The Victorian Obsession with Costume Balls
With Halloween fast approaching (seriously, where has this year gone!), many of us are feeling glum at the prospect of there not being any fun costume parties to celebrate this year and perhaps looking back at our old costumes. Getting dressed up and having a riot of a time is not a new concept, so let’s take a look into history, specifically the Victorian’s love of a costume ball.
In the 18th century, masquerade balls were popular, often taking place indoors during the colder months of the year. Partygoers would wear extravagant costumes, often referencing goddesses and characters of antiquity, and, of course, they would conceal their identity to some degree by wearing a form of mask. The great fun of this was trying to guess the identities of those you were partying with! However, the Victorians would stray away from this sense of disguise in their costume balls, instead preferring costumes that would act as a reflection of themselves and their character.
Dress worn by Queen Victoria for a Stuart inspired ball, 1851. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020
If you have watched the ITV series Victoria, then you will remember there were several costume balls hosted by Queen Victoria throughout the series. Queen Victoria adored a good old costume ball and hosted many during her reign alongside her husband Prince Albert, who also enjoyed them. In fact, he may have been the reason why Queen Victoria began hosting them as he had grown up with them as a child. One notable costume ball hosted by the royal couple was on May 12th 1842 at Buckingham Palace and a whopping two thousand guests turned up! Basing their costumes on tomb effigies in Westminster Abbey, Victoria and Albert attended the ball dress as Edward III and his Queen consort, Philippa of Hainault. It would probably have been cooler if they went as ghosts but alas. Victoria, always wanting to represent British skills and industries, she made sure that the making of their costumes gave work to the Spitalfields silk industry, which was struggling at the time. Due to Victoria’s incredibly detailed daily diary entries, we know a little bit about what went on behind the scenes. Before the ball, alongside a sketched self-portrait, she wrote: “Went with Albert to look at the arrangement of the rooms for our great “Bal Costume”, - which were progressing well, but far from being finished yet. Tried on my costume once more.”
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as Edward III and Philippa, Sir Edwin Landseer. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020
Of course, when a monarch begins hosting ostentatious costume balls it would only make sense that other members of the elite would follow suit and so costume balls became one of the grandest ways for a society hostess to show her status and make her mark, with many events being chronicled in local newspapers. The season could be long and people would attend as many costume balls as possible, hoping to delve their toes into the upper echelons of society, often changing their costumes for each ball dependant on the theme. It was an expensive time, both for those attending and those hosting! During the final week of the season of 1868, there was an exorbitant costume ball held at the Brighton Pavilion and several of the costumes are noted on the 1868 edition of the Kentish Gazette, who called the event “a gorgeous spectacle.” It notes that the lady who made the most impact with her costume dresses as “Starlight”, with her costume being described as: “...a black tulle dress, gold starred, a necklace of star-set pearls, a coronet of the same gems, flowing hair, and black gloves.” I wish I could have seen this particular costume. Other noted costumes include “Watteau Shepherdesses”, one lady dresses as Titania from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and ladies dressed in Hungarian costume.
There was a small drop in popularity of costume balls in the 1870s but by the 1880s and the end of the century, they were again at the height of high social activity. In 1895 the Countess of Warwick, Frances Grenville, held a costume ball at Warwick Castle, featuring costumes inspired by the reigns of Louis XV and XVI, with the Countess herself dressing as Marie Antionette in a rose gold dress with a blue velvet train. She would go on to wear this costume again at the infamous 1897 Devonshire House ball.
When her diamond jubilee arrived in 1897 after years of mourning and growing old, Queen Victoria didn’t really feel like doing much to celebrate. However, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire did and so on the 2nd of July, they held a massive costume ball which is often noted as the most famous of the entire Victorian era. Obviously, Victoria herself did not attend, but most of the English royal family did, as well as hundreds of representatives from royal families from across the globe. Notable attendees included the Prince of Wales, Tzar Nicholas II of Russia and the tsarina (who wore old court dress from the time of Peter the Great!), Nathan Rothschild, the Duke of York and Charles Spencer-Churchill. The Duchess of Devonshire’s own costume was noted in great amounts of detail in The Times, here is an excerpt:
"The Duchess of Devonshire, as Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, wore a magnificent costume. The skirt of gold tissue was embroidered all over in a star-like design in emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, and other jewels outlined with gold, the corners where it opened in front being elaborately wrought in the same jewels and gold to represent peacocks outspread tails. This opened to show an underdress of cream crepe de chine, delicately embroidered in silver, gold, and pearls and sprinkled all over with diamonds. “
Duchess of Devonshire as Zenobia. By James Lafayette - National Portrait Gallery.
Absolutely no expenses were spared when it came to costumes for this ball, with the 9th Duke of Marlborough, Charles Spencer-Churchill going as the French ambassador to the Court of Catherine the Great. His costume, made by the House of worth, cost 5,000 francs!
Lucky for us, the Duke of Devonshire invited London based photographic firm James Lafayette to photograph the guests in their costumes at the ball. In 1899, the studio of Walker and Boutal published 286 of these photographs. Here are some of my personal favourites:
Countess of Warwick as Marie Antionette. By James Lafayette - 1897 photograph.
The Princess of Wales as Queen Marguerite of Valois. By Philco Publishing Co.: Holborn Place, London.
Countess Spencer as Margaret Douglas. By James Lafayette.
Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge as Sophia of Hanover. By V&A Lafayette, London.
