A Victorian Skirt Lifter or Page - Antique Costume Accessory

Here is a great example of a costume accessory from the past dating from the Victorian era sometime between 1880 and the end of the Victorian Era. It is an antique skirt lifter also known as a dress lifter, skirt grip, dress suspender, hem-holder, page or porte-jupe,  a clever and useful device for lifting the hem of the frocks of that time.

This Victorian white plated metal dress accessory has a pleasing neat design and is simple to apply. It has the words 'THE CROWN - Patent' on it.  It is likely that this particular clip was for sporting use for Tennis or maybe even for the new sport of Bicycling. There is a Chatelaine top part to slip over the belt or waist of a skirt joined by a simple chain to a clip part ending in gripping circles which snap tight to grip the hem of a dress. Length is 1.5 inches and width at the top is 0.5 inches on the curved chatelaine part and the clip part and these are joined together with a chain measuring 5 inches between them. 

The clip is in good condition with the mechanism in good working order and closing tightly with a pleasing 'snap' sound and an easy function. There are some minor surface scratches, a nick out of the old rubber within the clip part and the patina of age but this great item is offered in good working order.  A rare,hard to find skirt lifter, sometimes called a "Page"  - this is genuine Victorian item - great for collectors of vintage clothing and accessories. 

More information about skirt lifters or 'Pages'

You have to think back to the etiquette and the road conditions of the nineteenth century to understand why a device such as a skirt lifter would be necessary. There were no tarmac surfaces and drainage of the roads was also not as we know it today. Garbage would litter the streets and the full skirted and very costly frocks of that time were easily soiled. You must remember too that washing techniques were basic and garments were often kept for a long while. By the last half of the nineteenth century those clever Victorians had come up with a little gadget to hold up the skirt. By inventing the 'Page' or skirt lifting device they helped ladies to preserve the fabric of their delicate frocks and to maintain them in a cleaner condition. The Victorian Skirt lifter was an odd device, scissor like with pivoted arms and a cushioned grip. This grip would be closed and released by the sliding of a device at the top of the skirt lifter. An added bonus of using the cushion grip would mean that hands did not touch the delicate fabric higher up the skirt so again less laundry and wear. In common with all Victorian inventions the skirt lifter was often a patented device and one of the most common patents was the Fyfes Patent.