Dressing Up: A History of Fancy Dress in Britain

by Verity Wilson

Overview

Featuring many exquisite historical photographs, a celebration of the sometimes extravagant, sometimes bizarre pastime: playing dress-up.
 
Pierrot, Little Bo Peep, cowboy: these characters and many more form part of this colorful story of dressing up, from the accession of Queen Victoria to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. During this time, fancy dress became a regular part of people’s social lives, and the craze for it spread across Britain and the Empire, reaching every level of society. Spectacular and witty costumes appeared at suburban street carnivals, victory celebrations, fire festivals, missionary bazaars, and the extravagant balls of the wealthy. From the Victorian middle classes performing “living statues” to squads of Shetland men donning traditional fancy dress and setting fire to a Viking ship at the annual Up Helly Aa celebration, this lavishly illustrated book provides a unique view into the quirky, wonderful world of fancy dress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789145298
Publisher:	Reaktion Books, Limited
Publication date:	10/18/2022
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.75(w) x 8.75(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Verity Wilson worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London for twenty-five years. She is the author of Chinese Dress and Chinese Textiles and lives in Oxford.

Table of Contents

Introduction Fancy Dress Defined 7

1 Balls and Parties 39

2 Poses and Tableaux 79

3 Guy Fawkes and Up Helly AA 115

4 Carnivals and Rags 143

5 Coronations and Celebrations 177

6 The Business of Fancy Dress: The Nineteenth Century 207

7 The Business of Fancy Dress: The Twentieth Century 241

8 The Characters of Fancy Dress: Three Case Studies 275

Epilogue 313

References 319

Bibliography 334

Acknowledgements 340

Photo Acknowledgements 341

Index 343

Editorial Reviews

"Full of original material, Dressing Up opens up the world of fancy dress to new interpretations. Ranging across questions of history, identity, aesthetics, and production, Wilson demonstrates the integral role 'costume' played in the social and psychological life of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain. Alongside the scholarship, the vivid illustrations and wry anecdotes are priceless."

Christopher Breward

"The 144 illustrations in Wilson’s accessible book show the British being effortlessly surreal as only they know how. . . . Wilson presents a kaleidoscope of liberating alter egos, and relives the days when we had to make our own fun."

Fortean Times

"[An] entertaining . . . . survey of sartorial masquerade in Britain."

World of Interiors

"Based on extensive new research, lucidly written, generously illustrated, this captivating book uncovers the remarkable 'lost' history of fancy dress and reveals its connections to community and national identity. Original, delightful, and unexpectedly topical."

Barbara Burman

Wilson’s extensive research yields many inventive get-ups. . . . Takes the reader on an entertaining journey . . . [and] does not shy away from the murkier reaches of Britain’s fancy-dress history.

Apollo

"In Dressing Up: A History of Fancy Dress in Britain, Wilson presents a lively and vividly illustrated parade of costumed characters. . . . Fancy dress has been somewhat neglected by scholars until recently. . . . In this absorbing social history, Wilson delves into photographic archives and reveals the rich and inventive role that 'costume' has played in community events and popular pageants, foregrounding the fancy dress of the people, a collective drama played out in front parlors, village greens, church halls, and local high streets for generations."

Journal of Design History

"In this absorbing and authoritative history, Wilson demonstrates that fancy dress is more than just juvenile playacting or adult escapism. Using rare images and ephemeral artifacts, she unmasks what these disguises (from insects to suffragettes) have revealed about class, race, sexuality, and nationalism, offering insights into modern cosplay and Instagram culture."

Kimberly Chrisman Campbell

"Perennially unfashionable, prone to misunderstanding—with results both hurtful and hilarious—and stretching the boundaries of what is publicly tolerable, fancy dress costume is having something of a moment. . . . Wilson’s book reminds us that the spectacle of fancy dress is part of a more complicated, deeply revealing cultural phenomenon."

Costume