If you own a historical costume from the Baroque to the Rococo periods (17th and 18th centuries), you’re already perfectly dressed for our ball - all you need is a small (eye) mask, and voilà!
But we’re also especially looking forward to greeting guests from the Baroque world of masks: mythological figures from antiquity, whether simple or elaborately embellished and frilled; colorfully dressed inhabitants of foreign lands or other continents; proud Ottomans and lively Spanish women, shepherdesses and shepherds, gardeners and innkeepers ... but always with style - after all, we know what we owe our hosts! And perhaps a few Harlequins and Columbines will mingle among the ball guests as well.
Lady with moretta mask (an., 18th c.)
G. Flinck, Rembrandt as a Shepherd (ca. 1636)
Please no modern ball gowns or evening wear, no cocktail dresses or short dresses!
Any creative, heartfelt improvisation is better than modern chic or an off-the-rack carnival costume! It’s best to avoid high-heeled shoes; they aren’t well-suited for this style of dance.
Here are a few more ideas for inspiration:
E. Vigée-Lebrun, Madame de Verdun as as ’fine gardener’ (1780)
H. Gascar, Prince Victor Amadeus II. of Savoy as Apollo
Sophie of the Palatinate as an American Indian, painted by her sister Luise Hollandine (ca. 1649)
