Historical Fancy Dress

Category: Men’s

  • The Windsor uniform

    (In answer to a question in the comments on the post listing costumes from a fancy dress ball in Singapore: what the "Windsor uniform" refers to.)

    …the Windsor uniform, which is red cloth lapels and cuffs sewn on to an ordinary evening dress-coat, sometimes, in lieu of red cloth, light blue silk is used.  (1880)

    … the Windsor uniform, with red cloth lapels and cuffs sewn on to an ordinary evening dress-coat, — sometimes, in lieu of red cloth, light blue silk is used.  (1887)

    The actual Windsor uniform, undress version, appears to have been a dark blue coat with red cuffs and lapels; presumably for a fancy dress ball people were just going for the general look, though it is possible that the wearers in Singapore were among the officials expected to wear it and thus had the proper coat already.  Their listings are plain "Mr." with no associated titles, however, and the descriptions above suggest to me that it was an easy shortcut for men disinclined to put much effort into costuming.

    Sources:
    Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 2nd Edition, Illustrated.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1880.
    Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.

  • A Fancy Dress Ball, Singapore, 1884

    Newspapers of the era often published lists of the costumes worn by guests at fancy dress balls.  The lists were typically provided in advance, so it's possible not all of the costumes worked out, as anyone who's ever tried to finish a costume at the last minute before a ball will understand.

    The lists below are from a fancy dress ball held by British expatriates in Singapore and are taken from an article on the ball published in the Singapore newspaper Strait Times Weekly on February 23, 1884.

    From the description of the ball itself:

    On Thursday evening, the Fancy Dress Ball, which for some time past had been looked forward to, took place at the Town Hall.  The upper room is well known to all visitors as being one of the handsomest in the Far East.  On the present occasion it was simply and tastefully decorated, in a manner which was well adapted to enhance the architectural features of the building.  The result was such as might have been expected from the interest evinced by the fairer portion of the community, and the skill and attention they bestowed upon their costumes, which contributed so materially to the success of the entertainment.  One could not fail to notice, among the many handsome dresses, that there were several in the disposal and arrangement of which the fair owners displayed an intimate and correct knowledge of true artistic and aesthetic principles.  The style of the costumes was exceedingly diversified, some being of a purely classic type and thus pertaining to the tragic, while there were some which were the representatives of comedy, and others again which successively adopted comic character.

    The general effeect [sic] of the intermingling of thse many and varied styles and colors, whether seen in the Hall itself or viewed from the gallery above, furnished a spectacle not only charming to the eye, but one which those who witnessed it, will not readily forget…

    …Dancing commenced shortly after nine with an opening quadrille which extended the entire length of hte Hall.  The floor was in excellent condition, and the music was performed by the Regimental Band of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.  It is no wonder that these and other attractions rendered the visitors loth [sic] to part, and prolonged the dancing after supper far into the small hours.  At what precise time the company would have separated it is difficult to determine, as dancing only stopped upon the Band playing the National Anthem.

    The entire article may be found online at the website of the National Library of Singapore.

    In looking through the lists of costumes, some trends are obvious: historical costumes of the previous few centuries, characters from plays, and national/ethnic costumes of various kinds.  Classic fancy dress costumes such as Harlequin and Folly are also represented.  More unusual examples are the gentlemen attending as "Bat" and "Paint Box" and the lady depicting "Economy."  There are also a few cop-outs: "Civil Service Uniform" and "Evening dress, 19th century" suggest that not all the attendees made any special effort at costuming.

    While some couples may have coordinated costumes — the Cavalier and the Lady of the 17th century appear to be husband and wife — it is actually more common for the costumes not to match: Ralph Rackstraw wth Follie, Peasant of the Black Forest with Persian Lady, and so forth.  The substantial disparity in numbers between ladies and gentleman probably reflects the nature of society in a distant colonial posting of that era.

    Here are the lists of costumes, reformatted to separate the ladies' and gentlemen's costumes and with the names of the wearers omitted to save space:

    (more…)

  • Portuguese Officer of the 16th Century

    McCord-Portuguese  (Yes, men really did wear tights to fancy dress balls!  Here's a Canadian gentleman in Tudor-era costume, complete with tights and tall boots.  Click the image for a larger version.)

    Left: Edward Waldo, as "Portuguese Officer of the 16th Century", Montréal, QC, 1881 by Notman & Sandham.  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, in part:

    "Mr. Waldo wore this costume to several different balls and carnivals in the 1880s, in both Ottawa and Montreal. Like women, men in fancy dress, enjoyed flouting everyday conventions. Under no other circumstances would Victorian men ever expose this much of their legs. Journalists chronicled a great deal of anxiety among men over the adequacy of their legs and the decision to expose their calves or thighs."

    "This photograph was probably taken in the Notman studio in Montreal, where Mr. Waldo attended Mrs. D. Lorn Macdougall's ball and a skating carnival two weeks later"

    "Mr. Waldo wore this costume at least three times in 1881, when this photograph was taken, and again in 1889. He had it remade for another ball in 1896."

  • Evening Dress of the Future

    (This costume is from a listing of simple costume suggestions for gentlemen and provides a very easy out for a modern gentleman — white tailcoats and trousers and black shirts can be easily rented or bought from a formalwear store.  The waistcoat color is not specified, perhaps because both black and white were worn in period, though black was more common.  Like the Footwoman of the Future, this costume tries to anticipate change, though it fails to predict the tuxedo!)

    …viz, white where it is usually black, and vice versa, white coat and trousers, black shirt, tie, and collar.

    Sources:
    Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 2nd Edition, Illustrated.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1880.
    Holt, Ardern.  Fancy Dresses Described, 5th Edition.  London: Debenham & Freebody, 1887.

  • Othello

    FD-Butterick-Othello 33 (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.

  • Continental Beau

    Butterick-36-Continental Beau (Historical costume was popular for men as well as for women, as this stylish men's costume of a the late 18th century demonstrates.)

    Coat of snuff-colored satin with lapels and cuffs of green; vest of white satin and breeches of pale blue; white silk stockings, black, low shoes with large buckles, black hat, white cravat and wrist frills.

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

  • Romeo

    FD-Butterick-Romeo

    (One last costume — for now — from Shakespeare, this time for the men.  And yes, it’s another costume with tights.  And a purse!  Notice he’s carrying a rose, a reference to the famous line from the play.)

    Tunic and tights of dove-colored wool; shirt of white mull and cloak of Venetian red cloth lined with pale gray.  Cap of red velvet with gray feather.  Leather belt from which is suspended a pocket.

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

  • Faust

    FD-Butterick-Faust


    (Yes, men wore fancy dress as well.  Especially men who wanted to wear tights!  Click the illustration to enlarge.)

    Tight-fitting waistcoat and skirt of white satin embroidered with silver; pale-blue tights, with trunks and sleeves of blue and white striped silk; lace collar and cuffs; cloak of white and blue hat with white plumes.

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