Society of Salome

21/02/2024

More of the wonderful ensembles from Saturday’s magical night. ✨🎊 Your creativity and effort really blew our minds!
Thank you for capturing most of these.

06/02/2024

The Devonshire House Ball or the Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball was an elaborate fancy dress ball, hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, held on 2 July 1897 at Devonshire House in Piccadilly to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Due to the many prominent guests and the overall lavishness of the ball, it was considered the event of the 1897 London Season.

The images capturing participants of the ball offer an interesting insight into how historical costume was understood at the end of the 19th century. The fancy dress examples shown here must have been made by the best dressmakers and tailors, and no expense was spared to ensure exquisite quality, detailing and finish of the costumes.
Although today most people associate fancy dress with mass produced, ready-to-wear costumes from a costume shop, we still have celebrities dressing up in controversial, creative and out-of-the-box ensembles, often custom made by couture houses for events such as the Met Gala. Just as in the past, they are captured by photographers and distributed around the world.

Same, same, but different…

We’re very much looking forward to seeing your creative costume ideas at our Fancy Dress Party on the 17th of February!
Just 2 weeks to go! 🥳

01/02/2024

Have you heard? 📣 There’s one extra ticket available for our party! Grab it before it’s gone! (Link in bio)

Picture from Society of Salome’s Fancy Dress Party in 2022.

30/01/2024

We’re excited to announce that our Carnival de la Belle Époque party will be photographed by Anna Shilonosova .photo - historical event documentarian extraordinaire!
Here you can see examples of her amazing work, the pictures she took in Bath before ‘a Victorian Ball! ✨
We already can’t wait to see all the guests’ fabulous ensembles!

25/01/2024

More 19th-early 20th century Fancy Dress costume ideas! 🥳
There are only 4 tickets left for our party now! Grab yours before they’re all gone!!! 👯‍♀️

Just a reminder that our event is friendly towards beginner costumers / vintage dressers, and you don’t need to bring a plus one!

24/01/2024

Reminiscing about our last event at Leighton House, London, we are preparing for the exciting Carnival Party on the 17th of February!
Just a couple of tickets left now, so be sure to get one before they’re all gone!
We can’t wait to see everyone’s fantastic & creative ensembles!

20/01/2024

📍✨NEW VENUE UPDATE*✨
Dear Guests! Thank you so much for your patience while we were confirming the details of the new venue.
Due to high interest in our party and a lot of people on the ticket waiting list, we decided to upgrade the venue to a much larger one!

We can finally confirm that the new location of the event is the stunning Kingswood Arts (former Kingswood House) - a magnificent 1890s Neo-Gothic Victorian Mansion in South London! ✨⚡️

Full address:
Kingswood Arts, Seeley Drive, London SE21 8QN
Nearest stations: Sydenham Rail Station and Sydenham Hill (regular trains from London Bridge, Elephant & Castle, Blackfriars, Overground from Canada Water) - 5-10 min walk to the venue.
Or no. 450 bus to Kingswood Drive / College Road, No. 3 Bus from Brixton..and many more!

The venue can be reached from Central London in around 20 min.

Thank you so much for your patience and our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by the venue change!
We are excited to be able to offer you a real ballrom in a stunning Neo-Gothic Victorian Mansion, which offers much more dancing space and more quiet areas for the guests’ comfort. The ballrom is also easily accessible, located on the ground floor, with accessible toilets and a cloakroom for the guests.
Thanks to the change, we now have more tickets available, so please dont hesitate to purchase one if you’re still considering! Link in bio! ✨

12/01/2024

🎉 CARNIVAL PARTY - MORE TICKETS RELEASED!🎉

Dear Followers! As your interest in our Fancy Dress Party exceeded all of our expectations, we decided to release more tickets to the event today! Which means we can now invite all the people who have been on the ticket waiting list so far, and more.
Due to the higher number of guests, we are now finalising the process of changing the venue to a larger one, which will be announced in the next couple of days (it will remain in London and accessible through TFL). Please stay tuned for the updates!

You can purchase your tickets on Eventbrite via our link in bio! 🎉

12/01/2024

Dear Followers!
As your interest in our Fancy Dress Party exceeded all of our expectations, we decided to release more tickets to the event today!
Which means we can now invite all the people who have been on the ticket waiting list so far (we emailed them already!) and more!

Due to the higher number of guests, we are now finalising the process of changing the venue to a larger one, which will be announced in the next couple of days (it will also be in London and accessible via TFL!).
Please stay tuned for the updates :)

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/carnival-de-la-belle-epoque-tickets-775237234437?fbclid=IwAR2NuQ2Yxy7X_YFAZz--9OFXt3NKqtDwOc0vRw74T_-M63P9Eh9wHdJYUZU

A Belle Époque Carnival

10/01/2024

It’s very rare to encounter surviving antique fancy dress costumes, but the John Bright Collection’s website features a whole lot of them. They are really incredible to see, given the variety of techniques used to create fancy dress costumes - from elaborate stitch work to simple paint of fabric. What an amazing inspiration! Which one is your favourite?

You can explore the whole wonderful collection at the John Bright Collection website!

09/01/2024

🪭✨DRESSCODE FOR THE CARNIVAL PARTY✨🎉

The theme of our February event is 19th-early 20th century Carnival fashion - Fancy Dress & masquerade costumes.
This includes:
🪄 19th - early 20th century eveningwear
(carnival masks welcome!)
🎉 Fancy dress costumes as they were in the 19th - early 20th century
🪭 “Historical” costumes as they were understood in the 19th / early 20th century

As always with our parties, we welcome our guests’ creativity! You can interpret those themes within your capacity of historical / vintage dress and your personal interests. We attempt to have fun with our costume ideas - it’s a perfect occasion to pull off the most ridiculous, creative, innovative ensembles!

Historically, fancy dress costumes were either sewn as whole elaborate garments, or just created quickly on a smaller budget - by attaching some paper or fabric decorations to an already existing piece of clothing. The costumes were often accessorised with paper head dresses. The ideas were often abstract and symbolic - people would dress up as the Seasons, Electricity, the Alphabet, Heaven, Planets, The Sun, The Moon, Newspapers, Cards, but also animals, insects, historical figures, fairies or witches, mythological characters. The possibilities are endless.

While researching fancy dress inspirations, please also be mindful that historically, some of the “Fancy Dress” costumes used in the 19th / early 20th century were based on cultural appropriation or harmful stereotypes, e.g. using other cultures’ traditional dress as a costume. That’s not something that we support or would like to see at our party. Please be sensitive and mindful of the historical references you choose!

We are here to cherish the beautiful aspects of our favourite historical periods, while also being critical of what we choose to recreate from them.
Our events are meant to be a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone, where our guests feel welcome and comfortable! 😊

We will be posting more outfit inspirations in the coming weeks!

08/01/2024

More portraits from our last event, The Very Victorian Christmas at Leighton House & Gardens, taken by the amazing Lucas Pitcher 📸

Thank you for capturing those special moments! 🎊

06/01/2024

05/01/2024

The perfect couple costume for the Society of Salome’s Fancy Dress Party doesn’t exi- 🫛🫛

Sharing some inspiration for 19th century and early 20th century fancy dress costume ideas for our February party!

05/01/2024

Historical costumes were a popular form of fancy dress in the 19th and early 20th century, especially for men. A lot of them were much more of a contemporary fashionable interpretation than an accurate period dress, but looking back on them today, they have a lot of charm!

What creative ideas will our guests come up with this time? 🤔

05/01/2024

A memory from our last Fancy Dress party in 2022.
Guests dressed in their interpretation of 19th and early 20th century Fancy Dress! (what was considered fancy dress in that period).

We're very excited to see everyone's costumes this year!

Thank you to everyone that participated in our Very Fancy Summer Soirée! We loved seeing everyone’s costumes and the various interpretations of Historical Fancy Dress! ✨
We’re looking forward to seeing you at another get-together very soon 😎🎩

05/01/2024

Hello Friends!
We would like to let you know that our February event, Carnival de la Belle Epoque, is now sold out! We have opened a reserve list for guests who are still hoping to get a ticket in case of any cancellations:

This is the ticket waiting list for the Society of Salome's Carnival de la Belle Epoque event on the 17th of February 2024. Please sign up if you'd like to be notifited if any tickets become available due to cancellations before the event. We will be notifying people on the first come, first serve b...

29/12/2023

Wrapped up warm, getting ready for a decadent New Year’s Eve?✨🎊 🥂

Here are some more excellent photographs from our Very Victorian Christmas Event, captured by the talented Guy Corbishley 🎄

28/12/2023

Hope you are all having the most magical Festive Season ✨🎊

Here are some more excellent photographs from our Very Victorian Christmas Event, captured by the talented Guy Corbishley 🎄

25/12/2023

Beautiful Christmas card by our own Victorian Artist Extraordinaire Marcus A. Walters / .noble.artist! 🎁✨The card is inspired by Victorian animal Xmas cards with surreal situational humor. Which of the Dignified Terrier Participants do you relate to most to this Christmas? 😉 ❤️ 🐶🐺🐩🦮

Merry Christmas to all our friends and followers at Society of Salome! 🎄✨🎊🎁 Hope you have a wonderful Festive Season full of joy, rest and inspiration!

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas to all our friends and followers at Society of Salome! 🎄✨🎊🎁 Hope you have a wonderful Festive Season full of joy, rest and inspiration!

21/12/2023

Are you feeling the Festive Spirit? 🎄🪄 We’re already looking forward to our next event, the Carnaval de La Belle Époque in February! 🎊🪅 There is just over a dozen tickets left, so make sure to buy yours before they’re all gone! 🎟️

Beautiful photographs from our Very Victorian Christmas Event last weekend, captured by the talented Guy Corbishley 🎄

16/12/2023

A Very Victorian Christmas Moodboard! Which of the pics above is most your vibe for tomorrow? We are so excited to see your winter wools, furs, and tweeds as we saunter about the beautiful Frederic Leighton House in London. Join us afterwards at the Hand and Flower Pub nearby for a Holiday tipple and chat. The details are as follows:

☃️A Very Victorian Christmas☃️
Sunday 17th December, 12pm
Frederic Leighton House
12 Holland Park Road, London W14 8LZ

Dresscode: 1870-1890s Winter

Tickets are just £11 and give you access to both the permanent and temporary exhibitions on the grounds, and are available for purchase online.

Order of events:

12pm Meet at in all your festive finery, wander the museum at your leisure

3:30pm Begin to make our way to a local pub

4pm Drinks, bites, merriment at The Hand and Flower Pub W14 8XJ

11/12/2023

Announcing the first Society of Salome event of 2024… Carnaval de la Belle Époque.

In the grey and bleak winter, a lot of us dream of glitter, glamour and excitement. Historically, the period between New Year’s Eve and the beginning of Lent was celebrated as the Carnival - a time where social roles would be reversed, and fabulous, often costumed parties and balls would entertain people throughout the dark, cold weeks. People would dance, drink, play and enjoy themselves; the Carnival was the period to make new social connections, find love and friendship in the whirlwind of social events.

The tradition of Carnival is still cultivated in many countries, including the famous Italian Venice Carnival. This winter, we decided to bring it to London, but in our favourite historical style - as Carnaval de la Belle Époque!

Join the Society of Salome on the 17th February 2024 at our costumed party, bringing the extravaganza of the fancy dress balls of the 19th and early 20th century. Spend the night with us dancing, socialising and participating in period games at the beautiful Duke’s Head Pub in Putney!

Let’s say goodbye to the Carnival in Belle Époque style, dancing, feasting and drinking in fabulous company.

The evening will start at 19:00 with a welcome drink. We will offer a buffet of finger food and snacks, and the guests will have an opportunity to learn 19th century dances, participate in a prize raffle and take part in period games.
The night will finish around midnight.

Dresscode: 19th century / early 20th century evening wear & fancy dress costumes (carnival style masks welcome!)

Date: 17th of February 2024

The ticket (£35, available to purchase now through the link in our IG profile) includes:
- entry to the party
- ⁠a welcome drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
- ⁠a buffet of light snacks & finger food
- ⁠a ticket to participate in our prize raffle

More drinks will be available to purchase individually at the bar throughout the night.

29/11/2023

The Society of Salome warmly invites you to:

☃️A Very Victorian Christmas☃️
Sunday 17th December, 12pm
Frederic Leighton House
12 Holland Park Road, London W14 8LZ

Dresscode: 1870-1890s Winter

Join us for an afternoon of art, design, and holiday cheer as we wander the rooms of the gorgeous Frederic Leighton House . Once home and studio to the renowned Pre-Raphaelite painter, Frederic Leighton, the house has now been transformed into a museum boasting some of the most stunning aesthetic interiors and paintings in England. Tickets are just £11 and give you access to both the permanent and temporary exhibitions on the grounds.

Tickets are available for purchase online through the Leighton House Museum website (https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums/), also you can use our linktree on the Society of Salome IG page which currently has a link directly to their ticket page.
(please book your tickets in advance as we cannot guarantee there will be any available on the door come the day)

Order of events:

12pm Meet at Frederic Leighton House in all your festive finery, wander the museum at your leisure

3:30pm Begin to make our way to a local pub

4pm Drinks, bites, merriment

We do hope to see you there and wish everyone Happy Holidays and a cozy winter season! ❄️

13/11/2023

Beautiful photos from our Halloween Walk 2023 taken by the talented Guy Corbishley 📸 - we would like to encourage you to follow his amazing work, that can always perfectly capture the atmosphere of the event!

This year’s walk was organised at Nunhead Cemetery, one of London’s oldest and most beautiful cemeteries. All the participants dressed the part, showing up in their most somber and elegant ensembles. 👻🎃