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Fancy Dress Costume Design

1860s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This design was created by Jules Helleu, possibly for Charles Frederick Worth. Costumes based on card games were popular, and this costume is literally trimmed with silver playing-cards. It may represent a general gaming theme, or a more specific card game as all the cards are aces. The headdress is also made from silver cards.

During the 1860s, Empress Eugenie of France threw a number of extravagant masquerade balls which required the guests to wear elaborate and inventive costumes that were made up by Worth and other Paris dressmakers. Worth, a relative newcomer, became the Empress's favoured couturier at the end of the 1850s. This made him extremely fashionable, and the rest of the ladies of Eugenie's court also bought gowns from him - and so too did their husbands' mistresses, and anyone wealthy enough to afford Worth's very high prices. As a result, Worth was under great pressure to produce vast numbers of unique, one of a kind costumes and gowns, often at very short notice. This is one of a large number of similar designs and sketches that were given to the V&A as part of the archive and reference collection of the House of Worth, making it extremely likely that it was originally designed for a guest to wear to one of the Empress's magnificent balls.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
watercolour and pencil drawing
Brief description
Woman's masquerade ball dress. Subject representing a card game. Watercolour drawing by Jules Helleu, probably for Charles Frederick Worth. Paris, 1860s.
Physical description
Watercolour drawing, a design for a theatrical or masquerade fancy-dress ball costume. Probably represents a card game, trimmed with silver playing-cards.
Credit line
Given by the House of Worth
Summary
This design was created by Jules Helleu, possibly for Charles Frederick Worth. Costumes based on card games were popular, and this costume is literally trimmed with silver playing-cards. It may represent a general gaming theme, or a more specific card game as all the cards are aces. The headdress is also made from silver cards.

During the 1860s, Empress Eugenie of France threw a number of extravagant masquerade balls which required the guests to wear elaborate and inventive costumes that were made up by Worth and other Paris dressmakers. Worth, a relative newcomer, became the Empress's favoured couturier at the end of the 1850s. This made him extremely fashionable, and the rest of the ladies of Eugenie's court also bought gowns from him - and so too did their husbands' mistresses, and anyone wealthy enough to afford Worth's very high prices. As a result, Worth was under great pressure to produce vast numbers of unique, one of a kind costumes and gowns, often at very short notice. This is one of a large number of similar designs and sketches that were given to the V&A as part of the archive and reference collection of the House of Worth, making it extremely likely that it was originally designed for a guest to wear to one of the Empress's magnificent balls.
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1957-1958 London: HMSO, 1964
Collection
Accession number
E.22039-1957

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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