Huge hats, trimmed with feathers, fruit, flowers, buckles, even whole birds, became increasingly elaborate after 1901 - flagships of conspicuous consumption. Queen Alexandra helped to limit the threat to rare birds by announcing, in 1906, that she would no longer wear wild birds' feathers. Male fashion, on the other hand, was much less ostentatious and changed only slightly before the First World War.

Corsets, made of silk, satin, brocade or coutil (a sort of twill) and often highly decorated, were generally worn despite the discomfort and possible danger they entailed. The Lady Cyclist campaigned against the corset, claiming that 'Fainting, hysteria, indigestion, anorexia, lassitude, diminished vitality and a host of other sufferings arise from interference with the circulation of the blood and the prevention of the full play of the breathing organs'.