A Village
Christmas
Costume
Guidelines
These
guidelines are intended to educate vendors, crafters, businesses and the
general public about authentic mid 19th century life with the
goal of encouraging all to consider creating their own displays or
dressing in period costume to celebrate and enhance our old fishing
village theme during A Village Christmas.
We
encourage all residents, businesses and vendors to fully participate in
the Village Christmas experience. Simply dressing in 19th
century era clothing or decorating your home or business with an old
fashioned theme will greatly enhance the event.
We
suggest research on the Internet where there is a considerable amount of
information readily available regarding appropriate costumes. Your
search should concentrate on the years 1837 and 1860 during the
“Dickens” period. Google keywords such as “dickens costumes” and
“Victorian costumes”. Although we aren’t calling our event either
Dickens or Victorian since DeTour has very little Victorian
architecture, we are trying to give people an idea of what it would have
been like to live in our quaint little fishing village during that era.
One of
the best sources of information about “Dickens” costumes can be found
on-line at
www.dickensfair.com/involved.htm. The website offers tips for
building your character and costume guidelines. It gives great tips on
making men’s and women’s costumes appropriate for the period.
If you
are interested in sewing your own costume, here are some sites:
www.denverfabrics.com/pages/static/vintage/victorian-clothing.htm
www.mccallpattern.com/costumes/page-1
www.anniescostumes.com/turnof.htm
You may
wish to just purchase your costume. Good websites to check out are:
www.gentlemansemporium.com
www.fashion-era.com/early_victorian_fashion.htm
www.demode.tweedlebop.com
www.avalonusa.com/dickens
e-Bay
always has a wide selection of items for dickens-style costumes. If you
search for “Victorian costumes” and “dickens costumes” you will find
hundreds of items.
Village
Christmas
Clothing
Ideas
FOR LADIES
-
Every
lady wore a hat. Outside, ladies usually wore bonnets of some kind,
trimmed with feathers, flowers, ribbons and bows. Create a bonnet
easily from an old straw or felt hat from a thrift shop. Indoors,
ladies often wore small lace caps that can be fashioned today from
lace handkerchiefs, a flower and a few small ribbons. Domestic
servants wore mop caps.
-
2. A
Victorian dress usually had a high neckline, sometimes with a collar
and fitted bodice, three-quarter length full sleeves and a very
full, long skirt worn over layered petticoats or a hoop. With a few
amendments, such as adding more fullness to the skirt, accenting
with ribbons, braid, lace an flowers, and even adding a collar, any
thrift-shop find can be transformed into a lovely Victorian dress.
Keep in mind that solids and small prints were more common, but
stripes and plaids were also popular. Cotton, lightweight wools or
any fabric that looks like silk or brocade would most resemble
period cloth.
-
When
choosing a long skirt, accent it with ribbons, lace and a full
petticoat or hoop. A high-necked blouse with a cloak, mantle, shawl
or pelerine jacket completes this easy outfit.
-
A
working class woman would wear a simple dress with narrow sleeves
and a dark material, with no petticoats. She might wear a bibbed
apron over the dress, gloves, a fan and a small purse.
FOR GENTLEMEN
-
Hats
are a must. A gentleman always wore a hat of some kind when he was
outside. Even working-class men are pictured with battered top hats
or lower-crowned, broad-brimmed hats. Tweed skimmers were more
sporty versions of Victorian attire.
-
A
plain white shirt can be given a period look by turning the collar
up. Add a ribbon, scarf or fancy cravat and knot in front. A
workingman would wear a collarless shirt or smock, with sleeves
rolled up.
-
A
vest (or waistcoat) of brocade, velvet or silk will help create a
gentleman’s costume. A waistcoat of wool in bright colored strips or
plaid will make any 21st century man a sporting 19th
century chap or shopkeeper.
-
Tapered pants in black, grey or buff with a strip of ribbon running
down the outer seam were a gentleman’s normal attire. A working=man
would wear a baggy pair of pants in wool or corduroy.
-
A
frock coat or tailcoat is easy to create, using a dark overcoat or
raincoat. Trim the collar with velvet, silk or brocade, and move the
first button to mid-chest, causing the coat to fall in a cutaway
fashion. A laborer, fisherman or stall keeper would have a wool coat
with a scarf tied around the neck.
FOR CHILDREN
-
Boys
wore trousers, shirts and coats as grown men did. A cap or small top
hat also was common. The younger boys wore knickers, and the “young
men” wore trousers.
-
Girls
wore low frocks fastened behind, and short sleeves. When they went
outside, they put on a cloak or shawl. Upper-class parents dressed
their girls like miniatures, reproducing on a small scale each
detail of puff, frill and elaborate decoration. The more common folk
tended to be thrifty, and would reuse garments to make their
children’s clothes.
-
Babies were dressed in layers of flannel or cotton petticoats to
combine warmth and ease of washing. Caps, with rows and rows of
lace, looked dear around an infants face. It was fashionable to
drape baby in a simple circular cape while outside.
TIPS
For
additional tips on dressing in 19th century check out the
Internet sources above. Rent an old Charles Dickens classic turned into
a move such as A Christmas Carol, Oliver, Nicholas Nickleby or David
Copperfield. Try to duplicate the clothing worn by the actors. Remember,
a costume can be made by a professional dressmaker, or pieced together
with elements found in many closets or thrift shops. Dressing for an
event like A Village Christmas adds to the festival enjoyment and makes
visitors part of the festival instead of mere observers.