I need your help. This has to do with two old costumes.
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 costumeThis costume has a tropical/Carmen Miranda look. Bottoms, front
Bottoms, back
Top, front
Top, back, inside stitching
Arm pieces
- Head piece
It’s hard to tell , but head piece is 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 scarf is worn look like hoop earrings. Plan satin pieces hang in the back and are meant to be tied to give the head scarf effect.
Perhaps your costume was used in a school play or childs costume party. Children, and people in general were much smaller back then. Here’s a link to some info on Carmen Miranda as this is the lady who comes to mind when I see your costume. You might want to display these in a coffee table designed like a shadow box.
I don’t know what they were used for but you might like to display them by drawing/painting/cutting a life-sized image of little girls and “dressing” them in the costume and framing the image. Having seen your great pictures, I bet you could make something fab. Perhaps a cheering crowd in the background or a twirling baton in the air.
I could have been the festive costume of that icon of the American South, the baton twirler! We still love our parades down this way, especially in little towns, and little southern belles with batons used to be standard fare. Baton twirling lessons were once as common as dance lessons for little girls. Great costume with that Carmen Miranda/mid century musical flair! Truly appreciate your work… I have a couple of sweetly devilish girls myself, now grown, but still lots of fun!
If you could have someone identify the fiber/material used would be a big help in determining the era of these costumes and how to best preserve them. I can tell you that I have a closet full of dance recital costumes that belong to my daughter, now 27 years old. They were ordered from a catalog by the dance school she attended for tap/ballet/gymnastics during the 80’s. However, when I was in high school many, many years ago in the south, modern dance was offered as well as gym and we made our own costumes for our events during the 60’s and 70’s. And in the past, costumes were made by mothers before the era of mass produced costumes were available to everyone or affordable by everyone. Home sewing or hiring a seamstress was the norm. When we were in elementary school mothers made all our costumes until we were able to make our own. I have made all my children’s costumes for any occasion since their birth.
These could have been for a dance recital, school play, community event, parade, mardi gras, little theater, welcoming visiting dignataries: just about anything if they were worn in the south. My small southern city recently remodeled a bridge downtown with no fanfare at all, but when the bridge was originally built in the early 50’s there was a full fledged parade with bands, floats, shriners, firetrucks to open the bridge.
Perhaps you could display them in a shadow box and include an old pair of tap shoes and a recital poster or circus poster, mardi gras poster or repro prints of dance shoes, recitals, parades, Americana, old record albums etc.
Someone put a lot of time into making these. Consult with a textile expert about the best way to preserve the fabric. You might even want to donate these to your local arts community, museum, college to display or auction for fund raising for arts in your area or children’s issues in your area.
i love the feel of leather dance shoes compared to synthetic fabrics.”,.
the outfit shown is definitely a “rumbera” costume…
“The Rumberas film (sometimes known as “Faubourg Film”) was a sub-genre film of the Golden age of Mexican Cinema (with some movies made also in Cuba and Spain), whose plots were set primarily in cabarets. His principal stars were the actresses and dancers known as “Rumberas”.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumberas_film
“[Ninon Sevilla] was graced with feline features, wonderful legs and exceptional vitality. She successfully danced her way through Havana night clubs and cabarets, and arrived in Mexico in 1945, where she made her film debut. Although she had already imposed her eccentric attires and hairdos, it was her association with filmmaker Alberto Gout that determined the creation of her erotic film persona. She rapidly became the icon of the rumbera, an archetype of the Mexican film musicals, a “bad girl” who is dignified by dancing…”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nin%C3%B3n_Sevilla
Carmen Miranda was definitely of that genre but was actually pretty tame and boring compared to the non-sanitized-for-american-consumption rumberas like Tongolele, María Antonieta Pons and Ninon Sevilla, whose outfits and dance moves could still elicit a tongue cluck or two today…here’s a clip of Sevilla wearing a very similar outfit to the one you have (which is downright modest for her)-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PDrzm_pCFc
you are on the right track in thinking 1940’s, although as someone else mentioned fabric and other elements can help date it better…but late 30’s to late 50’s was the height of the “rumbera” craze.
My guess would be that if they are of that vintage they were originally used in some kind of festival dancing performance or other celebration within a community with carribean or central/south american roots of some kind…wearing something like that would have been scandalous for any self respecting white women of that era, but even kids wearing that kind of thing isn’t a big deal where they don’t have the ingrained puritan repression most of us grew up with.
I agree with Helen about the dancing kids in the 80s. I had cousins who “took dance” and friends who “took voice” and they all had a ton of these kinds of costumes. They had fifties style, flapper style, flamenco style, etc. I think it would be hard to tell the age of the costume based just on its style. With it being from the “American South,” I think it could only be from some kind of organized performance like a dance studio would have. I don’t remember who wrote that kids were smaller back then, but 3 year olds are still pretty tiny in my family, so I don’t think you can use the size to date it either. I think the costume being homemade is pretty cool and should make the value higher.
hello Andrea, I am curious, what kind of bird do you have? I have a Blue Front Amazon. Isn’t it amazing how birds have facial expressions. You can tell when they are mad or if they are smiling.
Don’t laugh people they do! I also have 4 Cockatiels and they too have expressions. They make me laugh and amaze me everyday. I love being a bird mama. Hugs, Jan
Great One…
I must say, its worth it! My link, http://www.gladyshardy.com/blog/cora11,thanks haha…
Why not make the costumes into a funky quilt? Put in references to vintage with old flour sack cloth samples, and even color dye them to match. I’d keep the sequin rumba ruffles, divide and place those in random blocks. And use zany floral colors and fruit print to reference tropical head wrap that went with costume. If anyone could do it – you can!
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