Saloon Girl Fancy Dress
Saloon Girl Fancy Dress outfits are colourful, flouncy and great fun.
They can be worn to a Wild West fancy dress party or even to a Moulin Rouge or Burlesque themed party as they are quite similar to the can-can or dancing girl costumes.
Whilst flirty and flamboyant, these costumes are actually quite demure compared with some of the fancy dress costume themes out there, usually being knee or calf length.
The saloon girls of the Wild West have an interesting history.
Whilst their clothing was considered indecent by the standards of the day, we have to look at the comparison; women at the time wore dresses that were all-covering and reached the floor so a costume that showed a shoulder or a bit of ankle or calf was seen as outrageous! During the Gold Rush of 1849 in California, dance halls and saloons began to appear and offered a way to relieve the diggers of their gold with games of chance.
Their chief attraction was however the dancing as these men often had no contact with women for weeks on end.
The dancers earned commission on ticket sales to a dance and on the sale of drinks.
The saloon girls' role was to entertain the men who came to the saloons by singing, dancing, talking and no doubt flirting but they were well respected and well protected by the saloon owner.
If a man bought a drink for a saloon girl it was often simply cold tea instead of whisky but would be charged at the full price.
After the dancing the girls would steer the gentleman to the gaming tables or the bar.
If you consider the work the people did and how hard life was at the time, the dance hall was a place they could escape and enjoy themselves and they had a real party atmosphere.
Only the shabbiest of bars would have had prostitutes and the saloon girls wouldn't have associated with them, just as the few wives of the men wouldn't have associated with the saloon girls who they considered "fallen women".
There were not many options for women to make a living at the time.
Most girls were widows or needy women who could not find another way to make a living or else young girls running from work in mills or on farms who were enticed by the posters offering a good income, beautiful clothing and easy work.
The clothing consisted of a colourful, flouncy, decorative dress which was either calf length or floor length.
The bodice showed cleavage and the corsets created a small waistline.
Hats and headpieces were a key part of the outfit and were very fancy.
This is the essence of the saloon girl fancy dress - fun and entertainment.
These costumes are a big part of the Moulin Rouge movie being quite interchangeable with can-can costumes.
So if you want to make an entrance at a fancy dress party this could be a winner.
They can be worn to a Wild West fancy dress party or even to a Moulin Rouge or Burlesque themed party as they are quite similar to the can-can or dancing girl costumes.
Whilst flirty and flamboyant, these costumes are actually quite demure compared with some of the fancy dress costume themes out there, usually being knee or calf length.
The saloon girls of the Wild West have an interesting history.
Whilst their clothing was considered indecent by the standards of the day, we have to look at the comparison; women at the time wore dresses that were all-covering and reached the floor so a costume that showed a shoulder or a bit of ankle or calf was seen as outrageous! During the Gold Rush of 1849 in California, dance halls and saloons began to appear and offered a way to relieve the diggers of their gold with games of chance.
Their chief attraction was however the dancing as these men often had no contact with women for weeks on end.
The dancers earned commission on ticket sales to a dance and on the sale of drinks.
The saloon girls' role was to entertain the men who came to the saloons by singing, dancing, talking and no doubt flirting but they were well respected and well protected by the saloon owner.
If a man bought a drink for a saloon girl it was often simply cold tea instead of whisky but would be charged at the full price.
After the dancing the girls would steer the gentleman to the gaming tables or the bar.
If you consider the work the people did and how hard life was at the time, the dance hall was a place they could escape and enjoy themselves and they had a real party atmosphere.
Only the shabbiest of bars would have had prostitutes and the saloon girls wouldn't have associated with them, just as the few wives of the men wouldn't have associated with the saloon girls who they considered "fallen women".
There were not many options for women to make a living at the time.
Most girls were widows or needy women who could not find another way to make a living or else young girls running from work in mills or on farms who were enticed by the posters offering a good income, beautiful clothing and easy work.
The clothing consisted of a colourful, flouncy, decorative dress which was either calf length or floor length.
The bodice showed cleavage and the corsets created a small waistline.
Hats and headpieces were a key part of the outfit and were very fancy.
This is the essence of the saloon girl fancy dress - fun and entertainment.
These costumes are a big part of the Moulin Rouge movie being quite interchangeable with can-can costumes.
So if you want to make an entrance at a fancy dress party this could be a winner.
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