Titanic Centennial

Ragtime Dance Weekend

featuring Richard Powers with Angela Amarillas

from the San Francisco Bay Area, California

Friday April 13 – Sunday April 15, 2012

Boulder, Colorado

Ladies' Costumes

Download a pdf of Costume FAQs

1. Workshop Dress and Dance Hall Etiquette

2. Ball

a. First Class Passengers – Evening Costumes

b. Steerage Passengers – Day Costumes

c. Crew Costumes

3. Costume Workshops

4. Optional Period Costumes: Friday Molly Brown House Tour and other special events

1. Workshop Dress and Dance Hall Etiquette

Casual, comfortable clothing for the workshops. As a courtesy to your partners, please bring one or more dry shirts to change into if you perspire profusely.

Please wear clean, non-marking, soft-sole (leather, not rubber) non-street shoes to protect the beautiful floor. Recommend low heels or flats for women. You want shoes that will turn easily.

Prevent allergic reactions: Please leave strong perfumes and after-shaves at home. Sensitive noses will thank you!!

There will be plenty of room to hang your ball wear in the coat room on Saturday during the workshops.

2. Ball

Both ladies and gentlemen of the Ragtime era would have been unfamiliar with jeans, shorts, t-shirts, polo shirts, tennis shoes, short skirts, and other 21st century garb.* Their comfort zone is described below, and we know you will be most comfortable recreating your outfit within these parameters. Please note that this is a period costumed ball, and all attendees will be expected to participate in one of the many costume options offered. (Don't worry, our Costume Crew stands alert and ready to help you plan!)

*If you need to wear specific practical shoes due to challenging feet, please wear what will keep you comfortable!

Ball costume guidelines, 1910 – 1914:

1) First Class Passengers: formal period evening wear

2) Steerage: period day wear

3) Crew: per the luxury lines of 1910 – 1914

These options present a wide range of ways to perfect a costume:

a. Evening Costumes

What characterizes the ladies' lovely evening gowns of the Ragtime era?

• Colors: pastels to deep colors to jewel tones. The Ballet Russe came to Paris in 1909 and brought across bright colors, many with an Oriental flavor
• Skirt length: long – no more than a couple of inches off the floor. Some outfits had harem pants, an Oriental influence
• Sleeve length: they vary – sleeveless to elbow length to full length, with sleeveless to mid-length most common for evening
• Waistline: raised waistline, usually 2 – 3" wide band – often a sash with ends that hang
• Many designs included a peplum or other visual layers
• Symmetry vs asymetry: both were typical
• Fabrics:generally speaking, they were fabrics that would drape easily were preferred – silks, charmeuse, laces (If you would like advice as to whether your fabric and/or trim fits the period, check with the Costume Crew!)
• Hair styles: Hair was bobbed (short) or, more commonly, long and put up on top of the head
• Hair ornaments: feathers combined with other decorations were common; turbans represented the oriental influence
• Jewelry: necklaces very common (generally above the neckline); pins at center front, center of waist sash, or assymetrically placed on waist sash were also common
• Gloves: long for formal; optional for semi-formal
• Shoes/stockings: modern character shoes, or similar, will do nicely. Ladies would not have shown their bare legs, so they wore solid colored long stockings. (If you have troublesome feet, by all means, wear flat shoes!)

Some helpful links:

Assembled by period dance fashion expert Richard Powers, see his page of gorgeous gown illustrations:

Ragtime Era Dance Fashions

Other links:

Titanic Fashion

Ladies Evening Dress: The Ragtime Era

Wikipedia: 1910's in Fashion

b. Day Costumes

What would ladies' day wear look like?

• Skirt length: long – no more than a couple of inches off the floor
• Sleeve length: usually long or elbow-length for day wear
• Necklines: generally higher than evening wear
• Waistline: raised waistline, usually 2 – 3" wide band – often a sash with ends that hang
• Many designs included a peplum or other visual layers
• Colors: pastels to deep colors to jewel tones. The Ballet Russe came to Paris in 1909 and brought across bright colors, many with an Oriental flavor
• Symmetry vs asymetry: both were typical
• Fabrics: natural fibers – cotton, wool, silk, linen. Solids and prints (check with our Costume crew about typical prints)
• Hair styles: Hair was bobbed (short) or, more commonly, long and put up on top of the head
Hats: ladies always wore hats for day wear. See illustrations for typical sizes
• Jewelry: necklines were high enough that necklaces, if worn, would come down over the bodice rather than be avoe; pins at center front, center of waist sash, or assymetrically placed on waist sash were also common. Artificial flowers were also used for accents.
• Gloves: optional; if elbow-length sleeves, gloves would be long enough to reach to sleeve
• Shoes/stockings: modern character shoes, or similar, will do nicely. Ladies would not have shown their bare legs, so they wore solid colored long stockings. (If you have troublesome feet, by all means, wear flat shoes!

c. Crew Costumes

Stewardess

3. Costume Workshops

To learn how to easily create a lovely period costume from your closet and/or the thrift store, come to one of our Thrifty Costume workshop to be held:

January 22, 1:30-3:30pm, Pearl Street Studio, Boulder, $7 at the door.

Contact Susan Reisser to sign up for a workshop or to get your costume questions answered.

4.Optional Period Costumes

Friday afternoon Molly Brown House Tour
Friday evening Silent Film/Dance event
Sunday Afternoon Tea

Or, come as you are in modern clothing!

Molly Brown and her husband purchased their house in 1894, and the house is currently restored to 1910. With these general guidelines, if you want to sport your period wear for any of these events, we suggest 1890s through teens day wear.