Thread: Marquis de Sade costume ideas...

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Hi folks! So, I decided months ago that I am going to be Marquis De Sade for Halloween this year. And I had this idea for the costume in my head....18th century men's garb with the waistcoat and breeches and the powdered wig and all that, in an ivory color, but made to look aged and tattered...ghostly like. And then today I saw this fabric, this utterly gorgeous opulent fabric....black and gold floral tepestry type fabric. And that got me to thinking....

Should I do the ghostly Marquis or the Decadent, Opulent Marquis? Hmmm... Any suggestions, opinions?

The decadent, opulent Marquis, for sure. The black cloth would coordinate nicely with a shiny black whip!!

Originally Posted by MHooch

The decadent, opulent Marquis, for sure. The black cloth would coordinate nicely with a shiny black whip!!

I think you just gave away your bedroom habits Mhooch hehehehehe


back to the OP... sounds like an amazing idea, would love to see a few concept sketches or pics that show your plan better

The black and gold sounds good, opulence meets corruption! What type of make-up are you going to do

Scry - I do need to sit down and sketch out what I'm going for, but haven't done it as of yet...

Annea - I was thinking for the makeup, I'd do the white powdered face look, maybe a little heart on the cheek, but then make my cheeks and eyes look a little sunken and the eyes slightly red, kinda giving the "something's not right in the head" feel. hehe

Hooch - And I will take your excellent suggestion, maybe a nice cat o nine tails?

That is going to be one cool costume!

Thanks, Annea! I'm pretty excited about it! I'll definitely add photos as I get it going.

There are 2 movies to give you ideas...QUILLS with Winslet and Phoenix, of course, but there is also an almost forgotten video called MARAT/SADE (OR as it is properly known...THE PERSECUTION AND ASSASSINATION OF JEAN PAUL MARAT AS PERFORMED BY THE INMATES OF THE AYSLUM MOF CHARENTAN UNDER THE DIRECTON OF THE MARQUIS DE SADE) Two of the cast (Freddie Jones, and John Steiner) were regulars in British and Italian horror films. I'm not sure MARAT/SADE shouldn't be considered as one of the them. Packs a whallop. Also the debut of a young Glenda Jackson.
In the REALLY bad old days, inmates at asylums would perform plays for the enjoyment of paying customers. And DeSade (who was locked away), did direct such plays during his stay at Charentan Asylum. The movie puts you at ring side for one.
It's a play about Jean Paul Marat being killed during the French revolution in his bathtub..the girl used a knife and everytime the inmate who has THAT role picks up the knife you just shudder.
Oddly enough, if memory serves, deSade is shown pretty much dressed in white during the play, the way you first thought of the costume.

Yeah, it's actually the movie Quills that gave me the idea for a white costume. I've never seen the play you mentioned, but it sounds awesome! I just may have to seek it out.

But after lots of thinking on the matter, I think I will go ahead with the black and gold...it just seems much more sinister and decadent, which is kinda what I think of when I think of the Marquis. I've been reading one of his books (to try and get to know him a little better) and OH MY! Basically very hardcore pornography mixed with discussions on philosophy of religion and politics and so on. Very.....interesting.

MARAT/SADE is available on ebay for a song if you get it in VHS...we're talking 8 to 10 bucks delivered to your door...MGM/UA released it years ago with a white cover and several overlapping shots of people overtop of a sort of a splatter pattern. It didn't do great business on DVD...so the DVD can set you back as much as 50 bucks...but if you still have a VHS that works...its' worth the investment for the ten bucks...just get the kids out before you play it. Seriously. There is a clammy intensity to the whole thing that I would hesitate to expose them to
I know the whole thing is going to be just a Halloween costume, and sinister and decadent are great ways to go that night, and you'll probably look great in the outfit... but in REAL LIFE the guy was the human equivalent to toxic waste. Talented, a good writer. But a rapist and monster.
Wikipedia him for a pretty good bio...
And the question remains...what do you DO with such folks? QUILLS played fast and loose with the facts and made him into this free speech hero, with the asylum boss going nuts on him. In real life, getting put in the asylum was probably his luckiest break...he got to write plays and direct the inmates in them...if he didn't have the talent or money or family behind him, he would have been taken out and killed years before. And the asylum boss in REAL life took a LOT of heat for trying to be HUMANE to the folks he had to look after.
He died obese, impotent, and pretty much isolated and alone from people...most of the time even refusing to speak...a couple of biographers argue he had been cut off from society for a lot longer.