Historical Fancy Dress

Costumes for brunettes

(Costumes ideally suited the wearer by age and coloration.  Here three nearly-identical lists of suggestions for brunettes, taken from different editions of the same manual.)

Among the Costumes best adapted to BRUNES are Africa, Arab Lady, Arrah-na-Pogue, Asia, Autumn, Bee, Gipsies of various kinds, the Bride of Abydos, Brigand's Wife, Britannia, Buy-a-Broom, Carmen, Cleopatra, Colleen Bawn, Connaught Peasant, Diana, Druideess, Earth, Egyptian, Erin, Esmeralda, Fenella, Fire, Greek, Harvest, Maid of Saragossa, Maritana, Oranges and Lemons, Rose of Castille, and Zingari, together with Italian, Spanish, and Oriental.

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

Among the Costumes adapted to BRUNES are Africa, Arab Lady, Arrah-na-Pogue, Asia, Autumn, Bee, Gipsies of various kinds, the Bride of Abydos, Brigand's Wife, Britannia, Buy-a-Broom, Carmen, Cleopatra, Colleen Bawn, Connaught Peasant Diana, Druidess, Earth, Egyptian, Erin, Esmeralda, Fenella, Fire, Greek, Luti, the Indian Girl, Harvest, Maid of Saragossa, Maritana, Rose of Castille, and Zingari, together with Italian, Spanish, and Oriental dresses.

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

Among the Characters adapted to BRUNES are Africa, Arab Lady, Arrah-na-Pogue, Asia, Autumn, Bee, Gipsies of various kinds, the Bride of Abydos, Brigand's Wife, Britannia, Buy-a-Broom, Carmen, Cleopatra, Colleen Bawn, Connaught Peasant, Diana, Druidess, Earth, Egyptian, Erin, Esmeralda, Fenella, Fire, Greek, Harvest, Maid of Saragossa, Maritana, Rose of Castille, together with Italian, Spanish, and Oriental dresses.

Source: Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, Sixth Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1896.

The 1896 edition of Holt may be found online at the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.

Fly Costume for Boy of Four

(Here's another insect costume, this one apparently for a boy so young that he's not yet breeched (put into trousers of some kind rather than dresses), as the outfit is basically a dress.  I suspect this is why the age is specified in the title of the costume.  Nowadays this would probably not be a popular choice for a boy's costume, but might work for a little girl, so I'm cross-listing it.  No illustration, alas!)

Golden-yellow satin skirt, ornamented with black braid and studded with small gauze flies.  The sort upper skirt forms a sort of long basque and is sewn to the waistband; rows of gold braid across the high bodice, and round the short sleeves, loose jacket ornamented with gauze; fly in the centre of back, an smaller ones in front; black velvet toque, with gold band round, a gold fly fastening down aigrette.

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

Christmas Card

(An amazingly detailed description of how to embody a Christmas card. Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating!)

Short striped skirt of black and gold, on the black a row of Christmas Cards printed horizontally, edged with gold braid, three on each, graduated, the largest at the bottom. At the edge of skirt are satin flounces, over which fall gold tinsel and fringe. Red satin paniers and drapery, covered with swansdown pompoms; scarlet satin cuirass bodice laced at the back, bordered at the neck with swansdown, festoons of holly-berries on the arm, below the shoulder. Cordon of Christmas roses across the bodice, white ribbon epaulettes, holly wreath, red aigrette, stockings and shoes. A Christmas card in centre of white swansdown fan.

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

Classic

(This is my absolute favorite of all the pseudo-historical Victorian fancy dress costumes: a "classical" Grecian style...draped over a bustle and corset!  "Not rigidly correct" is quite the understatement!)

This simple rendering of a classic gown is suited to a young girl of slender figure, and is not rigidly correct as the costume of ancient days. It can be made in soft cashmere, muslin, nun's veiling, crêpe, crêpe de Chine, or Liberty silk, worked in the Greek-key pattern with narrow Russian gold braid.

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

For elderly ladies

(This author pulled no punches with regard to dressing your age; no sexy costumes for older women, though at least there are a few suggestions that are not just some sort of old woman.)

For ELDERLY LADIES the following costumes are suitable: --Mrs. Balchriste; Griselda Oldbuck, Dowager of Brionne, My Grandmother, a Lady of the Olden Times, Night, Puritan, some Vanduke dresses, Quakeress, Mrs. Primrose, wife of the Vicar of Wakefield, Peacock, the Duchess of Orleans, a Maltese Faldette, Mother Hubbard, Mother Shipton, a Sorceress, a Gallician Matron, and some Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds's dresses.

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

Rosina (Barber of Seville)

(Another costume from the opera, this time from Rossini.)

(Barbiere de Seville). Spanish dress of cerise satin and black lace; black velvet senorita jacket; black lace mantilla.

Reconstruction note: the senorita jacket pictured at left is from the fashion section of the April, 1867, issue of Arthur's Home Magazine. Though this is twenty years earlier than the description above, but the style is probably similar. The description given with the illustration is:

Breakfast jacket of scarlet cashmere, ornamented upon the breast, and epaulets with butterflies with spread wings cut out in velvet and embroidered with gold and red and blue silk. There is a slight spring at the back of the waist, which deepens into a point, ornamented with butterfly to match.

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

Jumping Joan

(Here's a cute little girl's costume from a Mother Goose nursery rhyme.)

Suitable for a Child. Tall and pointed cap, pink and white stripes carried round; soft pink silk dress with honeycomb yoke, a skipping-rope round waist; sleeves with puff at shoulder, slashed puffs at elbow, cuffs falling over the hand.

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

The rhyme:

Here am I, little jumping Joan,
When nobody's with me
I'm always alone.

Harliquina

(I have other descriptions of this costume, but none with such a good illustration.  I love the combination of the bustle and the bicorn hat.  It might be faster to do the diamonds as appliqué rather than patchwork.)

Pierrette or Harliquina (for she is called by either name) has become a very favourite character at fancy balls of late, and the costume is decidedly piquante, and has a great air of individuality.  The lady in the picture is dressed in pink and green, but the dress can also be made in red and black, white and silver, pink and blue, and in many other combinations of colour.  The bodice and petticoat are made in diamond-shaped pieces of shot silk, alternately pink and Chatreuse green, and the gay little cloak which hangs from one shoulder, has a border of diamonds to correspond.  The top-skirt is formed of a drapery of pale green mousseline chiffon, and the two-cornered Directoire hat has a large rosette made of the two colours.  Long black gloves appear in the picture, but these would be in better taste if they matched the dress.

Source: Armstrong, Lucie.  The Ball-Room Guide.  London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co., c1880s.

On authenticity

(This author is modest about the level of accuracy in the descriptions given.)

It [the book] does not purport to be an authority in the matter of costume, for, as a rule, the historical dresses worn on such occasions are lamentably incorrect. Mary Stuart appears in powder; Louis XIV. wears a beard; and Berengaria distended drapery. No one would probably view the national costumes with more curiosity than the peasantry they are intended to portray, although certain broad characteristics of the several countries are maintained by Fancy Ball-goers.

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