We're currently working on the next installment of the Fashion Guide: women's tops and blouses! With all that Victorian fashion on the brain, we were extra excited to spot this photo of Amy Wilder in a gorgeous blouse with leg of mutton sleeves! 

Also known as 'gigot sleeves' (the french translation), leg of mutton sleeves puff out at the top and narrow just below the elbow, giving them the shape of a lamb shank. These sleeves begin slightly off the shoulder at the top of the arms, in order to give a woman downward sloping shoulders. At that time in the Romanticism movement, they felt the ideal woman should look like she was pining away for her lover. Somehow this was supposed to seem romantic, not depressing. It's one of the many Victorian ideals that we give the side-eye to.

Huge sleeves were a staple of the Victorian era because their width balanced out the width of the era's giant skirts, thus creating an hourglass shape and the illusion of an even narrower waist. Leg of mutton sleeves reached their popularity in the 1830s, before being pushed aside for more subdued sleeve styles. They came back into fashion again in the 1890s and lasted another decade.

In addition to that gorgeous blouse, Amy's wearing a corset and monocle made by one of our favorite sellers (they even made our curated Etsy list), Brute Force Studios!

Cosplayer: Amy Wilder

Photographer: Goat Farm Project

Corset & Monocle: Brute Force Studios