Many elements come together to determinate the success of a party, but just few of them can be recalled to mind with exact precision. If dress can be considered one of those, then the detailed illustrations commissioned by the Duke of Brabant depicting the fancy outfits of his guests are powerful documents, able to evoke the atmosphere of gala nights taking place in the second half of nineteenth century.

On the evening of the 20th April 1857, Leopold II, Duke of Brabant – a title assigned to the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Belgium – hold a fancy dress ball, to which all the high Beglian nobility was invited. As a record of the night, Jules Géruzet, a photographer, lithographer and editor active in Brussels at the time edited a series of litographs depicting the elaborate costumes donned by the guests of the Duke.

Masquerades were a popular form of social gathering that required participants to challenge themselves in the research of the most out-of-the-ordinary, and appropriate altogether, dress for the evening. Although sometimes masquerades were themed, the freedom to fantasise accorded to their participants often translated in elaborate gowns, whose decorations were incredibly elaborate and of immediate visual strenght.

'Belgique et Costumes. Bal du Duc de Brabant : Souvenirs d'un bal costumé donné par S.A.R. le Duc de Brabant le 20 avril 1857', Jules Géruzet, 1857. Courtesy Royal Library of Belgium, all rights reserved.

As shown in the litographs, the attires worn at the party of the Duke of Brabant took their inspirations from the previous century. Women and men are illustrated wearing the nineteenth century representation of past styles and costumes, including court dresses, traditional costumes and uniforms.

'Belgique et Costumes. Bal du Duc de Brabant : Souvenirs d'un bal costumé donné par S.A.R. le Duc de Brabant le 20 avril 1857', Jules Géruzet, 1857. Courtesy Royal Library of Belgium, all rights reserved.

These plates not only offer the opportunity to reconstruct the silhouettes worn at the party, but also represent a detailed trace of the evanescent atmosphere of that evening. The name of the participants, their pose, the way they wore their clothes and accessories are all described in the prints, which play as important memories of an ephemeral event.

'Belgique et Costumes. Bal du Duc de Brabant : Souvenirs d'un bal costumé donné par S.A.R. le Duc de Brabant le 20 avril 1857', Jules Géruzet, 1857. Courtesy Royal Library of Belgium, all rights reserved.

The prints, recorded in the collection of the Royal Library of Belgium, can be browsed on the Europeana Fashion Portal.