color schemes
Reunion Costume Color Schemes
Today’s longstanding orange-&-black orthodoxy wasn’t always the rule in Reunion-costume design. Few P-rade outfits have diverged from those traditional colors during the past hundred years or so. But way back in the P-rade’s earliest decades, the costume palette exhibited a lot more variety. 1
The very first full costumes, introduced in 1901 at 1896’s Fifth, were “sailor’s uniforms of white, with khaki leggings”.s A white sailor suit would later become the customary P-rade attire for most First Reunion classes until at least the 1920s. Meanwhile, other young alumni classes would sometimes also choose an ensemble in colors other than orange and black:
The Dutch-boy suits at 1897’s Tenth were Delft blue. 1901’s Tenth wore toreador outfits of red, black, and gold. 1903’s Tenth had blue-and-buff Revolutionary War uniforms. Several classes wore khaki (1901’s Third, 1912’s Fourth, 1914’s Second). 1910’s Fifth marched in Greek “Evzone” uniforms of red and green, with tutu-like white skirts. 1912’s Third ambled in artists’ smocks of blue. 1916’s Fourth toddled along in “our baby-blue rompers and big red ties”. And 1906’s Tenth sported red, white, and blue Uncle Sam suits. 3
1899 at their Tenth processed in colored robes denoting ranks in their priestly order of the Sacred Bird — white for priests, black for choristers, red for cardinals, and purple & green for the High Priest (though his mitre, at least, was orange . . . .). 4 Conversely, 1904 at their Third cavorted in “red-devil costumes”.
One possible explanation for this kaleidoscopic variety is the availability of ready-made costumes in standard colors from theatrical suppliers or retail novelty shops. Relative expense may be another. (Having devil suits custom-made in orange fabric would be costlier than buying red ones off the rack.) Verisimilitude could also be a factor. Delft blue was an obvious choice for a Dutch costume so authentic that it included wooden shoes; then-current military uniforms looked right in khaki fabric; and 1903’s Continental Army outfits were so finely detailed that departing from their antique colors might well have spoiled the effect.
This extravagant trend reached its peak at 1906’s “Chinese Quinquennial”, where the class staged a funeral procession (for the Yale Bulldog) wearing 15 varieties of authentic clothing imported from Peking. These belonged to many different ranks of Chinese society, from peasants & laborers to priests & mandarins to Imperial courtiers. The PAW reported that “the costumes exhausted all the hues of the spectrum.”5
That said, in these early decades plenty of classes did choose orange & black for their P-rade costume color scheme. it’s just not clear from available evidence which approach was more prevalent as the 1920s dawned.
FOOTNOTES:
1 This discussion is based on the myriad tidbits of costume characteristics compiled in the “Table of Tiger Attire” pages for the 1910s and the 1900s.
2 Princeton University, Class of 1896, A History of Princeton '96 to the Time of the Decennial Reunion of the Class in June, 1906, Edited by the class secretary Charles Byron Bostwick, New York, F. P. McBreen & Co., 1906, p. 32.
3 Photos of many of these early costumes are displayed on the main page of this exhibit (albeit in black-&-white).
4 “The Decennial Reunion”, Princeton Alumni Weekly, vol. IX, no. 36, 6-16-1909, p. 584.
5 Princeton Alumni Weekly, vol XI, no. 36, 6-14-1911, p. 573.
