muirin007:

The novel’s connotation meant something related to domino masks:

Which could look like anything, really. As far as I know, Leroux was referring to this type of mask–Christine wore a black one and Raoul wore a white one. Masked balls were incredibly popular in the 19th century, so this would have been a very common costume accessory if you happened to be gettin’ funky at Lady Chatterworth’s Venetian Christmas gala.

What Christine and Raoul’s costumes actually looked like are anyone’s guess. In the mid-to-late Victorian era, Renaissance and Rococo-inspired costumes for balls were all the rage. So maybe they were wearing something like these:

Here’s a Victorian take on a Tudor look for a costume ball:

Basing your ball costume off of ancient fashion was also very popular. Here’s the Countess of Godsford as Minerva, goddess of wisdom: 

Semi-unrelated to the Phantom domino costumes, but Victorian interpretations of historical fashion are absolutely fascinating to me! If you want some really fabulous photos of Victorian costumes, check out some snapshots of the Duchess of Devonshire’s Jubilee Ball, held to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (the 60th anniversary of her ascension to the throne) in 1897.

Here’s a lovely Victorian couple–the Duke and Duchess of York– rockin’ it like it’s 1583:

Check out more pictures here. It was the social event of the season and thankfully, they had the foresight to take plenty of costume photos. That’s not to say that Christine and Raoul would have dressed exactly like this, but it might give you some idea of what was popular at the time.