as Victorian, then embraced the retro-chic of William Morris as well as pseudo-Japonaiserie.

Contemporary stereotypes[link]

Victorian prudery[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (May 2008)

"The proper length for little girls' skirts at various ages", from Harper's Bazaar, showing an 1868 idea of how the hemline should descend towards the ankle as a girl got older

Men's clothing is seen as formal and stiff, women's as fussy and over-done. Clothing covered the entire body, we are told, and even the glimpse of an ankle was scandalous. Critics contend that corsets constricted women's bodies and women's lives. Homes are described as gloomy, dark, cluttered with massive and over-ornate furniture and proliferating bric-a-brac. Myth has it that even piano legs were scandalous, and covered with tiny pantalettes.

Of course, much of this is untrue, or a gross exaggeration. Men's formal clothing may have been less colorful than it was in the previous century, but brilliant waistcoats and cummerbunds provided a touch of color, and smoking jackets and dressing gowns were often of rich Oriental brocades. This phenomenon was the result of the growing textile manufacturing sector, developing mass production processes, and increasing attempts to market fashion to men.^[6] Corsets stressed a woman's sexuality, exaggerating hips and bust by contrast with a tiny waist. Women's ball gowns bared the shoulders and the tops of the breasts. The jersey dresses of the 1880s may have covered the body, but the stretchy novel fabric fit the body like a glove.^[11]

Home furnishing was not necessarily ornate or overstuffed. However, those who could afford lavish draperies and expensive ornaments, and wanted to display their wealth, would often do so. Since the Victorian era was one of increased social mobility, there were ever more nouveaux riches making a rich show.

The items used in decoration may also have been darker and heavier than those used today, simply as a matter of practicality. London was noisy and its air was full of soot from countless coal fires. Hence those who could afford it draped their windows in heavy, sound-muffling curtains, and chose colors that didn't show soot quickly. When all washing was done by hand, curtains were not washed as frequently as they might be today.

There is no actual evidence that piano legs were considered scandalous. Pianos and tables were often draped with shawls or cloths—but if the shawls hid anything, it was the cheapness of the furniture. There are references to lower-middle-class families covering up their pine tables rather than show that they couldn't afford mahogany. The piano leg story seems to have originated in the 1839 book, Diary in America written by Captain Frederick Marryat, as a satirical comment on American prissiness.

Victorian manners, however, may have been as strict as imagined—on the surface. One simply did not speak publicly about sex, childbirth, and such matters, at least in the respectable middle and upper classes. However, as is well known, discretion covered a multitude of sins. Prostitution flourished. Upper-class men and women indulged in adulterous liaisons.

Victorian women[link]

Some people now look back on the Victorian era with wistful nostalgia. Historians would say that this is as much a distortion of the real history as the stereotypes emphasizing Victorian repression and prudery. Women were not allowed to swim, for it would be frowned upon as "bad etiquette". Women also had to wear special suits to ride bikes.

Also notable is a contemporary counter-cultural trend called steampunk. Those who dress steampunk often wear Victorian-style clothing that has been "tweaked" in edgy ways: tattered, distorted, melded with Goth fashion, Punk, and Rivethead styles. Another example of Victorian fashion being incorporated into a contemporary style is the Gothic and Classic Lolita Fashion culture.

Gallery[link]

• Tissot-hide-seek-detail.jpg

  A mid-Victorian interior: Hide and Seek by James Tissot c. 1877.

• 

  Dress designed by Charles Frederick Worth for Elisabeth of Austria painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

• 

  William Powell Frith's painting of 1883 contrasts women's Aesthetic dress(left and right) with fashionable attire(center).

• 

  Day dress of c. 1875 James Tissot painting.

• 

  Whistler's Portrait of Lady Meux 1882.

• 

  Evening gown of 1878

• 

  Portrait by Alexander Melville of Queen Victoria, 1845

• 

  An artistic interior: Dante Gabriel Rossetti reading to Theodore Watts Dunton in the drawing room at No. 16 Cheyne Walk, 1882

• 

  Men's swimwear: Cartoon from Punch by George du Maurier

See also[link]

• Victorian dress reform
• Women in the Victorian Era
• Victorian morality
• Charles Frederick Worth
• Corset controversy
• Victorian decorative arts
• Victoriana

Time Periods[link]

• 1830s in fashion
• 1840s in fashion
• 1850s in fashion
• 1860s in fashion
• 1870s in fashion
• 1880s in fashion
• 1890s in fashion

Clothing[link]

woman:

• Corset
• Corset controversy
• Tightlacing
• Bloomers

Contemporary Interpretations[link]

• Steampunk
• Neo-Victorian
• Lolita

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Sweet, Matthew -- Inventing the Victorians, St. Martin's Press, 2001 ISBN 0-312-28326-1

External links[link]

• Mostly-Victorian.com - Fashion articles and illustrations from Victorian periodicals
• Victorian fashion, etiquette, and sports
• Form and Fashion — the evolution of women's dress during the 19th century (many photographs)
• Educational Game: Mix and Match — build a 19th century dress using a virtual mannequin
• "Victorian Dress". Fashion, Jewellery & Accessories. Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/v/victorian-dress-at-v-and-a/. Retrieved 2011-04-03. 

v t e History of Western fashion Ancient Ancient World Egyptian Greek Roman Medieval Byzantine Early Medieval Anglo-Saxon 12th century 13th century 14th century Renaissance and Reformation 15th century 1500–1550 1550–1600 1600–1650 1650–1700 Enlightenment era / Georgian era 1700–1750 1750–1775 1775–1795 1795–1820 1820s Victorian 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s Machine Age 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930–1945 Cold War 1945–1959 1960s 1970s 1980s Information Age 1990s 2000s 2010s

Emilie Autumn
Autumn performs live at Nachtleben 2007
Background information
Also known as	Emilie Autumn Liddell
Born	(1979-09-22) September 22, 1979 (age 32) Los Angeles, California
Genres	Classical, Dark cabaret, Electronica, Industrial
Occupations	singer-songwriter, musician, writer, poet, actress
Instruments	Vocals, violin, keyboard, piano, viola
Years active	1997 - Present
Labels	Traitor Records Trisol Music Group The End Records
Associated acts	Ravensong The Jane Brooks Project Convent The Chelsea Courtney Love Veronica Varlow
Website	EmilieAutumn.com

Emilie Autumn Liddell^[1] (born on September 22, 1979 in Los Angeles), better known by her stage name Emilie Autumn, is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and violinist. Autumn draws influence for her music—the style of which she has alternatively labeled as "Victoriandustrial" and glam rock—from plays, novels, and history, particularly the Victorian era. Performing with her all-female backing band The Bloody Crumpets, Autumn incorporates elements of classical music, cabaret, electronica, and glam rock with theatrics, and burlesque.^[2]

Growing up in Malibu, California, she began learning the violin at the age of four and left regular school five years later with the goal of becoming a world-class violinist; she practiced eight or nine hours a day and read a wide range of literature. Progressing to writing her own music, she studied under various teachers and went to Indiana University, which she left over issues regarding the relationship between classical music and the appearance of the performer. Through her own independent label Traitor Records, Autumn debuted with her classical album On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo, followed by the release in 2003 of her supernaturally themed album Enchant.

She appeared in singer Courtney Love's backing band on her 2004 America's Sweetheart tour and returned to Europe. She released the 2006 album Opheliac with the German label Trisol Music Group. In 2007, she released Laced/Unlaced; the re-release of On a Day... appeared as Laced with songs on the electric violin as Unlaced. She later left Trisol to join New York-based The End Records in 2009 and release Opheliac in the United States, where previously it had only been available as an import. Currently she is on tour for her upcoming album titled Fight Like A Girl. She played the role of Painted Doll in Darren Lynn Bousman's 2012 film The Devil's Carnival.

Life and career[link]

1979–2000: Beginnings[link]

Autumn attributes her ability to write music in her mind to the fact that as a child, she played Pachelbel's Canon in D (pictured) mentally every night to suppress her auditory hallucinations caused by bipolar disorder^[3] and sleep.^[4]

Emilie Autumn was born in Los Angeles, California,^[5] on September 22, 1979.^[6] Autumn grew up in Malibu, California,^{[note 1]} and according to her, "being surrounded by nature and sea had a lot to do with [her] development as a 'free spirit.'"^[8] Her mother worked as a seamstress and Autumn says she is a descendant from the Liddell family.^[6][9] Her father was a German immigrant,^[9][10] and Autumn says that she did not share a close relationship with him.^[10] While not musicians, her family enjoyed various genres of music.^[8]

When she was four years old, she started learning the violin, and later commented: "I remember asking for a violin, but I don't remember knowing what one was. I might have thought it was a kind of pony for all I know, but I don't remember being disappointed."^[4] Four years later, Autumn made her musical debut as a solo violinist performing with an orchestra, and won a competition.^[8] At the age of nine or ten,^{[note 2][3][11]} she left regular school with the goal of becoming a world-class violinist.^[11] On her time at the school, she remarked, "I hated it anyway, what with the status as 'weird,' 'antisocial,' and the physical threats, there seemed to be no reason to go anymore, so I just didn't."^[8] She practiced eight or nine hours a day,^[8][11] had lessons, read a wide range of literature, participated in orchestra practice, and was home-schooled.^[3][8] Growing up, she owned a large CD collection of "violin concertos, symphonies, chamber music, opera, and a little jazz."^[8] She began writing her own music and poetry at age thirteen or fourteen, though she never planned to sing any of her songs.^[8][12] She studied under various teachers and attended Indiana University in Bloomington, but left after two years there, because she disagreed with the prevailing views on individuality and classical music.^[11] She believed that neither the audience nor the original composer would be insulted by the clothing and appearance of the performer.^[11]

While convinced that she would only play violin, eighteen-year-old Autumn decided to sing on one of her songs as a way of demonstrating to a major music producer, who wanted to sign her on a label, how it should sound.^[8] She became unhappy with the changes done to her songs, and decided to break away from the label and create her own independent record label, Traitor Records.^[8] Through it, she debuted with her classical album On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo, which she recorded in 1997 when she was seventeen years old;^[6][8] its title refers to the fact that the album took only a day to record.^[8] It consists of her performing works for the baroque violin accompanied by Roger Lebow on the baroque cello, Edward Murray on harpsichord, and Michael Egan on lute.^[8][13] She considered it "more of a demo despite its length", and released it as "a saleable album" after fans who enjoyed her "rock performances starting asking for a classical album so that they could hear more of the violin."^[8] She also debuted with her poetry book Across The Sky & Other Poems in 2000, later re-released in 2005 as Your Sugar Sits Untouched with a music-accompanied audiobook.^[12][14][15]

[edit] 2001–04: Enchant and collaborations

As part of a recording project, Autumn traveled to Chicago, Illinois, in 2001, and decided to stay because she enjoyed the public transportation system and music scene there.^[8] She released the 2001 extended play (EP) Chambermaid while finishing Enchant—she alternatively labeled the musical style on Chambermaid as "fantasy rock" and cabaret—and wrote the 2001 charity single "By the Sword" after the events of September 11, 2001.^[6][8] According to her, the song is about strength, not violence; the act of swearing by the sword represents "an unbreakable promise to right a wrong, to stay true."^[8]

On February 26, 2003,^{[note 3]} she released her concept album Enchant, which spanned multiple musical styles: "new age, pop and trip-hop chamber music".^[3] Written during her late teenage years, Enchant revolved around the supernatural realm and its effect on the modern-day world. Autumn labeled it as "fantasy rock", which dealt with "dreams and stories and ghosts and faeries who'll bite your head off if you dare to touch them".^[8] The faery-themed "Enchant Puzzle" appeared on the artwork of the album; her reward for the person who would solve it consisted of faery-related items.^[8] Her bandmates consisted of cellist Joey Harvey, drummer Heath Jansen, guitarist Ben Lehl, and bassist Jimmy Vanaria, who also worked on the electronics.^[8] At the same time of Enchant's release, Autumn had several side projects: Convent, a musical group for which she recorded all four voices; Ravensong, "a classical baroque ensemble" that she formed with friends in California; and The Jane Brooks Project, which she dedicated to the real-life, 16th-century Jane Brooks—a woman executed for witchcraft.^{[8][note 4]}

On the night of the Enchant release party, Autumn learned that Courtney Love had invited her to record an album, America's Sweetheart, and embark on the tour to promote it.^[8] Contributing violin and vocals,^[21] Autumn appeared in Love's backing band The Chelsea—Radio Sloan, Dvin Kirakosian, Samantha Maloney, and Lisa Leveridge—on the 2004 tour.^[3][22] Much of Autumn's violin work did not get released on the album; she commented: "This had to do entirely with new producers taking over the project after our little vacation in France, and carefully discarding all of our sessions."^[23] She performed live with Love and The Chelsea on Late Show with David Letterman on March 17, 2004, and at Bowery Ballroom the next day.^[24] In September 2004, her father died from lung cancer, even though he had quit smoking twenty years earlier.^[10] Near the end of 2004, she was filmed for an appearance on an episode of HGTV's Crafters Coast to Coast, showing viewers how to create faery wings and sushi-styled soap—both products she sold in her online "web design and couture fashion house", WillowTech House.^[8][25] On December 23, 2004, she appeared on the Chicago-based television station WGN as part of the string quartet backing up Billy Corgan and Dennis DeYoung's duet of "We Three Kings".^[26]

[edit] 2005–09: Opheliac, Laced/Unlaced, and A Bit O' This & That

The title of Opheliac is a reference to Shakespeare's character Ophelia (above) from the play Hamlet, whom Autumn felt a connection to,^[27] and the archetype of the "self-destructive" woman.^[28]

Autumn began work on her concept album Opheliac in August 2004,^[18] and recorded it at Mad Villain Studios in Chicago.^[29] In August 2005, she created the costumes for Corgan's music video for the track "Walking Shade"; she also contributed violin and vocals for the track "DIA" from his 2005 album The Future Embrace.^[30] In late 2005, Autumn also recorded vocals and violin for "The Gates of Eternity" from Attrition's 2008 album All Mine Enemys Whispers: The Story of Mary Ann Cotton, a concept album focusing on the Victorian serial killer Mary Ann Cotton.^[31][32] Autumn later protested the release of the song, claiming that it was unfinished, "altered without her permission," and had been intended only as a possible collaboration with Martin Bowes.^[32]

In January 2006, she performed a song from the album, "Misery Loves Company", on WGN,^[33] before the album's release by the German label Trisol Music Group in September.^[34] She released the limited-edition, preview EP Opheliac through her own label, Traitor Records, in spring 2006;^[35] while the Opheliac EPs were being shipped, Autumn claimed that her offices had been robbed, causing the delay in the album release and the shipping of the EPs.^[36] According to her, Opheliac "was the documentation of a completely life-changing and life-ending experience".^[27] At one time, Autumn did have plans to film a music video for her song "Liar", which included "bloody bathtubs".^[37] Her song "Opheliac" later appeared on the 2007 albums 13th Street: The Sound of Mystery, Vol. 3, published by ZYX Music, and Fuck the Mainstream, Vol. 1, published by Alfa Matrix on June 19.^[38][39] On October 9, 2006, she appeared on the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse as a guest artist^[40] and on the subsequent 2007 album The Dethalbum.^[41] November 2006 saw the release of the EP Liar/Dead Is the New Alive, which featured remixes of songs from Opheliac and new material.^[42]

She released her instrumental album, Laced/Unlaced in March 2007; it consisted of two discs: Laced, the re-release of On a Day..., and Unlaced, new songs for the electric violin.^[43] She decided to re-release On a Day as Laced because she "felt that it made a nice contrast to the metal shredding fiddle album, "Unlaced," and [...] loved that it was the perfect representation of "then" versus "now."^[4] She also performed live at the German musical events Wave Gotik Treffen and M'era Luna Festival in 2007.^[44][45] She later released A Bit O' This & That: a compilation album of her covers, including songs from The Beatles and The Smiths, classical pieces, and her own songs.^[20] In 2008, she released the EP 4 o'Clock, which contained remixes of songs from Opheliac, new songs, and a reading from her autobiographical novel The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls.^[46] She also released another EP, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun &Bohemian Rhapsody, the same year.^[47] A year later, Autumn broke away from Trisol Music Group to join The End Records and re-release Opheliac in the United States on October 27, 2009; previously, it was only available there as an import.^[27][28][48] The re-release included extras such as pictures, bonus tracks, an excerpt from The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, and a video.^[48]

In addition to releasing her own material, Autumn collaborated with other musicians. She contributed backing vocals and violin to the track "Dry" by Die Warzau and made an appearance in the band's music video for "Born Again".^[49] She played violin on the song "UR A WMN NOW" from OTEP's 2009 album, Smash the Control Machine.^[21] Additionally, two of her tracks appeared in film soundtracks: "Organ Grinder" from 4 o'Clock on the European edition of Saw III and a remixed version of "Dead Is The New Alive" from Opheliac on the international version of Saw IV.^[21]

[edit] 2010–present: Fight Like a Girl

Autumn performs "Liar" in Manchester, England, April 2012

In June 2010, Autumn released the acronym of her upcoming album, F.L.A.G., on her Twitter account,^[50] before revealing the full title as Fight Like a Girl.^[51] In her words, the meaning behind the title is "about taking all these things that make women the underdogs and using them to your advantage."^[52] Based on her autobiographical novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorican Girls,^[53] the album has been described as "an operatic feminist treatise set inside an insane asylum, wherein the female inmates gradually realize their own strength in numbers."^[52] On August 30, 2010, she announced that she would be undergoing jaw surgery, and recovered from it.^[54] In September 2011, she posted the full lyrics to the album's title track, "Fight Like a Girl" on her Twitter account.^[55][56] Autumn appeared at the 2011 Harvest Festival in Australia,^[57] and had planned to debut two songs from Fight Like A Girl during those performances.^[58] On April 11, 2012, Autumn released the single "Fight Like a Girl", with the song "Time for Tea" appearing as a B-side.^[59]

On April 16, 2012, Autumn announced her plans to debut a three-hour musical adaptation of her autobiographical novel on London's West End theatre in 2014.^[53][60] According to her interview with Mulatschag, she has plans to play the roles of both protagonists, Emilie and Emily.^[61]

She also appeared in the twelve-minute teaser for Darren Lynn Bousman and Terrance Zdunich's upcoming project Devil's Carnival,^[62] and for which she played the role of The Painted Doll.^[52] Bloody Crumpets members Contessa and Captain Maggots also appear in the film as Woe-Maidens.

Influences and musical style[link]

Autumn in Frankfurt, 2007

Her music encompasses a wide range of styles.^[2] Autumn's vocal range is contralto, but can expand to dramatic soprano,^[7] and her vocal work has been compared to Tori Amos,^[63][64] Kate Bush,^[64] and The Creatures.^[63] She has released two instrumental albums (On a Day... and Laced/Unlaced), and three which feature her vocals: Enchant, Opheliac, and A Bit o' This & That. The 2003 album Enchant drew on "new age chamber music, trip-hop baroque, and experimental space pop".^[63] Autumn layers her voice frequently, and incorporates electronics and electronic effects into her work on Enchant; she also combines strings and piano for some songs, while others feature mainly the piano or violin.^[8] The 2006 release Opheliac featured "cabaret, electronic, symphonic, new age, and good ol' rock & roll (and heavy on the theatrical bombast)."^[64]

A classically trained musician, Autumn draws influence from plays, novels, and history, particularly the Victorian era.^[9][27] She enjoys the works of Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband Robert, and Edgar Allan Poe.^[9] She incorporates sounds resembling Victorian machinery such as locomotives, which she noted was "sort of a steampunk thing".^[27] While a young Autumn cited Itzhak Perlman as an influence because of the happiness she believed he felt when he played, her main musical influence and inspiration is the English violinist Nigel Kennedy.^[8] Her favorite singer is Morrissey from The Smiths.^[11] She takes inspiration for her songs from her life experiences and mixes in "layers and layers of references, connections, other stories and metaphors".^[9] Autumn describes her music and style as "Psychotic Vaudeville Burlesque."^[65] She alternatively labels her music and style as "Victoriandustrial'", a term she coined, and glam rock because of her use of glitter onstage.^[27][49][66] According to Autumn, her music "wasn't meant to be cutesy" and is labeled as industrial mainly because of her use of drums and yelling.^[27] Her adaption of "O Mistress Mine" was praised by author and theater director Barry Edelstein as "a ravishing, guaranteed tearjerker."^[67]

For her live performances, which she calls dinner theatre because of her practice of throwing tea and tea-time snacks offstage, Autumn makes use of burlesque—"a show that was mainly using humour and sexuality to make a mockery of things that were going on socially and politically"^[66]—to counterbalance the morbid topics such as abuse and self-mutilation.^[3] She incorporates handmade costumes,^[66] fire tricks, theatrics, and a female backing band, The Bloody Crumpets: Veronica Varlow, Captain Maggot, and The Blessed Contessa, and formerly Lady Aprella, Little Lucina, Jacinda, Lady Joo Hee, Captain Vecona, Mistress Apnea, Little Miss Sugarless and the model Ulorin Vex.^[2][49][68] Her wish for the live shows is to be an "anti-repression statement" and empowerment.^[28]

Personal life[link]

Autumn performing in Essen Zeche Carl

Autumn has bipolar disorder, which caused her to experience drastic mood swings, insomnia, and auditory hallucinations,^[3][37] and for which she takes medication.^[3] Some of her songs—"Manic Depression", "Swallow", and "Misery Loves Company" from Opheliac—deal with living with the disorder.^[5] While she would "prefer to not have it [...] and probably be a lot happier," she believes that it gives her a different perspective on life and plans to "use it for all it’s worth so that [she is] not a victim of it."^[28] Autumn experienced abuse, which began when she was six years old, and is a survivor of rape.^[69] She keeps a ritual of drawing a heart on her cheek as a symbol of protection.^[3]

Autumn identifies as asexual.^[70] She went vegetarian at age eleven after being unable to rationalize why she should eat farm animals but not her pet; in her late-teens, she turned vegan.^[71] She believes that there is a link between the treatment of women and animals in society.^[71] She cares for two pet rats, Sir Edward and Basil, and a cat named Fish/Fishy,^[71][72] and endorses companies such as Manic Panic and Samson Tech.^[68]

Hospitalization and autobiographical novel[link]

Returning from Courtney Love's 2004 tour, Autumn resumed working on her own career and became pregnant, although she had been on birth control.^[3] Terrified of pregnancy and childbirth and unwilling to pass on her bipolar disorder, she decided to have an abortion.^[3] Later, she attempted suicide, which caused her to be admitted to a psychiatric ward at a Los Angeles hospital and kept on suicide watch.^[3][66] On her experience there, she commented: "No one tried to break me out or contact me, and I wasn’t allowed to call anyone. Now, I watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and realise it’s actually a pretty accurate portrayal of a modern-day asylum."^[3]

After being released, she had her cell block number tattooed on her right arm as a way of remembering what happened to her^[3] and penned her autobiographical novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, which was published in 2010.^[51] Because of the book's nature as an autobiography, its release was delayed because some did not want it published.^[27] Based on her diary written in red crayon while institutionalized, the book incorporated talking rats and the diary of a fictional Victorian inmate named "Emily".^[3][71] Autumn explained that "one of the main messages is" that many of the patients were not insane and that the subject of mental illness remains misunderstood.^[28]

Discography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Across the Sky & Other Poems (2000)
• Your Sugar Sits Untouched (2005)
• The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls (2010)

Filmography[link]

• 11-11-11 as 11'er in Video (Uncredited)
• The Devil's Carnival as Painted Doll

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Emilie Autumn

• Official website
• Emilie Autumn at The End Records' website
• Interview with Emilie Autumn (Italian)