Whatever the dispute, it was soon resolved. The press missed nothing and noticed that the couple had some sort of argument and Perdita stormed off to her box, just as Florizell (The Prince of Wales) was passing, apparently ‘ linked and tantalised by Mrs C_ll_’ (Mrs Cornely ). Perdita and Colonel Tarleton were present, the Colonel sporting the costume he wore in the painting by Reynolds. Food and drink were plentiful, but apparently not to the usual quantity and it was noted that shell-fish was missing – clearly quite a faux pas! These ladies were mainly in fancy dress ‘ admirably calculated to display their charms and to fascinate desiring youth’.
#DOMINO COSTUME PLUS#
The company was composed of mainly young men of fashion plus the usual distinguished demi-reps of the age. The event took place at one o’clock in the morning at the King’s Theatre, ticket prices were extremely high, but it did attract between six and seven hundred people. The Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser 5 th March 1783 provides us with an article entitled ‘ Masquerade Intelligence’ which gives us a detailed account of the events of the evening. The Princess of Wales wore at the Royal Ball and Supper, a spangled crape dress, exactly like the robe worn by Miss Wallis in Windsor Castle and among the fair styled ‘the Wallis robe’. Her Royal Highness has more taste about her than to renovate deformity. Some very ugly old ladies are labouring to revive the horrible absurdity of long waists and they ascribe the unnatural innovation to our illustrious Princess.
Oracle and Public Advertiser 28th April 1795 This image is from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and shows a typical beautiful silk domino that would have been worn. Wardens Warehouse of No.1 Great Pulteney Street, Golden Square, London were, in 1785, selling dominos for as little as five shillings which is about £15 in today’s money. They were usually black, but other colours were available. The domino was a large cloak designed to cover the whole body, sometimes it had a hood too, but mostly these were purchased separately. These balls would have been an amazing sight to behold. As you peruse the newspapers you find an amazing number of shops and warehouses offering masquerade costumes at ‘ very reasonable prices’ from fancy dresses to Venetian masks to dominos, hoods and cloaks in assorted colours and fabrics. Having purchased your ticket you would naturally require a costume. Bayswater Masquerade Pre Admission Ticket January 1818. In order to attend a ball, you did, of course, have to purchase a ticket, these varied dramatically in price according to the event. The masquerade ball season took place indoors during the winter months, with most being around Christmas and New Year, whereas open-air balls and ridottos were held during the summer months. Was it any different in the Georgian era? The simple answer is ‘no’, the media were just as fascinated with the nobility and aristocrats and one in particular – the Prince of Wales, later George IV who loved to party, as did our very own Grace Dalrymple Elliott along with the other demi-reps, any excuse to don the finery or the fancy dress costume! So with that in mind, we thought we’d take a quick peek at how the media covered events such as Royal and masquerade balls.
#DOMINO COSTUME FULL#
Some things never change … today the newspapers and magazines are full of Royal & celebrity gossip with images of our royals, aristocrats and celebs in their finery etc.
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