Clowning Around
Girls in pierrot costume, 1920s; from ‘maclancy’ on Etsy (photograph sold)
A little while ago, when I came across these adorable vintage shoes on Etsy, I was inspired to hunt around for other historical uses of pompoms. This lead me on a trail of Pierrots.
Pierrot is the sad clown of pantomime, originating in the late 17th century with the Comédie-Italienne, a troupe of players. He pines his heart away for love of Columbine, who more often than not abandons him for her lover, Harlequin. He is characterised of course with this most familiar costume of a loose white blouse with large buttons (or pompoms) and wide pantaloons. Sometimes he sports an Elizabethan-style frilled collaret, and at times a black skullcap.
Scroll down to see my favourite of the vintage Pierrots I discovered, all clad in variations of this delightful costume. (Click for larger images.*)
Pierrot and Columbine; from allsorts.typepad.com
Poster; from scrapologie.blogs.com
Carnevale, 1956; from ‘mario 044’ on Flickr
Illustration by Frances Brundage, 1908; from www.vintagepostcards.org
Clowns from Le Marseillaise Studio; from clowningaround.tumblr.com
Pierrot dancer, 1930; my-ear-trumpet.tumblr.com
Edwardian girl; from ‘lovedaylemon’ on Flickr
Actress Madge Rossmore; from scrapologie.blogs.com
Pierrot laughing, 1855; from www.metmuseum.org
Pierrot with his Columbine, 1920; from eclektic.tumblr.com*Apologies, I cannot supply two links with images saved as thumbnails. Please contact me if you would like the exact URL.