Formality. Grandiosity. Corsetry. Queen Victoria is back in circulation. Emerald Fennell’s forthcoming Wuthering Heights film leans hard into period excess, while fashion is in the midst of a full Victorian relapse. Romance, ruffles, and restraint: from the recent revival of Alexander McQueen, lace-heavy blouses and exaggerated silhouettes are everywhere. During the height of the British Empire morality, social aspiration, and extreme wealth disparity shaped daily life in ways that feel a little too familiar now. Ornament as pressure valve, yearning as aesthetic, and structure as a response to a moment when social roles feel rigid again and performance matters... The costume is catching up to the mood.

• Marina and the Victorian interior she designed and inhabits
• Curl up and read Virginia Feito’s Victorian-era crime novel
• Fans, fans, and more fans!
• McQueen’s goth romance gave the people what they wanted