Dressing for the Albion Victorian LARP in 2027.

A Player’s Guide to Clothing, Class, and Clan Style

The Albion Victorian LARP begins in London in 1837, at the dawn of Queen Victoria’s reign. The city is a place of enormous contrasts: royal palaces and gentlemen’s clubs stand only streets away from crowded markets, factories, taverns, docks, and some of the poorest neighborhoods in Europe. For the Kindred of London, clothing is more than fashion—it can reveal wealth, social position, profession, allegiance, and sometimes even Clan.

Players do not need museum-quality historical clothing to participate. The goal is to create an outfit that gives the appearance of the early Victorian period while remaining comfortable enough for several hours of live-action roleplay. Thrift stores, historical costume shops, Renaissance and Victorian clothing retailers, and carefully chosen modern pieces can all be combined to create an effective character costume.

The Look of 1837

Because our chronicle begins in 1837, players should generally aim for clothing inspired by the late 1830s and 1840s, rather than the later Victorian fashions commonly associated with the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s.

For gentlemen, useful costume pieces include:

• Waistcoats or vests

• High-collared shirts

• Cravats, neckcloths, or simple ties

• Long trousers

• Tailcoats, frock coats, or long formal coats

• Cloaks or overcoats

• Top hats or other period-appropriate hats

• Leather gloves

• Walking sticks

• Pocket watches

• Boots or simple dark dress shoes

A player does not need every item. A white shirt, dark waistcoat, trousers, boots, and a cravat can already create a convincing Victorian appearance.

For ladies, useful pieces include:

• Long dresses or skirts reaching the ankles or floor

• Fitted bodices

• Blouses with high or modest necklines

• Shawls

• Cloaks

• Gloves

• Bonnets or decorated hats

• Simple jewelry, brooches, lockets, or cameos

• Boots or low-heeled shoes

• Small handbags or reticules

In the late 1830s, fashionable women's skirts were full but the enormous hoop skirts and crinolines associated with later Victorian fashion had not yet appeared. Players therefore do not need large hoop skirts to fit the setting.

Dress for Your Character, Not Just the Century

Victorian society was heavily divided by social class, and the World of Darkness exaggerates those divisions even further.

A wealthy Kindred may appear in carefully tailored clothing made from fine wool, silk, velvet, or brocade. A dock worker, thief, revolutionary, servant, or street informant might wear patched trousers, worn boots, an old coat, simple cotton clothing, or garments repaired many times.

Think about what your character wants mortals—and other Kindred—to believe about them.

Are you an aristocrat?

A merchant?

A soldier?

A scholar?

A criminal?

A physician?

An artist?

A factory owner?

A servant?

A revolutionary?

A creature who has worn essentially the same style of clothing for the last century?

Your costume can tell other players something about your character before you ever introduce yourself.