Adult Costumes

A fascinating study of costume is the determination of when and why people started wearing costumes. Recently, a new study has determined that the first adult costumes were probably worn about 40,000 B.C. That’s interesting, but what is really interesting is how they figured it out: the arrival of body lice! It turns out that body lice require regular wearing of clothing to live. The fabric doesn’t survive, but skeletal remains of lice, as well as humans, does.

A suggestion that costumes were probably worn 50,000years ago appears in a discovery of a human skeleton with some leopard bones. Because of the way the bones were arranged and that fact that there were only leopard paw bones and teeth, suggests that it was a shaman’s cape the human was buried with.

We see actual clothing scraps that have survived preserved on the well known ice man, about 4000 B.C., because they were frozen solid.

There were the ancient Egyptians who wore adult costumes not for cover because Egypt was lush and moderate in temperature in ancient time. Poor slaves apparently wore almost nothing. But the higher in rank you were, the more adornment you maintained (think Cleopatra). The ancient Greek attire was much more bulky than the Egyptian, typically a Chitton (a robe) with a tie around the waist. They didn’t bother with much adornment, though.

We love studying what really was, so we can work on making our period costumes as authentic as possible. Check them out.

Costumes are costumes are costumes to most people. But to us, theatrical costumes are completely different than party costumes. Theater usually requires costumes that are similar to what people really wore. But when you go to a party, you probably are thinking of the cliché costumes of the period. For instance, if we costume a play about home life in the 50’s, we need a housedress for mom , a suit for dad, etc. But if you are going to a party, you probably want a poodle skirt, maybe an “I Love Lucy” outfit, a Thunderbird jacket or a Pink Lady jacket. Well, we try to have both among our 20,000 costumes so you go from stage to party time whenever you want.