Historical Fancy Dress

Canary Bird

(Another easy costume featuring a stuffed bird on the shoulder!)

Dress of yellow plush or satin, with canaries on the shoulder, the bird's head forming the cap. Sometimes the yellow satin is embroidered in pearls, and canaries are scattered all over the dress.

Source: Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.

Grenadier

(An eighteenth-century military costume for a boy, though there's no particular reason an adult couldn't wear something similar.  Click the image to enlarge)

(1760) High white gaiters buttoned to the knee; blue coat turned back with red; red cuffs; white waistcoat and breeches; red and white pointed cap; sword; hair in pigtail.

Source: Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.

Brunhilda and Kriemhilda

(My fabulous costume-and-dance friend Eowyn requested the description of a Walküre (Valkyrie) costume. This was the closest I could find for her -- Wagnerian characters in medieval gowns. I don't know the operas well enough to know whether the outfits would be particular to some specific scene.

(Niebelslungen Lied). Suitable for two sisters. They wear rich gold stuffs made in Burgundian fashion of the thirteenth century. Brunhilda would have under-dress of brocade, over-dress of gold tissue caught up at the side; low square bodice bordered with jewels, jewelled stomacher, silver girdle; sleeves puffed at elbow and shoulder; gold crown, hair in coil entwined with pearls. Kriemhilda: under-skirt of rich stuff, bordered with bands of gold; upper-dress of embroidered cloth-of-gold, bordered with ermine; low bodice much jewelled in front, long sleeves lined ith ermine, and bound with gold, tight sleeves to wrist; hair on shoulders, surmounted by a crown.

Source: Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.

On shoes, and the powdering of hair

(A brief mention of the problem of matching shoes to costumes, with a digression on powdered hair.  See the previous On the necessity of gloves for further advice.  "Short" dresses are in fact mid-calf to ankle-length, not miniskirts.)

To be properly chaussé and ganté are difficulties at fancy balls. With short dresses the prettiest and most fashionable shoes are worn, either blak with coloured heel and bows, or coloured shoes to match the dress, and embroidered, the stockings being of plain colour or stripes. With the Vivandière dress Wellington boots are best.

To avoid glaring inconsistencies, it is well to remember that powder was introduced into England in James I.'s reign, though not very generally worn. It attained the height of its glory in the Georgian period, and in 1795 fell a victim to the tax raised by Pitt on hair-powder; those that wore it subsequently were called guinea-pigs, on account of the guinea tax. Periwigs were first mentioned in 1529. High-heeled shoes were not heard of till Elizabeth's reign.

    Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.

Photography

(It's always wonderful to find a well-documented photograph of someone in a fancy dress outfit.  Here's one from the era of the hoop skirt; how appropriate it is to find a photograph of Photography!  Click the image for a larger version.)

Left: Miss Stevenson, as "Photography", Montréal, QC, 1865 by William Notman.  Image © McCord Museum.

The photograph is part of an online exhibition of photographs of fancy dress costumes from balls and skating parties; the museum's description of it states:

"Miss Stevenson attended a fancy dress ball in Montreal in 1865 at the Theatre Royal, given by the officers of the garrison. She dressed as "Photography", complete with a camera on her head and photographs adorning her dress, shoes, bracelets and fan. Miss Stevenson copied this dress from a printed fashion plate, which frequently offered images of fancy dress costumes. The almost identical costume in the Parisian plate is bright green."

While I do not, alas, have the fashion plate referred to, I do have two nearly-identical descriptions of a photography costume, with details very similar to those shown in the photograph, from the second and fifth editions of a fancy dress manual from the 1880s.  They confirm the suggestion above that the dress would be green.  Presumably were the costume to be made in the style of the 1880s the short-for-its-era skirt would take the shape of a bustle rather than a hoop.  The "lunette" referred to in the descriptions is a half-moon shape rather than the camera used by Miss Stevenson.

(1) A green silk dress trimmed with tulle of the same shade, round the skirt, nestling in the bouillonnés, a row of photographs, a scarf of the silk draped across the skirt, with medallion photographs at intervals, all bordered with green gimp, the bertha of the low bodice fastened at the front, back, and on the shoulders with them.  A cap in the form of a lunette, with cartes de visites, and a long green veil depending.

(2) A green silk dress trimmed with tulle of the same shade; round the skirt, nestling in the bouillonnés a row of photographs; a scarf of the silk draped across the skirt, with medallion photographs at intervals, all bordered with green galon; the bertha of the low bodice fastened at the front, back, and on the shoulders with them; a cap in the form of a lunette, with cartes-de-visite, and a long green veil depending.

Sources:

(1) Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 2nd Edition, Illustrated.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1880.

(2) Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.

Dusk

(One of those very vague descriptions that lends itself to a great deal of creativity in the drapery and trimming of the dress.)

Dress of dull grey, muslin or gauze, over satin; silver ornaments and smoked pearls; a bat on shoulders.

(See also: In The Gloaming)

Source: Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.

Othello

(Another Shakespearean costume, this time for the gentlemen. What is left out of the description is that this was almost certainly worn with blackface makeup, which would nowadays be completely unacceptable.  Click the image to enlarge.)

Shirt of white silk and tights of pale brown; sleeveless tunic of black silk, handsomely trimmed with gold bands; gold belt; full cloak of white cloth.

Source: Masquerades, Tableaux and Drills.  New York: The Butterick Publishing Company, 1906.

Costume suggestions for sisters

(A list of suggestions for costumes for sisters that also work for any pair or group of women. I can just imagine my sister's reaction had I ever suggested dressing her as a slave to my Circassian Princess...)

SISTERS who desire to appear in costumes which assimilate might choose any of the following: Apple and Pear Blossoms, Sovereign and Shilling, Cinderella's two sisters, Cordelia's sisters, Brenda and Minna Troil, Brunhilda and Kriemhilda, Salt and Fresh Water, the Roses of York and Lancaster, a Circassian Princess and Slave, Music and Painting, the Two Nornas, Lovebirds, Aurora and the Hours, Oranges and Lemons, and Four Sisters as the Seasons.

Source: Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.

Dragon-Fly

(Back to insects again, in the continuing Victorian fascination with the natural world...)

Evening dress of green tulle, spangled with green tinsel, trimmed with bulrushes and dragon-fly; a dragon-fly on the head and on each shoulder.

Source: Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.