Printable Vintage Illustration: Lost in Thought, 1896

She was always daydreaming. She never wanted to live in the real world; she always seemed to be separated from other children her age. They couldn’t understand her or her imagination. She was always thinking outside of the box, breaking rules, and only following what her heart told her was right.
― Shannon A. Thompson, November Snow

There are certain half-dreaming moods of mind in which we naturally steal away from noise and glare, and seek some quiet haunt where we may indulge our reveries and build our air castles undisturbed.
― Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories

Antique fashion illustration from 1896 showing a Victorian lady lost in reverie. You can download the high-res illustration as an 4” x 7.5” @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Victorian Fashion Illustration: Lady in Summer Dress of White Muslin, 1876

‘Life and summer are fleeting,’ sang the bird. ‘Snow and dark, and the winter comes. Nothing remains the same.’
― Elyne Mitchell, Silver Brumby's Daughter

Her fragility makes her uncomfortable, but it has a familiarity, too, like the biting cold of winter that you only half forget during other seasons.
― Meg Donohue, All the Summer Girls

Antique fashion illustration from 1876 of a Victorian lady in a summer dress of white muslin. You can download the high-res illustration as a 8” x 10” @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration: Fashionable Hats for Autumn and Winter, 1870s

One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.
― Oscar Wilde

Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.
― Frederick Buechner
French fashion illustration from the 1870s showing fashionable hats (and head covering) for fall (autumn) and winter. You can download the high-res illustration as an 8" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration: Ladies' Autumn Toilette, 1878

A moral character is attached to autumnal scenes;
the leaves falling like our years, the flowers fading like our hours,
the clouds fleeting like our illusions, the light diminishing like our intelligence,
the sun growing colder like our affections,
the rivers becoming frozen like our lives
-- all bear secret relations to our destinies.
― François-René de Chateaubriand, Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe

1878 fashion history illustration of Gilded Age ladies parading their autumn toilette on the terrace of a grand mansion. You can download the high-res illustration as a 7" x 5" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration: Her Sunday Best 1 (1864)

The little things of life, sweet and excellent in their place, must not be the things lived for; the highest must be sought and followed; the life of heaven must be begun here on earth.
― L.M. Montgomery

Modesty is the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it.
― Oliver Herford

Antique fashion illustration from 1864 of a young Victorian lady dressed in her Sunday best. You can download the high-res illustration as an 11” x 8.5” @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration: A Formal Introduction 1

Some people need a red carpet rolled out in front of them in order to walk forward into friendship. They can't see the tiny outstretched hands all around them, everywhere, like leaves on trees.
― Miranda July, No One Belongs Here More Than You

Because the difference between a friend and a real friend is that you and the real friend come from the same territory, of the same place deep inside you, and that means you see the world in the same kind of way. You know each other even before you do.
― Laura Pritchett, Sky Bridge

Antique fashion illustration from 1896 of two Victorian ladies meeting in a formal setting. You can download the high-res illustration as an 8” x 10” @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration: Lady in Frosted Taffeta 1

Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding,
the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings.
― Rumi

To be of good quality, you have to excuse yourself
from the presence of shallow and callow minded individuals.
― Michael Bassey Johnson

Antique fashion illustration from 1896 of a Victorian lady in frosted taffeta. You can download the high-res illustration as a 6” x 8” @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Illustration: The Three Judges, 1896

We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him.
― Michel de Montaigne

That's why I'm talking to you. You are one of the rare people who can separate your observation from your preconception. You see what is, where most people see what they expect.
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

1896 illustration of three sombre-looking Victorian ladies in business-like attire. You can download the high-res illustration as a 4” x 4” @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration: Gilded Age Hairstyles 1875

Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say,
and not giving a damn.
― Orson Welles

1875 fashion history illustration of Gilded Age hairstyles by Mr. W.J. Barker of 1271 Broadway, New York. You can download the high-res illustration as an 8" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Illustration: Searching for Clues, 1875

The truth must be quite plain, if one could just clear away the litter.
― Agatha Christie

She remembered what her old priest had said: a half-truth masquerading as a whole truth was nothing but an untruth. But half-truths were horseplay in Miranda, where big lies came quick and easy. And they were about to come a lot easier.
― Chad Boudreaux, Homecoming Queen

1875 illustration of a Victorian lady in a ball gown; she seems to be looking around for someone/something. You can download the high-res illustration as a 6" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Illustrations: Victorian Lady with Flowers in her Hair, 1868

whatever you do
be gentle with yourself.
you don’t just live
in this world
or your home
or your skin.
you also live
in someone’s eyes.
― Sanober Khan

Nothing is so strong as gentleness.
Nothing is so gentle as real strength.
― Ralph W. Sockman

1868 engravings of a Victorian lady with flowers in her hair (front and back views). You can download the high-res illustrations in one 7" x 5" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustrations: Ladies with Muff and Stole, 1904

Be so warm that people mistake you for the sun; so bright that people mistake you for the stars; and so accommodating that people mistake you for the universe.
― Matshona Dhliwayo

If you cannot find a good companion to walk with, walk alone, like an elephant roaming the jungle. It is better to be alone than to be with those who will hinder your progress.
― Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada

Antique illustrations of two Edwardian ladies in a muff and a stole, 1904. From my own collection. 8" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here. Larger size image available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Illustrations: Sunday Morning, 1886

You never know these days. Uninvited guests may force you to take an unplanned trip to an unknown destination; doesn’t hurt to be in your Sunday clothes.
― Anurag Shourie, Half A Shadow

Sundays are like confetti floating in the air in slow motion, in the evening they reach the ground and you hope a bit of wind could blow on them so they could fly a bit longer.
― Alain Bremond-Torrent, running is flying intermittently

1886 illustration of two ladies in their Sunday best. You can download the high-res illustrations in one 6" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Illustration: Girl on a Bench, 1896

He looked at her. She was pretty still, with thick hair and soft eyes, and she moved so gracefully that it almost seemed as though she were gliding. He'd seen beautiful women before, though, women who caught his eye, but to his mind, they usually lacked the traits he found most desirable. Traits like intelligence, confidence, strength of spirit, passion, traits that inspired others to greatness, traits he aspired to himself.
― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

1896 illustration of a girl on a bench from my own collection. You can download the high-res illustration as a 4.25" x 5.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Vintage Clipart for Collage, Graphic Design or Scrapbooking: Reverie (1 & 2)

Nothing makes time pass or shortens the way
like a thought that absorbs in itself all the faculties of the one who is thinking.
External existence is then like a sleep of which this thought is the dream.
Under its influence, time has no more measure, space has no more distance.
― Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

She was always daydreaming. She never wanted to live in the real world;
she always seemed to be separated from other children her age.
They couldn’t understand her or her imagination.
She was always thinking outside of the box, breaking rules,
and only following what her heart told her was right.
― Shannon A. Thompson, November Snow
Two black and white illustrations from 1896 of young women in a daydream. You can download the high-res clipart here and here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration for Collage, Graphic Design or Scrapbooking: Cold Weather Capes, 1893

Invisible threads are the strongest ties.
― Friedrich Nietzsche

We are like islands in the sea,
separate on the surface but connected in the deep.
― William James

Ladies in cold weather capes gathered in conversation. High-res 6" x 4" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration for Collage, Graphic Design or Scrapbooking: Reading in the Playroom, 1857

It is what you read when you don't have to that determines
what you will be when you can't help it.
― Oscar Wilde

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends;
they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors,
and the most patient of teachers.
― Charles W. Eliot

A group of Victorian children fascinated by a book, 1857.
5.5" x 4.25" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration for Collage, Graphic Design or Scrapbooking: Promenade Costumes and Shoes, 1892

I was the world in which I walked, and what I saw
Or heard or felt came not but from myself;
And there I found myself more truly and more strange.
― Wallace Stevens, The Collected Poems

If you cannot find a good companion to walk with, walk alone,
like an elephant roaming the jungle.
It is better to be alone than to be with those who will hinder your progress.
― Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada

Ladies in promenade costumes and shoes in the style of 1892. High-res 5.5" x 4.25" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration for Collage, Graphic Design or Scrapbooking: Three Veiled Ladies, 1875

Quiet people always know more than they seem. Although very normal,
their inner world is by default fronted mysterious and therefore assumed weird.
Never underestimate the social awareness and sense of reality in a quiet person;
they are some of the most observant, absorbent persons of all.
― Criss Jami, Healology

Like the moon shining bright
Up high with all its grace,
I can only show you at night
And hide half of my face.
― Ana Claudia Antunes, Pierrot & Columbine

Three veiled ladies, 1875. 5.5" x 4.25" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Fashion Photos for Collage, Graphic Design, Papercrafts or Scrapbooking: Parisian Afternoon Dresses, 1925

There is an hour of the afternoon
when the plain is on the verge of saying something.
It never says, or perhaps it says it infinitely,
or perhaps we do not understand it,
or we understand it and it is untranslatable as music.
― Jorge Luis Borges

Two ladies in Jazz Age afternoon dresses from Les Modes, 1925.
High-res 6" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.