(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.
(Just in time for Halloween, the Victorian version of the classic witch. The illustration shows just how long a "short" skirt would be. And note the mitts rather than full gloves. Click the image to enlarge.)
Short quilted skirt of red satin, with cats and lizards in black velvet; gold satin panier tunic; black velvet bodice laced over an old-gold crêpe bodice; small cat on right shoulder, a broom in the hand, with owl; tall pointed velvet cap; shoes with buckles.
Source: Holt, Ardern. Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition. London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.
(I don't know quite how to categorize this one: a romanticized "shepherdess" done as a pink-and-chintz pseudo-18th-century costume worn over a very, very Edwardian corset. Click to enlarge the image.)
Skirt of chintz, with large flowers. Bodice and panier-drapery of pink nun's-veiling. Black velvet on sleeves and square-cut neck. Large hat trimmed with flowers.
Source: Masquerades, Tableaux and Drills. New York: The Butterick Publishing Company, 1906.
(Not a costume of Van Dyke himself, but meant to represent the style of the dresses worn in his paintings, this is one of those hilarious reimaginings of a historical era with the general style worn over completely inappropriate Victorian underpinnings for a very peculiar silhouette.)
Full plain skirt; muslin apron, edged with pointed lace; bodice with revers; sleeves to wrist; hair in curls.
Source: Holt, Ardern. Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition. London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.
(National costume or folk dress of different countries were popular themes for fancy dress costumes. This outfit is remarkably similar to modern formal Scottish dress for men. It features loose hair and even reveals a few inches of bare leg. The "vest" referred to is a blouse or dickey, not a waistcoat; it can be seen under the jacket and plaid.)
Kilted skirt of Scotch plaid. White silk bouffant vest. Jacket of the principal clan color trimmed with black velvet, and scarf of the plaid goods. Cap of plaid.
Source: Masquerades, Tableaux and Drills. New York: The Butterick Publishing Company, 1906.
(The Victorian fascination with the natural world...Angels & Insects
Short black skirt with horizontal stripes of red and yellow; the same combination carried round the top of the black bodice; a black pointed cap, the whole covered with ever-moving toy beetles. A sceptre in the hand, surmounted by a beetle.
Source: Holt, Ardern. Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition. London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.
(Yes, women cross-dressed for fancy dress balls! And how could the costume of the heroine from As You Like It be anything but respectable? Note that the pink lining of the cloak is not a "girly" thing; pink was considered a masculine color in the early 20th century, Click to enlarge the image.)
Doublet and hose of light-gray wool, the former trimmed with gray fur. Green velvet bodice, chemisette and puffs of Nile-green silk. Long gray cloak lined with pink.
Source: Masquerades, Tableaux and Drills. New York: The Butterick Publishing Company, 1906.
Skirt and bodice of cerise satin. Draperies of pale-gray gauze, with laurel leaves, etc. for ornamentation. Staff and notes painted on the skirt.
Source: Masquerades, Tableaux and Drills. New York: The Butterick Publishing Company, 1906.
Half black, half white dress; hair powdered on one side and not on the other; one glove and one shoe black, one white; short satin skirt, with gauze tunic bordered with fringe; basque bodice; gauze fichu; satin ribbon tied in a bow at the throat; gauze cap. All half black and half white, so that the wearer seems on one side all black, on the other all white. A magpie on the right shoulder.
[second version] The front of the skirt is striped black and white satin plaited; the bodice cut in one with long side revers of black, lined and turned back with white ruching to the hem of the skirt, opening down back to show full plaited skirt. The black bodice bordered with white; low striped vest; magpie on the shoulder and in hair, which may be powdered or not, or half-powdered.
Source: Holt, Ardern. Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition. London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.
