ArtPage on Costume

costume - Clothing; generally clothing characteristic of a particular time, place or people.

The designing and advertising of fashionable clothing involves fashion design and illustration.

Examples:

Probably Southern Germany, Conical Hat with Brim, Late Bronze Age (1000 BCE), gold sheet with embossing, height 74.5 cm, weight 490 grams, Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Berlin. See German art.

Coptic Egypt, Tunic with Dionysiac Ornament, 4-5th century CE, 72 1/32 x 53 5/32 inches (183 x 135 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See Coptic art.

China, Jade Costume Sewn with Gold Wire, Western Han dynasty (206 BCE - 25 CE), 180 x 125 cm, Henan Museum, China. Unearthed at Yongcheng, Henan. Jade suits were the burial clothes of emperors and high-ranking nobles of the Han dynasty. They were made by tying jade pieces together with gold or silver or copper wire, according to the nobile ranking of the dead. This example was the burial suit of King Liang of the royal family of the Western Han dynasty. It is made up of 2008 pieces of jade sewn together with gold wire. It is composed of the head cover, face cover, upper garment, sleeves, gloves, trousers and foot covers.

England, Chasuble: Opus Anglicanum, 1330-50, silk and metal thread on velvet, pearls, width 30 inches (76.2 cm), length 5 1/2 inches (14 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See English art.

English (Barlow, Derbyshire), Memorial to Robert and Margaret Barley, 1467, incised brass plaque, represented by a rubbing (frottage). Robert Barley is wearing the Yorkist collar of suns and roses is shown, attesting the deceased's connections with the Yorkist royal line. See memorial.

Ercole de' Roberti (Italian, Ferrara, c. 1456-1496), Group Portrait: Members of the Este Family, pen, brown ink, 20.5 x 21 cm, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. See drawing and Renaissance.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528), The Walk, c. 1496-1498, 195 x 120 cm, engraving, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. See drapery and Northern Renaissance.

Flanders, Chasuble with Orphreys, early 16th century, canvas, gilt and silk thread, or nue (shaded gold) technique, patterned and obverse, needlework, 113 x 69 cm, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

French, Lute Player, the Warrior, and Apollo, drawings of costumes for the Ballet royal de la nuit (Royal Ballet of the Night), c. 1650, Bibliotheque Nationale France, Paris. The ballet ends with the appearance of Aurore, who yields her place to the rising sun — Apollo — played the premiere performance by the young King Louis XIV — popularly known ever since as "The Sun King." See Baroque, dance, and theater.

China, Chuba, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), 17th century, cut velvet with patterned wefts of multicolored silks, gold-wrapped silk, and peacock-feather filaments, width 55 inches (139.7 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See Chinese art.

France, Chasuble, late 17th century, silk, silver-gilt and silk thread, couching, satin stitch, 98 x 89 cm, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Japan, Noh robe (Nuihaku), Edo period (1615-1868), second half of the 18th century, silk embroidery and gold leaf on satin, height 61 1/4 inches (155.6 cm), width at sleeves 21 1/8 inches (53.7 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See Japanese art.

France, Costume Armor, c. 1780-90, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. This Greco-Roman style armor is typical of costumes made across Europe from the Renaissance to the late Baroque periods for tournaments, ballets, and other court pageants.

English, Mr. G. French as Harlequin, early 19th century, hand-colored engraving, 21.7 x 17.5 cm, New York Public Library.

American, Afternoon Dress, c. 1850s-60s, two-piece, red silk, cage-type skirt hoop to emphasize the fullness behind and includes a train at the floor to carry out the effect. The most noticeable change in women's fashions at this time was the transition in the shape of the skirt from the full circular style to one in which the fullness is at the back. In addition, double sleeves were adapted from men's fashions where the shirt cuffs protruded beyond the sleeves of the jacket. Here the undersleeve, or "engageant," is of lace.
Rendered by Nancy Crimi, Afternoon Dress, 1935/1942, watercolor and graphite on paper, 44.5 x 35 cm (17 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches), Index of American Design, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Dc. See Index of American Design.

American, Hoop, c. 1865, half circles of reeds or whalebone riveted to bands of heavy linen tape. It is fastened at the waist with a steel buckle. This is an example of a cage-hoop used underneath a skirt to provide fullness at the back of a woman's dress. An important effect of the hoop was the graceful, swinging motion it gave to a woman's skirt as she walked. Rendered by Mae Szilvasy, Hoop, 1935/1942, watercolor and graphite on paperboard, 38.8 x 31 cm (15 1/4 x 12 3/16 inches), Index of American Design, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. See fashion and Index of American Design.

Wiener Werkstätte, pair of ladies shoes, c. 1914, printed silk fabric, leather. The Wiener Werkstätte was a collective of designers who championed the Viennese Secession.

Ogbomoso, Nigeria, Yoruba, Egungun Costume, c. 1930-60, cloth, wood, and buttons, height c. 60 inches (152.4 cm), North Carolina Art Museum, Raleigh. A view of the back. See African art.

"One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), English author, playwright.

The History of Costume. A book web site with full color plates originally published in the late nineteenth century.
For contemporary sewing patterns: Butterick, McCall's Patterns, Simplicity, and Vogue Patterns.
"Penny Plains" and "Two-pence Coloured:" English Theatrical Portraits, 306 toy theatre prints portraying plays and actors in character, 1799-1847 in the New York Public Library.

Also see arms and armor, chiton, couturier, crown, dance, fashion, feather, himation, leather, mantle, peplos, puppet, smock, statue, tartan, and textile.