Historical Fancy Dress

A Victorian Makeup Kit

(A list of period makeup materials, as a matter of historical interest.  Modern makeup is much easier to use and on the skin!  And yes, "émail" is French for enamel!)

    It may not be amiss just here to give a list of "make-up" materials such as are used for theatricals and for masquerades when masks are not worn:

    Prepared Fuller's Earth. -- To powder the face with before making up.

    Powdered Blue. -- For imitating a shaven chin.

    Pearl Powder. -- To whiten the complexion, hands and arms.

    Rouge. -- Absolutely indispensible before footlights, which apparently bleach the rosiest complexion to a sickly hue.

    Ruddy Rouge. -- For imitating tan and sunburn.

    Dutch Pink. -- For sallow complexions.

    Mongolian. -- For imitating the complexion of Orientals or North American Indians.

    Powdered Antimony. -- To produce the effect of hollows under the eyes and in the cheeks.

    Chrome. -- To imitate a sallow complexion and lighten the natural color of the whiskers or mustache.

    Carmine. -- To produce a red tint in the same.

    Prepared Whitening. -- For clowns' faces, statuary, etc.

    Prepared Burnt Cork. -- For minstrels or other negro characters.

    Émail Noir (black enamel). -- For applying to a front tooth to produce the effect of being missing.

    Joining Paste. -- To apply over the edge of a wig across the forehead.

    Paste Powder. -- For "building up" a nose.

    Crape Hair. -- Artificial hair sold in plaits for forming wigs, eyebrows, moustaches, etc., etc.

    Spirit Gum. -- For attaching such hair to the face.

    Crayons d'Italie. -- Pencils for marking veins.

    Eyebrow pencils, camel's-hair brushes, powder puffs, etc.

    With these assistants the face may be so made up that no mask will be needed and the disguise will still be complete, especially when the complexion is changed from either blonde or brunette to its opposite.

Source:
Masquerade and Carnival.  New York: The Butterick Publishing Company, 1892.

Powder vs. Wigs

(Thoughts on whether to powder the hair or wear a wig for a Poudré ball or costume, and how to go about each method.)

Contrary to the advice given by Ardern Holt, Lucie Armstrong felt that a wig was better than powdering one's own hair:

    The way to powder the hair is as follows: -- First dress it very firmly and grease it all over.  Another person now takes the hair-powder and throws it lightly from above all over the hair, care being taken to protect the dress by means of a large wrap.  The effect of the powdered hair is extremely becoming, but the after-consequences are far from agreeable.  It takes days to get rid of all the powder and grease, and the hair often gets tangled and broken during the many washings and combings necessary.

    A simpler plan is to wear a powdered wig, which leaves no unpleasant results to the hair, though its weight is apt to induce headache.  A good wig is better than a bad head of hair, and the mass of curly locks are extremely becoming, and give a good deal of character to the face.

    It takes two people to put on a wig.  The one who is going to wear it must catch hold of the foundation, and pull it down in front as tightly as possible, whilst another person pulls it down as far as it will go at the back.  The hair must first be reduced to as small a compass as possible, combed up away from the face, and arranged tightly on top of the hea. The wig must be held in its place with white hair-pins, placed at the edge of the silk foundation, and fastened firmly into the hair beneath.  The curls are then arranged to suit the wearer, being gathered up towards the back with a few white-pins; and a few final touches of the powder-puff will improve the appearance of the wig when everything else is done.

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

With regard to powdering

(Practical advice on how to powder the hair for a Poudré ball or costume.)

    With regard to Powdering, it is best, if possible, not to have recourse to a wig, they are heavy and unbecoming.  It is far better to powder the hair itself, using violet powder, and plenty of pomatum before applying it; but it entails a great deal of trouble in subsequently removing the powder.  The head may be covered with a thick soap lather.  The powder is applied thus: A puff well-filled is held above the head, jerking the elbow with the other hand.  The process should be repeated over and over again, and it is incredible the amount of powder that ought to be used to produce a satisfactory result.  An easy mode of dressing the hair for powder is to part it across the head from ar to ear, turning the front over a high cushion, making the back into a long loose chignon, with a few marteaux or rolled curls behind the cushion.  Sometimes the roll in front is replaced by a series of marteaux placed diagonally.  Sometimes the centre-piece only is rolled over the cushion, with marteaux at the sides.  Sometimes the back has four marteaux on either side, put diagonally, with others behind the ear, or a bunch of loose curls fall at the back.  All this may be made easier by having false marteaux and curls which have a far better effect than a wig.  It is, however, very much the fashion to powder the hair as it is worn now, viz., with curls in front and a coil at the back, a style which accords well with the dress worn when powder was a fashion.

Sources (identical language in both):
Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 2nd Edition, Illustrated.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1880.
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.

How to apply a patch

(Useful information for a late nineteenth-century Ball Poudré, as described here, or for 18th-century-style costumes.)

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Powder and patches are so often adopted at fancy balls and private theatricals that a few hints as to how to apply them may not be out of place in a work like the present...

...The complexion must be made up in the following way: -- Cover the face with the finest glycerine or cold cream; now rub in the rouge with a piece of cotton-wool, commencing at the cheek-bone and working gradually downwards.  Next, cover the face with the fine pearl-powder, and outline the eye-brows with an eye-brow pencil, which may be purchased in any shade at most chemists.  Finally, powder lightly all over, to soften the effect of the rouge.

The patches should be cut out of black sticking-plaster, the sticking side moistened and applied to the cheek.  They may be round or cruciform, or any fanciful shape.  Georgian belles used to adorn their cheeks with bows and arrows, or ships in full sail.

There is quite a science to putting on a patch: it must never be placed on a line of the face, as it appears to extend it.  If you place a patch on the line which goes from the nostril to the lip, it will appear to draw down the mouth, and give you a sullen appearance.  A patch should be placed so as to call attention to a favourite feature, like a signpost for the stupid or unobservant.  The blackness of the patch accentuates the brilliancy of the complexion, whilst its position calls attention to the rounded cheek or sweetly curling lip.  The coquettes of old times used to hve a patch which went by the name of the "Assassin," so deadly and rapid was its effect.  Perhaps it will be better not to reveal where it was placed, as we do not wish to destroy the peace of mind of the youths of the nineteenth century.

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