Historical Costumes for Girls

A Victorian-syle outfit with boots. Hispanic girl with pretty dress image by studio vision1 from Fotolia.com

Almost all girls enjoy dressing up and entering a world of make-believe for a while. Historical costumes provide the same means of escape as fantasy and character costumes, but with the likely benefit of learning about life in a different time and place. You can potentially create historical costumes for girls from virtually any time period in any country. Choosing costumes that reflect the way girls of similar ages dressed provides girls of today insight into other cultures and ways of living.

Roman Girl

Rather than wear the typical Roman goddess costume, you can easily put together a costume of a Roman girl's everyday dress. The costume is made of three simple pieces, plus a pair of sandals. The base piece is a tunic, comprised of two rectangular pieces of fabric---one covering the front and one covering the back. They're connected and secured by pins or small broaches, starting at the shoulders and spaced at wide intervals down the arms. The second piece, a belt made from gold rope, ties the tunic in place at the waist. The third piece is a palla, or head shawl, which is also a rectangular piece of fabric that you drape over the left shoulder, across the chest and up over the head. White, fine gauge cotton or another draping fabric works well for the two main pieces.

Medieval Peasant

For kids, the Middle Ages are probably most signified by castles and horses. While many costumes from this era are variations on royalty, most people who lived then were in the peasant class. A Medieval peasant costume for a girl has four pieces. The first is a modest, ankle-length dress with long sleeves and a high collar that covers the neck. The dress is partially covered by a long apron in front that ties around the waist. Her head is covered by a linen or cotton cap that ties under the chin. The cap is tight to the head, keeping the hair out of sight. The final piece is a long cape with three closures and a long, pointed hood. The ideal fabric colors for all the pieces---except the apron---are varying shades of brown, which doesn't show dirt as easily, an important consideration for a peasant with few clothes. The apron should be off-white or cream colored. Plain brown shoes complete the costume.

Victorian Girl

The Victorian era is known for its design extravagance, especially in architecture and fashion. It's a time period marked by wealth, but it's also a time period in which children worked in homes and in factories. One Victorian costume idea for girls is that of a child scullery maid. The costume has three main pieces. The primary piece is a dress, which can be black or a dark chocolate brown. It has a round neckline, a keyhole button closure at the back and a tea-length hemline. The sleeves are long, puffy and taper in at the wrist. The dress is covered by a crisp, white, full-body apron of starched linen or cotton. It has a crisscross shoulder harness and a waist tie. The apron is trimmed in wide, delicate lace along the bottom hem and shoulder straps. The third piece is a white, lace-trimmed mob cap, which is a round hat that cinches around the head to keep hair covered. White tights and dressy shoes---black or dark brown, depending on the dress color---are the final elements.

References

• All Fancy Dress: Historical Girls Fancy Dress Costumes
• "Patterns for Theatrical Costumes: Garments, Trims, and Accessories From Ancient Egypt to 1915"; Katherine Strand Holkeboer; 1984