Pantomime dame costume worn by Will Judge, ca.1920s. Turquoise blue velvet sheath dress trimmed with gold sequins and beads.

Full length, short-sleeved sheath dress in deep turquoise blue velvet, with high waist and boat neck. On the bodice is a bold floral motif and on the sleeves, smaller motifs, the neck and sleeves edged with a decorative border; around the waist is a broad 'belt' decoration, forming a point centre front, with similar floral decoration, and down the front of the skirt is a panel with flower and foliage decoration and a deep band with of flowers and leaves around the hem. All the motifs are of massed gold sequins set on net edged with a line of tiny crystal beads with gold centres. The whole dress is scattered with knots of the gold sequins. The bodice is lined with cotton twill and fastens down the back with hooks and eyes.

Given by Patric Judge in memory of his grandfather Will Judge (1883-1960).

Will Judge (1883-1960), billed as The Norfolk Comedian, was a well-known comedy- variety and pantomime artist for thirty years in the first half of the 20th century. Although he performed all over the British Isles, occasionally in London, he was best known in East Anglia and the North of England; at this period, before the spread of radio and the invention of television, comedians were often 'local' and humour in the North could be very different from that in the South (for example, Max Miller was never as popular in the North of England, while Jimmy Learmouth was most popular in his native Lancashire). He played Dame in pantomime and married Gertrude Orchard, who played Principal Boy. His Dame characters, while obviously exaggerated, inclined towards the 'elegant' or homely rather than the grotesque. Such costumes were not 'designed' in the formal sense, but rather evolved in the making; the making, too, could be domestic rather than professional at a period when most girls were taught to sew. The motifs may have been transferred from another costume

Will Judge (1883-1960), The Norfolk Comedian, was as his title indicates, a well-known performer in East Anglia in the early 20th century, performing in variety and as a pantomime dame. In the days before radio and television, comedians were often famous within a fairly restricted area and humour, too, showed many local variations - there were many comedians famous in the north of England who never performed in the south, and vice versa.
This sheath dress, trimmed with flower and foliage decoration and sequins and beads was worn by Judge as a pantomime dame. From his costumes, it is clear that his dames were elegant or homely rather than grotesque caricatures. Most dames had their own costumes and wore them in many different pantomimes. Such costumes were not 'designed' in the formal sense, but rather evolved in the making . It was probably the work of a member of Judge's family rather than a professional costume maker, using motifs from existing clothes or other costumes.

S.103-2004