Hundreds of pamphlets, satires, illustrations, and fashion magazines supplied a running commentary on the pleasures to be found at the Carnival masked balls at their height in the s and s, including the masked balls that took place in the middle of the Revolution of What made this Carnival and its masked balls so remarkable was the confluence of political discontent and the emergence of a consumer society that fanned the flames of pleasure and desire.
Many of the costumes reflected a rejection of traditional roles and a yearning for the exotic, suggesting a widespread ambivalence about the values of emerging capitalist society and its imposition of middle-class culture and domesticity.
The most chic costumes of the moment worn to masked balls in eighteenth-century London were Oriental masquerades, while in nineteenth-century Paris, Spanish dancers, or couples dressed as stevedores were the most fashionable.
None of these fashions lasted beyond their moment, although designers in the early twenty-first century have looked at illustrations from the masked balls of nineteenth-century Paris as an inspiration for clothes.
However, what is significant about Parisian masked balls in the nineteenth century are the technological inventions that made the balls fashionable and accessible to an expanding literate public. The introduction of the lithographic process and the rotary press made it possible for newspapers and magazines to print more newspapers with cheap illustrations, while advertising, a new capitalist invention, reduced their cost.
The preeminence of Paris fashion, made more accessible through beautifully illustrated fashion magazines and the introduction of department stores and costume warehouses, offered this new consuming public fashionable disguises and cheaper clothes.
Serialized novels in newspapers and gossip columns fed the aspirations and desires of increasing populations and an expanding middle class, especially the women, who now had more money to spend and places to spend it, including the masked balls during Carnival.
Most of these elements already existed in England in the eighteenth century, when masquerades were the height of fashion. Missing was the French genius for publicity and seduction, which made the special pleasures and intensity of Parisian masked balls legendary and guaranteed their immortality in print and visual culture, both high and low.
Alter, Ann Ilan. London: Routledge, Burke, Peter. Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe. Castle, Terry. Cohen, Sarah R. Edited by Jessica Munns and Penny Richards. Newark: University of Delaware Press, Early European Masquerades Masquerades also existed in eighteenth-century London, but it is Parisian Carnival and its masked balls in the nineteenth century that have produced the most commentary, gossip, and visual images. When it comes to attire, ditch silly costumes and opt instead for sharp suited looks and beautiful, glittering cocktail dresses.
And instead of traditional masks, try a more modern take on this ritual. A contemporary mask that covers the lower-half of your face, for example, is exactly the opposite of a traditional masquerade mask - but still manages to reflect the beauty and elegance of the overall theme.
A feathered headpiece is another way to bring traditional elements into a more modern overall look. Close menu. Tea Length Dresses. Titanic Dresses. Flapper Dresses. Plus Size Dresses. Downton Abbey Dresses. Holiday Dresses. Cocktail Dresses. Shorter and Informal Dresses. Bridgerton Collection. Mothers of the Bride and Groom Dresses. Wedding Dresses. Second Wedding Dresses.
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Victorian Era. Flapper Era. Costumes ranged from fantasy characters and prominent citizens to transvestites, animals, or historical figures. One ball at the London Pantheon, attended by more than people and given on 19 April , supposedly surpassed all other masquerade balls and included a wide variety of costumed characters. Among the characters were the following:. Courtesy of Lewis Walpole Library.
Despite the popularity and numerous participants, not everyone was a supporter of masquerade balls. For instance, on 6 January a sermon was preached by the Bishop of London deriding masquerade balls. This was also the beginning of the anti-masquerade protestors — clergymen, moralists, and journalists — who argued masquerade balls were salacious events that encouraged immorality and sexual transgression, as well as homosexuality, adultery, and prostitution. The anti-masquerade movement grew slowly and then the Lisbon earthquake happened in Anti-masqueraders declared the earthquake occurred because of sin.
They also decried masquerade balls were part of the reason the world was so corrupt. Their vocal opposition was heard and heeded in England. Masquerade balls were banned the following year because of the outcry and because George II also opposed them. Horace Walpole by John Giles Eccardt in However, despite anti-masqueraders protests, efforts to squash them were desultory at best, although their popularity did wane by the late s. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.
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