Alessandra Casiraghi, 33, from Watford, has been dressing like she lives in the Victorian era for more than five years, prompting passers-by to ask her if she’s a real life “princess”

An 1800s-obsessed woman who even dresses like a true Victorian says people have asked her if she’s a real-life “princess”.

Alessandra Casiraghi, 33, first discovered her passion for the old-fashioned when she was a teenager in high school.

But the photographer and marketing agency researcher only fully converted to dressing like she lives in the Victorian era when she moved to the UK from Italy five years ago.

Now Alessandra, who lives in Watford, Hertfordshire, has 30 gowns true to the period and a wardrobe of countless other garments which she makes herself in order to look more authentic.

She said: “Most of the comments I get are about my hair and overall style.

“I get kids pointing at me and asking their mums if I’m a princess, most of the time they think I’m Rapunzel.

“But sometimes I get older women stopping me too to tell me how elegant I look and they say it reminds them of old times.

“Doing this isn’t something you just start overnight.

“For me it started in high school, but it wasn’t until I moved from Italy that I really started dressing exactly how I wanted.”

With her entire wardrobe inspired by 19th century fashion, Alessandra goes to the shops, cinema and even work dressed as a Victorian, but says her boyfriend still dresses in normal clothes.

Over the years, Alessandra has collected a number of antique items from the time and eventually hopes to convert her first house into a completely authentic Victorian-style home, when she purchases.

As well as her day job, the passionate period style-icon does historical re-enactments for museums and events where she tells people about the positives and negatives of life back then.

She added: “I make most of my clothes myself because you can’t really find these sorts of items just in the shops.

“You have to teach yourself to sew or commission people to make clothes for you.

“There were a lot of negatives about living in the Victorian era so I am glad I’m alive now.

“But I just enjoy the aesthetic of this lifestyle and the values that the Victorian people had about looking after items.

“Today the world is very consumerist and a lot of things have a throwaway culture.

“My boyfriend likes the Victorian era too but he still dresses normally.

“When I finally buy my own place I know that I want to transform it to being as much of a Victorian home as possible.”

Follow Alessandra’s lifestyle on Instagram here