Rare 1887 Adelaide fancy dress photos showcase Victorian costume designs
State Library SA found over 300 rare photographs from an 1887 fancy dress ball. They show elaborate Victorian costumes.
The State Library of South Australia found over 300 rare cabinet card photographs from a fancy dress ball at Adelaide town hall in 1887. Nearly 400 children attended the ball and wore elaborate costumes made by professional costumiers.
Costumes included fairies, devils, witches, fortune tellers, astrologers, sailors and cricketers. The children came from Adelaide's wealthiest colonial families.
Isabel Stuckey, 7, dressed as a white witch. Leslie Gardner, 10, dressed as an eclipse with half his face black and half white.
Ethel Hamilton, 12, dressed as a demon. Most children adopted solemn Victorian photo poses.
A few showed gleeful expressions. The photos give a vivid window into 19th-century childhood, fashion and social class.
- over 300
- Photographs found
- 1887
- Year of ball
- just under 400
- Children attended
- Adelaide town hall
- Location
Why it mattersThe photos capture a unique moment in Australian social and fashion history. They show how wealth and class shaped childhood experiences in colonial times.
AustraliaThis historical discovery at a South Australian cultural institution reveals the fashion and lifestyles of 19th-century Australian children and families.
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