Did you know that our love for seashell jewellery and its instant summer feel is largely due to its ancestor—Victorian seaside jewellery? As 19th-century railway expansion brought the seaside within reach of the middle classes, a new fashion culture emerged: resort wear. And with it came new ways to dress, new jewellery to wear, and a tradition of holiday souvenirs that still echoes in our style choices today.
The fashion-forward Victorians didn’t just pioneer seaside holidays; they left a lasting imprint on how we dress for the beach and the kind of jewellery we reach for during summer. From delicate shells and sentimental motifs to timeless stripes and gauzy fabrics, the Victorians were the unlikely tastemakers of many elements we still cherish in warm-weather fashion today.
This blog dives into how the Victorians holidayed, what they wore, and most importantly, the enduring influence of Victorian seaside jewellery on today’s summer styles. If you’ve ever worn a cameo necklace or floral earrings in the summer, you might just be echoing the past more than you think…
Escaping to the Seaside: A New Leisure Culture
The seaside holiday was a relatively new invention in the Victorian era. With industrialisation came long working weeks—and a yearning for rest, fresh air, and health-giving sea breezes. Queen Victoria’s own love for Osborne House on the Isle of Wight helped set the tone for seaside holidays as aspirational and refined.
Railways made it possible. Middle-class families from London could now reach Brighton, Margate, Scarborough, and Southend in just a few hours. Resorts developed their own microcultures—places where people let go of urban constraints but embraced a new set of coastal norms.
With this new holiday ritual came a new approach to dressing. Ladies swapped crinolines for shorter hemlines and cottons. Modesty was still paramount, but fabrics lightened and silhouettes softened.
For the first time, people packed up not just for practicality but for pleasure. Along with their bathing suits and bonnets, they brought jewellery that suited the new setting: lighter, more playful, and inspired by nature and the sea.
Victorian Seaside Fashion: Modesty Meets Practicality
Victorian seaside fashion had to strike a delicate balance: practical for movement and modest for decorum. Women wore walking dresses made of lightweight materials like cotton and linen, often in nautical blues or with delicate floral prints. Straw hats shielded complexions from the sun. Capes or jackets kept seaside breezes at bay.
Bathing costumes, for those brave enough to enter the water, were modest and voluminous—knee-length dresses worn over bloomers, sometimes belted, with matching caps. For many, beachwear was more about promenade than plunge: an opportunity to stroll along the pier in full view, display fashionable taste, and collect compliments (or suitors).
Children wore sailor suits, which were both stylish and symbolic of maritime pride. Men favoured lightweight suits and straw boaters.
Specific Elements of Victorian Seaside Fashion Still Popular Today:
- Nautical Influences: Sailor collars, stripes, and navy blue colour palettes.
- Floral Prints: Then and now, these remain go-to summer patterns, especially in swimwear and sundresses.
- Straw Hats: Large, wide-brimmed straw hats offer sun protection and add a touch of vintage charm.
- Puff Sleeves and Sailor Collars: These key details, once found on bathing dresses, are making a strong comeback in tops and dresses.
- Lightweight Fabrics: Cotton gauze and linen are still cherished today for their breathable comfort.
- Long Skirts and Dresses: Full-length skirts, often with high waists and details like pleats or overskirts, are a recurring theme in modern fashion.
- Lace and Luxurious Fabrics: Victorian fashion was known for its use of luxurious fabrics like silk, satin, and lace, which continue to be popular choices in modern high-end fashion.
From boater hats to espadrille-style shoes, many aspects of the Victorian holiday wardrobe continue to shape how we dress by the sea today.
Why this style is popular:
Functionality: Many Victorian seaside garments were designed for practicality, which resonates with modern preferences for comfortable and durable clothing.
Nostalgia and Romance: There’s a romantic appeal to the past, and Victorian fashion evokes a sense of elegance and history.
Sustainable Fashion: The resurgence of interest in heritage clothing, like hand-knitted ganseys, reflects a growing appreciation for slow fashion and durable garments.
Influence of Media: Popular television shows like Downton Abbey have contributed to the revival of interest in Victorian fashion and aesthetics.
What is Victorian Seaside Jewellery?
Victorian seaside jewellery refers to the accessories worn or bought during coastal holidays in the 19th century. These often included sentimental keepsakes and natural materials inspired by the beach environment. Common themes were nautical motifs, sea creatures, and souvenir pieces crafted from local materials like shells, coral, and jet.
Key Characteristics:
- Lightweight and portable
- Natural materials (shell, coral, lava, jet)
- Symbolic and sentimental motifs
- Often locally sourced or handmade souvenirs
Women would bring with them simpler, travel-safe jewellery—often brooches, cameos, or hair combs—and purchase keepsakes at the destination to remember the experience.
Legacy of Victorian Seaside Jewellery in Modern Designs
Victorian seaside jewellery didn’t disappear with the turn of the century—it evolved. Many motifs and materials popularised in that era are still present in contemporary summer jewellery.
Victorian-inspired jewellery, particularly elements like symbolic motifs, cameo brooches, and floral designs, remains popular today. These elements, along with the use of gemstones like amethyst and garnet, and materials like jet, are often incorporated into modern summer jewellery.
Here’s a closer look:
Symbolic Motifs: Think hearts, anchors, hands, and flowers—common in Victorian times and still used in charm bracelets, pendants, and earrings.
Cameos: Once carved from conch shell or lava, these profile-carved pieces now appear in pendant necklaces and statement earrings.
Floral Designs: Then as now, florals flourish in summer collections. Think enamel daisy studs or wildflower-inspired necklaces.
Gemstones: Amethyst, garnet, and opal featured heavily in Victorian designs and still brighten modern summer pieces.
Jet Jewellery: Once a symbol of mourning, jet’s glossy black sheen adds edge to today’s summer looks.
Layering: Victorians loved stacking pieces—necklaces, bangles, brooches—and this continues as a style hallmark.
Large Earrings: Statement earrings with dangling details were all the rage back then—and are right back on trend.
Brooches: After a period of obscurity, brooches are regaining popularity as versatile adornments on everything from beach hats to sarongs.
Materials: Silver, gold, and enamel—favourites of the era—still dominate modern collections.
Seaside Souvenirs: The Role of Jewellery in Holiday Keepsakes
The Victorians were deeply sentimental. Jewellery wasn’t just decorative; it told a story, marked a memory, or expressed emotion. This was especially true of seaside souvenirs.
Holidaymakers often returned home with jewellery crafted from local materials—like Whitby jet from Yorkshire, lava from Naples, or Scottish agate from the Highlands. These pieces weren’t just mementoes—they were wearable stories, physical links to a moment in time.
Souvenir jewellery, often sold in small resort boutiques or brought back from grand tours, allowed people to commemorate places visited. Miniature lockets, brooches carved with resort names, or jewellery set with regional stones—like Scottish cairngorm—were cherished tokens of memory.
These pieces were not only fashionable but personal. Much like today’s holiday purchases, they helped people carry the joy of their travel experience into everyday life.
That legacy continues today. Whether it’s a sea glass pendant from Cornwall or a handcrafted shell ring from your favourite island, holiday jewellery is still about more than adornment—it’s about memory.
Why It Matters: Wearing the Past, Making It Your Own
Understanding the roots of Victorian seaside jewellery helps us see how fashion is never created in a vacuum. Today’s layered necklaces, floral motifs, and gemstone summer jewellery echo a time when travel was new, the sea felt restorative, and jewellery helped you carry the memory home.
For me, that sense of connection to the past—and to the natural world—is deeply personal. It is what inspired my Sea Breeze collection, where I cast real shells in silver, combine them with pearls and natural gemstones, and let them tell their own story. Just like the Victorians, I believe jewellery can be both beautiful and meaningful. It is beach-holiday nostalgia reimagined for today.
Explore the collection here and discover the pieces inspired by this beautiful tradition.
A Modern Tribute: The SEA BREEZE Collection
My own Sea Breeze collection was born from a similar place: seaside memories, storytelling, and natural textures.
These are jewellery pieces that travel well, layer beautifully, and — like their Victorian ancestors — carry personal meaning.
Inspired by childhood holidays on the coast of Normandie, the pieces echo Victorian sensitivity to detail and symbolism — but with a crisp, modern edge. They are designed not just to decorate but to connect: to memories, to seasons, to self-expression.
I hope each piece helps you write your own story of summer.
Final Thoughts
There’s something undeniably magical about seaside holidays—then and now. Victorian seaside jewellery and fashion helped shape many of the summer staples we take for granted today: straw hats, layered necklaces, flowing skirts, and souvenirs crafted into wearable art.
Their seaside style—both in clothing and jewellery—continues to ripple through our modern wardrobes in ways we often don’t even realise.
By recognising the roots of our seasonal favourites, we not only deepen our appreciation of style but connect to a longer story—one of sentiment, symbolism, and summer joy.
The Victorians may have worn more layers than we do, but their approach to holiday style was anything but frivolous. It was a carefully curated expression of values, identity, and elegance. Their jewellery, in particular, carried memories, emotions, and a deep respect for craftsmanship.
And that, really, is the lasting charm of Victorian seaside jewellery: not just how it looked, but why it mattered. Whether it’s the romance of a locket, the glow of a pearl, or the thrill of packing a carefully chosen capsule collection, we are not so far from our 19th-century sisters after all.
So next time you wear a floral locket or pick a striped sundress, think of the trailblazing holidaymakers who made the beach fashionable—and their legacy that lives on.
Let your jewellery tell your story — just as theirs did.
📌 Ready to wear a piece of history this summer? Discover Sea Breeze—a tribute to Victorian seaside elegance, made modern.
Explore the Sea Breeze Collection to discover modern jewellery with a Victorian soul. Click here
