Costume
Walter Crane was very interested in how people dressed. Clothing and costume played an important role in both his books and illustrations and his family life.
When he visited different countries he would make drawings of what the local people were wearing.
Clothing
Walter Crane was very interested in costume. When he visited different countries he would make drawings of what the local people were wearing.
Walter thought that people should wear beautiful clothes that they could easily move around in. He designed many outfits for men, women and children. Some of these were worn by his own family.
The Crane family often wore unusual outfits: His daughter attracted a lot of attention when she walked around London wearing a red riding cape and his wife often wore large, floral dresses.
Fancy Dress
The Crane family often had costume parties. They would invite many people to their house in Holland Park, London. Sometimes, there were so many people turning up in strange costumes that nobody else could get down the street!
The Cranes were well known for their parties and they loved to dress up. Mrs Crane would dress as a flower or a peacock, Walter sometimes dressed as a crane and their children would also wear wonderful costumes. They even dressed up their dogs to look like roses!
Characters
Walter gave his storybook characters fancy costumes. The clothing he drew often said something about the character. He would pay great attention to the clothing in his story books and even made sure that the animals were dressed properly.
