I have a page of information on 1890s men's evening attire that may be helpful, it has no photographs (yet) but it has original period illustrations:
http://www.vintagevictorian.com/costume_1890_men.html Also our dance group's 1890s costume page has a description of men's evening attire at the bottom of this page: http://www.vintagedancers.org/costume_1890.html Some general guidelines: In the 1890s the tuxedo was very new, and considered as more informal evening wear. With tails, white ties seem to be pretty much universal, but both white and black vests are seen, and they are usually cut fairly low. Cummerbunds were not yet in fashion. Collars are generally stand-up collars though occasionally a fold-over (or very early wing tip) collars are seen, though they are pretty rare. Vest waistlines were not yet pointed, and ideally should not protrude below the bottom of the tailcoat front. This requires higher waistlines on the trousers, closer to the natural waist than modern fashions, for proper coverage (one of the hardest details to reproduce using modern trousers, and modern men's ideas of where their waists actually are:~). Katy On 10/17/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > My students are designing a production of "Dracula" (1897) and are required > to do research and designs for the costumes. There has been a lot of > discussion of vest colors and appropriate coats for various occasions. I > learned > (Esquire Book of Men's Clothing, mostly) that the rule of thumb is white tie > and vest with tails, black tie and vest with tux. A man in black tie and > tails > would be a servant ie butler or waiter. So my students have found a lot of > research contrary to what my assumption was. I have seen pictures of white > vest and black tie with tails, white vest and white tie with tuxedos, black > vest and tie with tails on gentlemen who would never be mistaken for servants > and all other permutations. The research they have found is secondary, > meaning drawings from the period rather than actual photographs. Have I > been wrong > all these years? Also, it was my understanding that tuxedos were not > considered proper in the presence of ladies. Tails were required for those > occasions, although I do understand that this convention gradually faded > away. Can > someone elucidate me? > > Cheryl Odom > College of Santa Fe > > > > ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > -- Katy Bishop, Vintage Victorian [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.VintageVictorian.com Custom reproduction gowns of the Victorian Era. Publisher of the Vintage Dress Series books. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
