Two-hundred years ago, in 1819, Queen Victoria was born. And so was a fashion movement. The Victorian era came alive in Port Townsend last weekend, as visitors and locals alike donned their petticoats and ascots to take a twirl about town for the annual Victorian Heritage Festival. Taking a break from high teas, merchant fairs and Victorian building tours, spectators gathered to see a Victorian fashion show, where historic costume-makers strutted down the runway showing off their recreated Victorian-era evening wear. “Evening wear had its own set of rules in the Victorian era,” said Agnes Gawne, who emceed the show, while dressed in a traditional gown she had made herself. “In the evening, ladies were allowed to wear quite low-necked gowns to allow plenty of room to show off jewelry and other assets.” Instructing the spectators on the reasons behind the puffy sleeves and ruffled “lobster tails” on dresses to the many uses of fans (carried by both men and women in that era, and used for cooling down in unairconditioned dance halls and also passing secret messages to friends) Gawne turned the fashion show from a spectator sport into a historical lesson. For historical costumers, Port Townsend’s Victorian Heritage Festival is one of the largest events of the year. “I started coming in 2014,” said Rebecca Maiten, from Auburn, who donned a recreation of a purple and pink ruffled evening ball gown from the 1870s. “I’m a historical costumer, and this is one of the biggest events in the Pacific Northwest.” While she normally prefers wearing Victorian day-wear for its greater versatility, Maiten said she didn’t mind getting dolled up in an evening gown. “It feels pretty and fun,” she said. “I think the best way to describe it is ‘lovely.’”