Sim Barr<p>William James Topley’s Fancy Dress Ball Photographs</p><p>The fancy dress ball was a popular private costumed event in 19th century Canada. Those invited would portray characters from history, literature, mythology, or fairy tales, or dress in outfits inspired by foreign lands. While guests were expected to conform to societal expectations, they were allowed a few liberties - for example, women were permitted to wear their hair loose and they could reveal more of their legs than a typical ball gown of the day. </p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/williamjamestopley" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>williamjamestopley</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/photographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>photographer</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>photography</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/fancydressball" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fancydressball</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/fancydress" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fancydress</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/costumeball" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>costumeball</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/costumes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>costumes</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/canadianhistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>canadianhistory</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/canadianphotographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>canadianphotographer</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/canadian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>canadian</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>photography</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/vintagephotography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>vintagephotography</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/fotografie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fotografie</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/fotograf%C3%ADa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fotografía</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/bwphoto" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>bwphoto</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/photoworld" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>photoworld</span></a></p>