History Literature / TippingTheVelvet

''Tipping the Velvet'' is a 1998 historical romance novel by Creator/SarahWaters. The book was adapted into a three-part serial in 2002 for Creator/TheBBC, and a stage play in 2015.

Tropes shared by the novel and the series can be listed below. Tropes specific to just the series should go on [[Series/TippingTheVelvet2002 the series' page]].

* {{Bifauxnen}}: Nancy can easily pass for a pretty young man, so much so that her first proper costume as Rackity Jack had to be altered so she'd be ''less'' convincing.

* CastFullOfGay: The main character and most of the supporting characters are lesbians and there are several minor characters who are gay.

* DeathByChildbirth: Little Cyril's mother died giving birth to him. As a result, Ralph and Florence adopted him.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Nancy makes her peace with her past and seems to be happy after going through great hardships, but she does not [[spoiler:get back together with Kitty nor find fame and fortune. However, she finds a new love in Florence and new purpose through helping Florence in her political activism]].
* {{Gaydar}}: Nancy seems to sense- or at least hope- that Florence is a lesbian like her. At first she thinks she's mistaken as Florence seems to be married with a child. It turns out that the man she first saw is Florence's brother, while the child is one they adopted. Later, it's confirmed that Florence really ''is'' a lesbian, and the two get involved.

* HaveAGayOldTime: The language is consistent with the time period the story is set in. This means that "gay" is routinely used to mean "happy" and "queer" is routinely used to mean "strange."
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Soon after Nancy joins Kitty's act as Nan King, the shear novelty of a masher pair helps launch the two of them into stardom. At the same time, Kitty and Nancy have confessed their love for one other and become a couple. However, they need to keep their relationship under wraps or else they'll be ridiculed and laughed out of showbiz, something that Kitty is very paranoid about. When an audience member calls them a homophobic slur, it shakes up Kitty's confidence so badly that she calls off that night's show. [[spoiler:This leads Kitty to starting an affair with Walter. Nancy is devastated when she catches them in bed together, leaving both Kitty and the stage. Her heartbreak quickly morphs into a depression in which Nancy isolates herself from everyone. It isn't long before "Nan King" becomes forgotten by the public, made swifter after Kitty and Walter start performing together.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Nancy puts a lot of her own needs and wants first before others. When she reunites with Florence and gets roped into helping out the poor, Nancy admits in her narration that she doesn't give one iota about the needy.
* LastGirlWins: [[spoiler:Florence]] is the one Nancy ends up with in the end. Nancy actually met her in the middle of the story and then forgot about her when Diana came along, but she didn't get to know [[spoiler:Florence]] until after leaving Diana.
* LipstickLesbian: Kitty may dress up as a boy for the stage, but is conventionally feminine outside the theater. Mrs. Lethaby, Zena and Florence could also qualify. There are also a number of minor lesbian characters who are more typically feminine.

* OpenMindedParent: Nancy's parents are rather accepting of their daughters decision to leave Whitstable and pursue a career in theater. Nancy's father points out that she's old enough to choose her own path in life and, while he may not fully agree with this choice, he'll support her either way. He only asks that she not forget her family or hometown.
* RecursiveCrossdressing: When Nancy first tries on a male costume, Kitty and Walter both realize that she looks too much like a man: part of the appeal of male impersonators is seeing a woman play at being a man, so being too convincing will just make the audience confused. To fix this, Nancy's masher costume gets trimmed with lace and ribbons in order to better clue in the audience that she's a woman playing the role of a man.
* SexSlave: Nancy is essentially a live-in sex slave for Diana.
* {{Streetwalker}}: For a period of time, Nancy works as a prostitute, servicing gay men while dressed up as a man. She conducts all of her business on the streets, as she can only give out hand- and blowjobs.
* SweetPollyOliver: After leaving the stage, Nancy first dons a male outfit to avoid street harassment from men. When she becomes strapped for cash, she's pondering how to get more when she's hit on by gay man. Due to her work as a male impersonator, Nancy is an expert at making others mistake her for a man and thankfully this particular gay man only wants a handie. This makes Nancy realize that working as a prostitute for gay man will be an efficient way to earn money.
* TrueCompanions: Nancy eventually creates a family for herself with Florence, Ralph, and baby Cyril. There's even a scene where the adult members speculate as to who would be in their personal heavens with them, and each one lists all the others.
* UnproblematicProstitution: The biggest concern Nancy has when she's out on the streets is her clients finding out that she's a woman. She's actively choosy about her clients, avoiding anyone obviously drunk or aggressive, and the thought of catching any diseases never crosses her mind. Once she starts living with Diana, even those concerns become nonexistent.

* OpenMindedParents: Nancy's parents are rather accepting of their daughters decision to leave Whitstable and pursue a career in theater. Nancy's father points out that she's old enough to choose her own path in life and, while he may not fully agree with this choice, he'll support her either way. He only asks that she not forget her family or hometown.

Tropes shared by the novel and the series can be listed below. Tropes specific to just the series should go on [[Series/TippingTheVelvet the series' page]].

* AmbiguousDisorder: Something's off about Gracie, even if it's not clear what; she acts very young for her age, and has an odd fixation with certain colors.

* BoyishShortHair: Kitty has hers cut short to perform in her drag king act, with Nancy later doing the same when joining it. They also become lovers as well, with this echoing Nancy's self-realization that she's a lesbian.
* ButchLesbian: There a number of lesbians who seem to prefer men's clothing and masculine mannerisms. Nancy also gets a bit more butch over the course of the series.
* CastFullOfGay: The main character and most of the supporting characters are lesbians.

* ComingOutStory: Nancy realizes she's a lesbian upon meeting Kitty, who becomes her lover, and she later tells her younger sister. However, her sister is negative about this and doesn't want to hear any more.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Nancy makes her peace with her past and seems to be happy after going through great hardships, but she does not [[spoiler:get back together with Kitty nor find fame and fortune. However, she finds a new love in Florence]].

* LastGirlWins: [[spoiler:Florence]] is the one Nancy ends up with in the end. Nancy actually met her in the middle of the story and then forgot about her when Diana came along, but she didn't get to know Florence until after leaving Diana.
* LipstickLesbian: Kitty may dress up as a boy for the stage, but is conventionally feminine outside the theater. Mrs. Lethaby, Zena and Florence could also qualify. Nancy, however, gets more butch as the story goes on. There are also a number of minor lesbian characters who are more typically feminine.

* MasculineFeminineGayCouple: A lot of the lesbian couples in the book display this dynamic. Here it's shown as with working-class butch women who are in men's clothing beside aristocratic rich feminine lesbians wearing fine dresses, hats etc., the accepted high society attire of the day.
* RecursiveCrossdressing: When Nancy first tries on a male costume, Kitty and Walter both realize that she can play a man too convincingly. To fix this, Nancy's masher costume gets trimmed with lace and ribbons in order to better clue in the audience that she's a woman playing the role of a man.
* SexSlave: Nancy is essentially a personal sex slave for Diana.
* {{Streetwalker}}: For a period of time, Nancy works as one, servicing gay men who mistake her for a man. She conducts all her business on the streets, as she can only give out hand- and blowjobs.
* SweetPollyOliver: Due to her work as a male impersonator, Nancy is an expert at this. After leaving the stage, she first dons a male outfit to avoid street harassment from men, then afterword she gets hit on by a gay men.

Nancy has to keep her newly discovered passion to herself, proven when her sister begins to treat her coldly after Nancy tells her about her about how Kitty makes her feel. Things get even harder when Kitty takes notice of Nancy's frequent visits to the theater, inviting her to her dressing room one night. They soon form a close-knit bond that Nancy initially mistakes for friendly affection on Kitty's part. However, their time together soon reveals that Kitty loves her just as much as she loves Kitty.

Nancy has to keep her newly discovered passion to herself, proven when her sister begins to treat her coldly after Nancy tells her about her about how Kitty makes her feel. Things get even harder when Kitty takes notice of Nancy's frequent visits to the theater, inviting her to her dressing room one night. They soon form a close-knit bond that Nancy mistakes for friendly affection on Kitty's part. However, their time together soon reveals that Kitty loves her just as much as she loves Kitty.

Nancy has to keep her newly discovered passion to herself, proven when her sister begins to treat her coldly after Nancy tells her about her newfound feelings. Things get even harder when Kitty takes notice of Nancy's frequent visits to the theater, inviting her to her dressing room one night. They soon form a close-knit bond that Nancy mistakes for friendly affection on Kitty's part. However, their time together soon reveals that Kitty loves her just as much as she loves Kitty.

Of course, this being Victorian England, Nancy has to keep her passion to herself, proven when her sister begins to treat her coldly after Nancy tells her about her newfound feelings. Things get even harder when Kitty takes notice of Nancy's frequent visits to the theater, inviting her to her dressing room one night. They soon form a close-knit bond that Nancy mistakes for friendly affection on Kitty's part. However, their time together soon reveals that Kitty loves her just as much as she loves Kitty.

''Tipping the Velvet'' is a 1998 historical romance novel by Creator/SarahWaters. The book was adapted into a three-part serial in 2002 for Creator/TheBBC. The novel was adapted into a play by Laura Wade in 2015.

!!Tropes:
* AmbiguouslyBi: It's left unclear if Kitty really had feelings for Walter, or he's just her [[TheBeard beard]], as she also tries to get back with Nan later.
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[spoiler:Tony]] (in the film) when Nan opens the stage-management door it looks like he was getting pretty close to another man. He plays it off cooly, but later on Alice finds it not so ambiguous...
* AmbiguousDisorder: Something's off about Gracie, even if it's not clear what; she acts very young for her age, and has an odd fixation with certain colors. Probably justified because of the period, as 'feeble-minded' people were rarely classified more finely than that.
* AristocratsAreEvil: Diana Lethaby and her decadent friends. They cruelly exploit lesbians younger than themselves in their parties and for sex overall.
* AttemptedRape: In the series, Nan is nearly raped by one of her gay male customers who won't take "no" as an answer when she refused to do anal sex. She's rescued by Diana's manservant before this happens.
* {{Bifauxnen}}: Nan can easily pass for a pretty young man-so easily that her first proper costume as Rackity Jack had to be altered so she'd be ''less'' convincing.
* BoyishShortHair: Kitty has hers cut short to perform in her drag king act, with Nan later doing the same when joining it. They also become lovers as well, with this echoing Nan's self-realization that she's a lesbian.
* ButchLesbian: We see a number of lesbians who seem to prefer men's clothing and masculine mannerisms. Nan also gets a bit more butch over the course of the series.
* CastFullOfGay: The main character and most supporting characters are lesbians.
* ChummyCommies: Florence and Ralph. Both are committed socialists and easily the nicest people aside from Nan in the story. Nan joins them later.
* ClosetKey: Nan didn't know she was a "tom" before she met Kitty, while in retrospect saying that it explains her lack of attraction for her fiance.
* ComingOutStory: Nan realizes she's a lesbian on meeting Kitty, who becomes her lover, and she later tells her younger sister. However, her sister is negative about this and doesn't want to hear any more. At the end though she comes to visit her family again with her next lover Florence.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: It ends happily, just not as you might have expected. Or wanted, depending on your favored couple. Nan makes her peace with her past and seems to be happy after going through great hardships, but she does not [[spoiler:get back together with Kitty nor find fame and fortune. However, she finds new love with Florence]].
* {{Gaydar}}: Nan seems to sense, or at least hope, that Flo is a lesbian like her. At first she thinks she's mistaken as Florence seems to be married with a child. It turns out that's her brother, while the child is one they adopted. Later it's confirmed that Florence really ''is'' a lesbian, and the two get involved.
* GetTheeToANunnery: Quite a few examples, most notably the title. "Tipping the velvet" doesn't seem like something dirty... but historically, it meant cunnilingus.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Nan becomes a kind prostitute, although she technically works as a rent ''[[SweetPollyOliver boy]]''. Regardless, she stays her sweet self.
* IrisOut: In the TV version, obviously. Usually on Nan, since she's the narrator. Each episode closes on the scene by doing this, in the last one with a heart shape after Nan finds true love with Flo.
* LastGirlWins: [[spoiler:Florence]] is the one Nan ends up with in the end; Nan actually met her in the middle of the story and then forgot about her when Diana came along, but she didn't get to know her until afterward.
* LipstickLesbian: Kitty may dress up as a boy for the stage, but is conventionally feminine outside the theater. Ms. Lethaby, Zena and Florence could also qualify. Nan, however, gets more butch as the story goes on. We also see a number of minor lesbian characters who have feminine looks.
* LoverAndBeloved: A number of the rich lesbians in Ms. Lethaby's circle have partners much younger than them who are kept women. Nan is Diana's Beloved ostensibly, though she's more essentially a sex slave.
* MasculineFeminineGayCouple: A lot of the lesbian couples the series display this dynamic. Here it's shown as with working-class butch women who are in men's clothing beside aristocratic rich feminine lesbians wearing fine dresses, hats etc., the accepted high society attire of the day.
%% MsFanservice: Nancy is quite pretty, and shows a lot of nudity, including in sex scenes. To a lesser extent her first lover Kitty too, who is also beautiful (and shares many of those sex scenes).
%%* RecursiveCrossdressing: Again, this effect was purposely utilized for Nan's stage persona.

* {{Streetwalker}}: For a period of time, Nancy works as one, servicing gay men who mistake her for a man. She conducts all her business on the streets, as she can only give out handjobs and blowjobs.
* SweetPollyOliver: Due to her work as a male impersonator, Nancy is an expert at this. After leaving that work, she first dons a male outfit to avoid street harassment from men, then after she gets hit on by a gay men, and keeps doing it for sex work.
* TrueCompanions: Nancy eventually creates a family for herself made up of [Florence, Ralph, and Cyril. There's even a scene where the adult members speculate as to who would be in their personal heavens with them and each one lists all the others.
* UnproblematicProstitution: She becomes the kept woman of Mrs. Lethaby, and at first, she seems to really enjoy it. Over time however Lethaby becomes far more exploitative and controlling to the point Nan describes herself later as her slave.
%% WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame: Nan brings Florence to a lesbian pub after they get together, though at first Florence thinks some of the women there are men, given they're cross-dressing. It's mostly filled with {{butch lesbian}}s, although some feminine ones are seen too (like the aforementioned two).
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Nancy finds that she's more comfortable in men's clothing even when offstage as this saves her from harassment by men, and thus starts dressing like that most of the time. She is always portrayed positively, never changing from a sweet young woman.

%%* InformedAbility: In the TV adaptation, Nan's ability to disguise herself as a boy.

* MsFanservice: Nan is quite pretty, and shows a lot of nudity, including in sex scenes. To a lesser extent her first lover Kitty too, who is also beautiful (and shares many of those sex scenes).

* SexSlave: Nan later describes her relationship with Diana as being essentially this. As her kept woman, Nan is less really her lover than her slave. Some of the other rich lesbians may also have this with their younger partners.
* {{Streetwalker}}: For a period of time, Nan works as one, servicing gay men who mistake her for a man. She conducts all her business on the streets, as she can only give out handjobs and blowjobs, since they might find out otherwise if she had anal sex.
* SweetPollyOliver: Due to her work as a male impersonator, Nan is an expert at this. After leaving that work, she first dons a male outfit to avoid street harassment from men, then after she gets hit on by gay men keeps doing it for sex work.
%%* TimePassesMontage: Used in the BBC adaptation.
* TrueCompanions: Nan eventually creates a family for herself made up of [[spoiler: Florence, Ralph, and Cyril]]. There's even a scene where the adult members speculate as to who would be in their personal heavens with them and each one lists all the others.
* UnproblematicProstitution: {{Subverted}}. At first Nan is quite comfortable with being a {{streetwalker}} and perfectly safe. Then however a client tries to rape her after she's unwilling to do anal sex with him. She becomes the kept woman of Ms. Lethaby, which also seems okay at first. Over time however Lethaby becomes far more exploitative and controlling to the point Nan describes herself later as her slave.
* WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame: Nan brings Florence to a lesbian pub after they get together, though at first Florence thinks some of the women there are men, given they're cross-dressing. It's mostly filled with {{butch lesbian}}s, although some feminine ones are seen too (like the aforementioned two).
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Nan finds that she's more comfortable in men's clothing even when offstage as this saves her from harassment by men, and thus starts dressing like that most of the time. She is always portrayed positively, never changing from a sweet young woman.

[[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tipping_the_Velvet_29.jpg]]

''Tipping the Velvet'' is a 1998 novel written by Creator/SarahWaters which was later adapted into a three-part serial for Creator/TheBBC starring Creator/RachaelStirling and Creator/KeeleyHawes.

Set in [[VictorianLondon Victorian England]], it tells the story of Nancy "Nan" Astley, an unsophisticated oyster girl from Whitstable, who falls in love with Kitty Butler, a music hall male impersonator trading the boards whose lifestyle causes outrage in Victorian society.

* AttemptedRape: Nan is nearly raped by one of her gay male customers who won't take "no" as an answer when she refused to do anal sex. She's rescued by Diana's manservant before this happens.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Nan and Flo were initially just very close friends. This being a lesbian story, it ultimately ends up being more than just "friendship."

* AmbiguouslyGay: [[spoiler:Tony]] (in the film) when Nan opens the stage-management door it looks like he was getting pretty close to another man. He plays it off cooly, but, later on Alice finds it not so ambiguous...

* {{Streetwalker}}: For a period of time, Nan works as one, servicing gay men who mistake her for a man. She conducts all her business on the streets, since she can only give out handjobs and blowjobs, since they might find out otherwise if she had anal sex.

* WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame: Nan brings Florence to a lesbian pub after they get together, though at first Florence thinks some of the women there are men, given they're cross-dressing.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Nan finds that she's more comfortable in men's clothing even when offstage.

* MasculineFeminineGayCouple: A lot of the lesbian couples the series shows have this dynamic. Here it's shown as working-class butch women who are in men's clothing beside aristocratic rich feminine lesbians wearing fine dresses, hats etc., the accepted high society attire of the day.

* MasculineFeminineGayCouple: A lot of the lesbian couples the series shows have this dynamic. Usually this is working-class butch women who are in men's clothing beside aristocratic rich feminine lesbians wearing fine dresses, hats etc., the accepted high society attire of the day.

* LoverAndBeloved: A number of the rich lesbians in Ms. Lethaby's circle have partners of much younger ages than them. Nan becomes Diana's ostensibly, although she's more essentially a sex slave.

* InformedAttribute: In the TV adaptation, Nan's ability to disguise herself as a boy.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: [[spoiler:Nan]] becomes a kind prostitute, although she technically works as a rent ''[[{{Bifauxnen}} boy]]''.