"When Was That Worn?" - Fashion History in the Haunted Mansion

[CraftyFox]

"When Was That Worn?"​

Greetings and salutations, it's long time lurker @CraftyFox. I've had a persistent obsession with the Haunted Mansion for as long as I can remember. The same can be said for clothing design and fashion history. In this thread I will be gruesomely conjoining my twin obsessions into a single journey to attempt to date each and every one of the ghosts- and paintings- in the mansion exclusively by the attire they're wearing (and probably hair and accessories . I know my ramblings are likely of interest only to myself but I haven't seen this kind of thing discussed in much detail besides in a few passing comments. Hopefully someone might derive something interesting or helpful out of my crazed ramblings!

"The happy haunts have received your sympathetic vibrations and are beginning to materialize. They’re assembling for a swinging wake, and they’ll be expecting me… I’ll see you all a little later."​

 

[yankspy]

Mid to late 19th century? Just a guess.

 

[harryk]

Victorian era

 

[CraftyFox]

When Was That Worn: Constance Hatchaway​

I'm starting off this deep dive into the costumes of the Haunted Mansion with the character that first sparked someone to ask me, "when was that worn": Constance Hatchaway. Thanks to the presence of both a full body projection- showing the overall silhouette of the garment- and the numerous paintings of her strewn about the attic, we get a pretty good look at her overall dress design.

The first thing to analyze whenever you're trying to date an outfit is the silhouette. The overall fashionable shape of clothing actually changes quite significantly. Constance's gown, as pictured here, appears to have a rather simple silhouette, lacking any kind of crinoline or bustle to date this dress anytime between 1830 to 1885. This style of wedding dress is actually extremely common at the start of the 20th century. Around 1897 the fashionable style moved away from the huge puffed sleeves associated with the late Victorian "Gay '90s" style and moved to a more streamlined, Edwardian style. Nearly all the key aspects of this style are seen in Constance's dress: the high neckline with embroidery, heavy lacework, wide sash, and gathered bodice.

The front pleating and embroidery are strikingly similar to this extant gown from 1907:

​

This time period revelation is honestly not much of a surprise seeing as Disney's Go-To style for anything "Late Victorian" is generally either 1890's Gigot Style (as was most commonly romanticized in the forties and fifties) or the kind of Edwardian Gibson Girl influence we see here. It's a rather simply silhouette and style to accomplish, with the corseted waist being essentially the only element of shapewear or specialty undergarment in play.

The sleeves on the garment quite closely resemble this 1902 fashion plate advertising the latest style of bridal gown:

So, if one were to attempt to date Constance's wedding dress by its historical timeframe, the best estimate would be from around:
1897 - 1907
​

This dress was actually surprisingly easy to find the stylistic inspiration for, seeing as it appears to be a nearly direct rip of an Edwardian wedding dress, sharing nearly all of the most common characteristics associated with the period. Whether or not this timeframe actually fits Constance's story is debatable but the goal of this series is, after all, to date the characters by their clothes alone. This interestingly brings up an issue when discussing her stretching room portrait, as the style of dress she wears in it as an old woman is also from around the turn of the century. Continuity errors aside, I hope you all enjoyed this brief analysis (or unnecessary exploration) of Constance Hatchaway's wedding dress, its style influences, and most likely time period. I hope you all stick around for next time when I discuss... well- I haven't quite decided yet. Thank you for making it this far, I'll see you all a little later.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

This is an interesting project or concept for a thread. I do want to mention however not to read too deeply into your findings. In the creation of the ride, we know that Imagineers went to great lengths to try and make things as accurate and authentic as possible, but nothing they did was done with the idea that it would be heavily scrutinized by an expert.

I'm sure if a musical expert were to take a close look at the instruments "floating" in Leota's seance room, they'd probably find that they're not period correct, or they might not even be real instruments and are exaggerated recreations. Same with something like the knight's suit of armor, the 13-hour clock, individual gravestones, etc.

I mention this only because there is a strong possibility that in the creation of the ride, Imagineers may have simply gone to garage sales to find an "old wedding dress" or other such props for the ride without looking for items from a specific period of time. Many others were built in backrooms created specifically for the ride. I'm fairly certain that much won't hold up to scrutiny. Sorry, I'm not trying to rain on your parade and have no idea what you'll end up finding, but I'm guessing there will likely be a fair amount of not-period-correct clothing in the mansion. If/when that happens, I totally expect defenders to come out and say that the ghosts are not all necessarily from the same period of time and found their way to the mansion from different periods, etc. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[JIMINYCR]

In "The haunted Mansion, Imagineering a Disney Classic", they have dated Constance, the Black Widow Bride, marriages in order as...
to Ambrose 1869
to Frank 1872, date not in the book but found on another site
to The Marquis 1874
to Reginald 1875
and to George 1877

 

[DoleWhipDrea]

Love this. Can't wait to see more!

 

[CraftyFox]

"Awaken the spirits with your tambourine!"​

It’s alive! It’s alive! It seems that this project has come back from the dead (after a nearly-year-long hiatus). Soon after I initially started my quest to date each and every one of the ghosts of the Haunted Mansion by their attire alone, I ended up becoming absolutely swamped and couldn’t find the time to work on this project. With all that settled, I will (hopefully) be resuming semi-regular posts by the end of this week. Thank you so much for sticking with me through this extended absence.

"The happy haunts have received your sympathetic vibrations and are beginning to materialize. They’re assembling for a swinging wake, and they’ll be expecting me… I’ll see you all a little later."​

 

[CraftyFox]

When Was That Worn: The Ballroom Dancers - The Ladies​

To (sort of) make up for my extended hiatus, today I will be covering six ghosts instead of just one! Ok, ok, they're all technically wearing gowns of the same period but trust me, these are some very fun ensembles. So, without further ado, let's take a look at those iconic ladies waltzing across the ballroom.

​

As per usual, we'll start off by checking the outfits' silhouettes. The ballroom dancers, as pictured here, all appear to be wearing generally the same silhouette, with trapezoidal, medium fullness, swagged skirt and a belted décolletage bodice. There's actually a minor anachronism here with the setting and the dresses. The bodices of these dresses are actually not bodices intended for waltzing dresses! While they do feature the low, bertha collar and slightly puffed sleeve caps of a mid-19th century evening gown, many of the gowns actually feature long sleeves, something not worn on ballgowns of this period. The medium fullness skirt is not often seen in the nineteenth century, which preferred far larger and puffier crinolines or bustles. The waltzers' gowns appear to not feature any heavy understructure, as would have been common for the victorian dancing dress, but rather appear to use stacked petticoats to achieve their fullness. Slightly less full, more trapezoidal style of skirt was briefly seen as a trend in the late 1860's however, during the transition from the elliptical crinoline to the 1870's First Bustle Era crinolette, from around 1865 to 1870. The swagged details, belted waistline, and sausage roll hairstyles would also be very appropriate for this period as seen in many fashion plates of the era.

Note the lace bertha collar, puffed sleeve cap, and medium fullness skirt on this extant evening gown from 1868:

​

Compare this pink taffeta gown with examples from the Haunted Mansion and you'll see many similarities. Firstly, both feature a lace bertha collar, which was a low, décolletage collar that incorporated a band of matching or contrasting fabric that would wrap around the bodice and sleeves. Both of these dresses also feature small puffs beneath the bertha and a high, flat waistline. Finally, both skirts are cut in the transitionary, trapezoidal style, more triangular than the rounded 1860's crinolines or the bell-curved crinolettes and bustles of the 1870's.

The primary difference between the two dresses is the anachronistically long sleeves on the ghost's gown:

​

While the dresses featured in the ballroom are covered in quite a bit of lace, they don't come close to reaching the levels of flamboyance exhibited by most late 1860's ball gowns. The victorian dancing dress served as a canvas for one to show off their exuberant wealth, with magazines of the period advertising gowns trimmed in bows, ribbons, flowers, mountains of pleats and, of course, lots of lacework.

While the hair is nearly identical, the fashionable dress of the era is far more decorated:

With all this in mind, if one were to attempt to date the waltzing ghosts' gowns to their historical timeframe, the best estimate would be from around:
1865 - 1870
​

These dresses were actually quite a bit more difficult to date than I expected! Seeing as they're translucent and constantly spinning when viewed from the ride, they're far less ornate than actual gowns of this period, which is actually famous for its over-the-top details. I was honestly very surprised to see these gowns fit so cleanly into a real fashion period- albeit a transitionary one. Thank you so much for sticking with me through this exploration of these waltzing phantoms' dresses, their stylistic elements, influences, and most likely time period. I hope you stick around! I'll see you all a little later.

 

[CraftyFox]

When Was That Worn: The Ballroom Dancers - The Gents​

It's been almost a full year since the last time I did this! Time sure flies fast, doesn't it? Let's continue our look at the ballroom dancers by dating the gent's outfits. Before we begin, I'm just gonna quickly point out that men's costume post-1790 is generally far harder to date as the styles changed much less and over a far greater period of time. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's get right into it!

​

A great place to start when it comes to dating historical suits is to look at the pants! Men's legwear began the transition from breeches (short pants paired with stockings popular in the 17th/18th centuries) to full length trousers in the 1820's. Our waltzing gents here are decidedly in the trousers camp! Next, let's take a look at their coats. Now in the 19th century, there was a vast variety of popular coat styles: frock coats, tailcoats, sack suits, and many, many more. Based off of the few behind the scenes photos we have, the waltzers all seem to be wearing tailcoats, specifically the "dress coat" variety worn during formal occasions. The waistline is also significantly lower than the high Regency style of the 1810's. These features give us a year range of about 1830 to around 1930. Let's try to narrow things down to less than a century!

Note the slightly lowered waistlines and twin tails on these coats:

​

To further narrow down the exact decade, we can take a look at the shirts. The waltzing gents all appear to be wearing Georgian (1714-1837) style men's shirts with high, starched collars and a band of ruffles. These flamboyant shirts fell from favor in the early Victorian era as men's fashion became increasingly austere. This is an interesting development as it dates the gentleman's fashion to a period significantly earlier than the waltzing ladies'. It also gives us our final year range, 1830-1837!

Compare the waltzer's tailcoats, ruffled shirts, and bowties with this original 1833 men's fashion plate:

Based off these observations, if one were to attempt to date the waltzing gents' ensembles to their historical timeframe, the best estimate would be from around:
1830 - 1837
​

Of course, it isn't a perfect match. The ballroom dancers' suits do not appear to have the 1830's characteristic corseted waists and puffed sleeves. Still, it's quite a close match, and I'm surprised they were able to be dated to such a tight range. As mentioned earlier, these dates also place them around thirty years earlier than their female counterparts! I had a lot of fun analyzing the waltzing gents' suits and I hope you learned a little something about the evolution of 19th century men's fashion. If you've read this far, thank you so much for putting up with my niche interests (and the nearly year long wait). I'll see you all a little later.

 

[TalkToEthan]

Imagineers went to great lengths to try and make things as accurate and authentic as possible, but nothing they did was done with the idea that it would be heavily scrutinized by an expert.

Thank you!!
Somebody had to say it and I think it was perfectly timed.

What imagineers created in 1969 out in Cali pretty much proved they were years ahead of their time no matter what future generations using internet might dig up.

 

[Tiggerish]

This is fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

Really a fun and interesting read, thank you for doing this

 

[thomas998]

Really a fun and interesting read, thank you for doing this

Only problem is they didn't make the Haunted Mansion to be some historical diorama. So you really are just doing an exercise in what might have influenced the imagineer at the time they made the ride. I would suspect it would be more interesting to see what movies Disney had done close to the time they were creating the Haunted Mansion. My guess is you would find some of the clothes were simply repurposed from a movie studio wardrobe warehouse.