For twenty years I have held on to two vintage children’s costumes. I bought them at a street fair in my town. The lady told me she got them somewhere in the south, meaning the American South. She said they where old but didn’t know how old. To me they feel like they’re from the 1940’s. They are dance or pageant costumes, not Halloween costumes. They fit a very small child, like a 3 year old. They are in mint condition. I am showing you only one costume and will post the other one tomorrow.
Here is what I want to know, how old are they? What were they for? Are they valuable (I purchased them at least 20 years ago for about $18.00 each)? Part of me wants to sell them, but part of me loves them. So, how should I display them. I am not a big time house cleaner so I don’t want to have to dust them.
Complete Costume
Bottoms, front
Bottoms, back
Top, front
Top, inside
Arm pieces
Detail, with tulle and sequins
- Head piece
It’s hard to tell , but the head piece is, when worn, looks like a head scarf with fake oranges the dangle from the top. Attached to the head piece are two metal rings (middle, left in photo) that when the head piece is worn look like hoop earrings. Plain satin pieces hang in the back and are meant to be tied to give the head piece a scarf effect.
This looks to me like it might be a Brazilian/samba/Rio Carnival type costume — especially with those armlets and the head dress. Maybe a la that Chickita (not the bananas, the dancing/singing lady in the 40’s).
Yah, I was thinking of Carmen Miranda too.
Here she is on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Miranda
Carmen Miranda
If they are in usable condition, Melody at Palace Costumes in Los Angles might be interested in buying them. She has a large collection of vintage carnival and showgirl things. http://www.palacecostume.com
I will look her up. She at least have a idea of their age.
They might look really cute on display in shadow boxes. That way you don’t have to dust the costumes. They really are beautiful!
I can’t tell you how old or value, but I know they would go in a flash if you sold them. My mother scours garage sales looking for dance costumes. She’s given four to my daughter (a three-year-old) and they get a lot of use! Definitely investigate their worth before selling them!
My mother used to go to “dancing school” (What she calls it) in the 1950’s and they were a lot of costumes for recitals very similar to this. I often see them in the thrift stores around Halloween time. Perhaps Ebay might give some idea of current market rate? At Halloween I hang them on an old ladder I have just for fun.
when i went to “dancing school” as a 5-6-7 year old (in the mid-50’s) we wore little costumes like that. OUr mothers were expected to make them, but there were always moms or other seamstresses who would make them for a fee. They sometimes only related minimally to the song – Like for “How Much is that Doggie in the Widow” we wore sequin laden “hot pants” with a shiny jacket that had a dog embroidered on it. THe shows were called “kirmus” — not sure of spelling – the only reference i can find by googling that word is that it is a “carnival” in Germany — have no idea – the teacher was Italian though.
Our shows were the highlight of our mothers’ year!