Swing your partner round and round, and off with their head!

Recently I attended the Pride, Prejudice and Zombie Ball, part of the Halloween experience for this year. It really was a kick, with most participants in Regency style attire. I was Proud and Privileged to wear an ensemble my daughter (http://dressedintime.blogspot.com) designed for me.

I was discussing this outfit with a friend who reminded me of the Bals des Victimes, or Victim’s Ball, that were put on by dancing societies after the Reign of Terror! I had to do some research!!!

To be a part of these societies, you had to be a relative of someone who faced the guillotine during the Terror. What a distinguished honor, ha ha! These dances hit their peak after the death of Robespierre, the first held in early 1795, mentioned in popular writing by 1797. History now suggests they were merely rumored to have occurred, but I think they were more than invention. At least I’d like to think so.

Though they began as a rash of merriment, they assumed a greater significance, with participants acting out the emotional impact of their family’s executions, and the resulting social upheaval. Attire included mourning clothes, with crepe armbands, gowns plain but scanty in the wake of the impoverished, or Greco-Roman dress with bare feet. Women wore a red ribbon around their neck as an homage to the guillotine blade. The preferred gown color was ghostly white, worn along with long red shawls, and men were said to bow to one’s partner with a jerk of the head, sharply downward, imitating the lopping off of one’s head. Ouch!

Sometimes we think we have the jump on the “ghoulish” today, but I think these Bals Des Victimes just cap it off!