In the meantime, here is something quick and fun for Fashion Plate Friday: an engraving of a Victorian bat costume from 1887. Halloween not being a solidly established tradition at this time, it was probably designed for a masquerade or possibly even some theatrical, but it's rather cool either way. There's something especially appealing about the way 19th century costumes were constructed: everything was hand made and generally one-of-a-kind since such things were not mass-produced.
If you had the skill and the resources, what kind of costume would you design for yourself?