Dominos

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:36 am Post subject: Dominos

If a woman were walking around London late at night would she wear a Domino or would it just be called a hooded cape? Perhaps another term?

BTW, I know a proper woman wouldn't be moving about London late at night *wink*.

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

A domino was a specific type of garment used as masques (it's a very full, hooded coat; like a cloak with sleeves). There's no reason she couldn't wear one, but it might draw more attention to her than a simple cloak.
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Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:37 pm Post subject:

Gotcha!! That's what I was thinking, but I wasn't certain.

Because I know they generally issue a domino with a mask, as people enter the party.

Thank you so much for the help on this!

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:05 pm Post subject:

I must have read that in a book somewhere. Matter fact, I know I read it in a book...romance novel...somewhere. I haven't researched it much so I wasn't exactly sure. Boy don't I look goofy now lol.

Moderator Princess Joined: 24 Sep 2006 Posts: 4175

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 9:42 pm Post subject:

I've never heard of "issuing" a domino at a masquerade, either. Doesn't mean it never happened, but I haven't come across it in research.

A few years back I saw a Regency-era print of a woman in a domino, but I don't have a copy of it. I do remember that the garment was not unlike the old Venetian capes with masks that go back at least as far as the 17th century. The only images I have been able to find are all those paintings by Pietro Longhi in the mid-18th century. He seemed to love to show people in dominos. Here are a few images, the first two are details of larger paintings:

The Regency-era print I saw showed a longer cape, brightly colored, trimmed with ruffles and ribbons, with the mask attached to the hood, and no hat. The interesting thing about dominos is that, with the mask in place, they really were a great disguise since they covered the lower half of the face.
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Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 10:55 pm Post subject:

Oh wow, they are completely different from what I always thought they looked like!

Thank you so much Candice!

I still can't remember which book it was that it was in, but I do remember that the heroine had come in from a different point because she was sneaking in and had to go to the front to get a domino.

Oh well, makes no difference now! I know better now, thanks to you.

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 5:52 am Post subject:

Le Domino Noir--The Black Domino-- is an 1837 opera by French composer Daniel Francois Auber. Here's a summary, courtesy of Wikipedia, which may add to the confusion about what a domino looked like, though in the middle 1830s:

The action takes place in Spain and concerns a young novice nun, Angèle de Olivarès. Enjoying her last freedom before taking final vows, Angèle slips out of the convent along with her companion Brigitte to attend a ball in honour of the Queen of Spain's birthday. To conceal her identity, she wears a black half-mask (the "domino" of the title). A year previously, at the same ball, Angèle had met a young man, Horace de Masserena. Horace has fallen in love with her and returns to the ball in the hope of seeing her again. Instead he meets the unknown woman in the black mask and dances with her. Thinking to help Horace, his friend Count Juliano, sets the clock back an hour causing Angèle to miss leaving at midnight, which would have allowed her to get back to the convent in time before the gates close. Angèle runs off and tries to take shelter for the night in a house she finds on the way. Unfortunately, it turns out to belong to Count Juliano who is holding a late-night party for his friends. Angèle persuades the housekeeper to disguise her as her niece from the country. She manages to fool everyone except, of course, Horace who recognises her from the ball a year ago. He does not tell anyone else but locks Angèle in a room where he hopes to keep her until she gives him an explanation. But Angèle is inadvertently freed by the housekeeper's lover, the drunken Gil Perez, who opens the door and runs off, having mistaken her for a demon in her mask and cloak. Angèle manages to reach the convent and slip in undiscovered. However, that very morning a new abbess, Ursule, has been installed. Ursule is jealous of Angèle and orders her to leave the convent and find a husband. By coincidence, Horace turns up at the convent and joyfully takes the opportunity to ask Angèle to be his wife.

Andrei Bulgakov in one of his early 20th century Russian novels (St. Petersburg, I think) writes about somebody wearing a domino but doesn't describe the thing, which isn't surprising if dominos were common and everybody knew what they looked like! I've seen productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni that include characters in dominos similar to the ones in Candice's examples.
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 11:54 am Post subject:

Interesting discussion. I've been reading about dominos for years and never really knew how to picture them. Thanks for the images, Candice. I know they're from an earlier era, but it helps.
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Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 3:35 pm Post subject:

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 3:54 pm Post subject: