What to wear to "fancy balls" 1880s style, a Barbarian Queen and the Suez Canal

This book published in 1887, London, gives detailed descriptions for any merrymakers costume desires. 338 pages long and with dozens of illustrations and some seemingly odd costume ideas: Artic Maiden, Cigarette, Wall Flower, Venetian Fishgirl, Christmas Cracker, The Universe, Cloud with Silver Lining and best of all The Isthmus of Suez (or Suez Canal). You can check out this book @ https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7168188M/Fancy_dresses_described






In case you ever wanted to dress like a Backgammon board...

Funny thing is, Boadicea(A.D. 61, England) is one of my favorite historical women and I've thought of being her for Halloween before! An interesting note on the clasps, because of the climate very little archeological evidence remains from Barbarian (None Roman) controlled areas. Also, with no written language makes studying these groups is problematic. Grave goods like jewelry (cloak clasps, earrings, necklaces) or metal weapons found in archeological digs are the best records we have of these peoples on the Roman frontier. So the inclusion of brooches here in a fashion book is very true to form.

 

 

I found the Suez Canal costume to be very telling of the politics of the era. Opened in 1869, the canal served as an important trade route and hot bed for international relations and tensions. Imagine someone today wearing a costume for a geographical location or architectural structure; something like Guantanamo Bay or the Berlin Wall.
Construction of the Canal was overseen by the French government and in 1876 Benjamin Disraeli a British Politician facilitated the purchase of controlling stock in the Suez Canal Company from the Egyptian government. The cartoon from the British magazine Punch, satirically depicts this event. In 1882 British troops invaded Egypt. The canal became a strategic base for the British and doorway to the Middle East and India. The publication of the book above 5 years later speaks of how much these political events were on the minds British subjects, enough for them to infuse it into their clothing. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/suez-canal-opens