Sartorial Adventure

in 1883, new york’s elite party was hosted: mrs. w.k. vanderbilt’s costume ball. in this era, caroline schermerhorn astor dominated the gilded age society. she determined who was put on this invitation list

ohlookhistory:

I love these!

Eliabethan costumes at the Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball in 1897;

Katharine Mary (née Montagu-Douglas-Scott), Viscountess Hampden as Marie Stuart

Ernest William Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe as Sir Walter Raleigh

Grace Cecile Lowther (née Gordon), Countess of Lonsdale as the Countess of Essex from the time of Elizabeth

"Bal turc donné par la Duchesse de Berry aux Tuileries en 1828" by Charles Achille d'Hardiviller

Members of the French court in “Turkish” costume

• Vanderbuilt fancy dress costume.

Date: 1883

Place of origin: New York

Worth fancy dress inspired by Austrian folk costume ca. 1880

From Coutau-Bégarie & Associés

Pas de deux, 1842

“Music cover for Two Circassian Polkas, piano pieces composed by Khue Lindoff. Two women of the northern Caucasus are depicted in traditional costume, one in red and white, the other in blue and white, dancing together.” (source) Published in London

I should point out that the accuracy of these “Circassian” costumes is suspect, since it’s undoubtedly a view of what Londoners THOUGHT Adyghe women wore. The feet, in particular, appear to be wearing shoes of the shape that were popular in London at the time lol

my Met Gala outfit?

exact replica of Alice Vanderbilt’s “Electric Light” costume from 1883- but with moving gold LED lights up and down the skirt

yes the torch lights up, too

no I am not accepting criticism at this time

Masquers in 18th century costumes at the Devonshire ball in 1897;

Madeline Cecilia Carlyle Brodrick (née Stanley), Countess of Midleton as Lady Hopeton, after a miniature by Richard Cosway

Dame Edith Sophy Lyttelton (née Balfour) after a picture by George Romney

Florence Elizabeth Mary (née Glyn), Lady Portal and Sir William Wyndham Portal, 2nd Bt as Comte and Comtesse de Candale from 'Un Mariage sous Louis XV'

John George Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl when Marquess of Tullibardine and Lord George Stewart-Murray as two Highland gentlemen from 1745

Fancy dress costume designs created by Jules Helleu, possibly for Charles Frederick Worth, 1860s

Countess Johanna Erdödy

^ Photographed in 1870 by Adèle of Vienna. 

A carte-de-visite portrait of Countess Johanna (Hanna) Erdödy, daughter of Lajos Erdödy de Monyorókerék et Monoszló.

Born on 10 April 1846, she married Béla Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsövidék in 1870. The couple had two daughters but Hanna died of ‘childbed fever’ (puerperal sepsis) at Nagycenk in Hungary on 18 October 1872, shortly after the birth of her second child.

Over the centuries, several members of the Erdödy family held important posts in the Kingdom of Hungary. The family owned many estates in western Hungary and in Croatia and were one of the largest landowners in the Austro-Hungarian empire. The Palais Erdody in Vienna, acquired by the Erdody family from the Esterházys, suffered bomb damage during World War II and was demolished in 1955.

(source: The Library of Nineteenth-Century Photography)

^in fancy dress, 1869

^with Countess Josephine Pallavicini

Devonshire fancy dress ball of 1897;

Sybil Fane, Countess of Westmoreland as Hebe

Emily Julia (née Cadogan), Lady Lurgan as Alecto and her sister Lady Sophie Beatrix Mary Scott as Megaera

Mary Emmeline Laura, Lady Gerard as Astarte, Goddess of the Moon and Susannah Graham Menzies as Titania, Queen of the Fairies

Edith Amelia, Lady Wolverton as Britannia and Mademoiselle Henriette de Courcel as a Valkyrie

Margaret Jane, Lady Talbot as a Valkyrie

Victorian costumes c. 1880s