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Have you ever dressed up as a historical figure?

Drew Fortune

When I was growing up, I had a teacher who would sometimes dress up the part, and I thought it was great. At the bare minimum, he always had a tie or shirt directly tied to his lesson for the day. I have a Napoleon outfit in my Amazon cart, with a gift card ready to go. I think today might be the day I make the leap from the teacher wearing a brown jacket to the teacher who sometimes dresses in costume. 

  •  I like the idea very much, though I've never done it myself. When my students present their Museum Projects (based on an ancient civilization), I ask them to dress as an important historical figure and be interviewed by their peers. 

    One of my colleagues who teaches U.S. History runs a similar activity where her students dress as historical figures to present their research. This immersive approach brings the past to life and encourages deeper understanding.

  • Go for it!!  . And let us know how it goes!

    I came in dreds for Bob Marley day. For a white woman with red hair was quite a hoot.

  •  , I am really into textiles which play an important role in quite a bit of world history; I've studied and performed world dance for decades; and I teach at a fine arts high school that does Halloween costumes for a week.  So if there's a historical costume possibility, I'm doing it. I've dressed as famous people like Empress Dowager Cixi, La Malinche, Robert Oppenheimer, Frida Kahlo, Queen Victoria, Afonso de Albuquerque, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as representative outfits like a peasant marching on Versailles, a South Korean Farmer, a suffragette, an air warden,  and dancers from several different areas.  I enjoy it and so do the students.  I thought I might get called out for cultural "appropriation," but to the contrary, students bring in their own cultural motifs and traditions to share, and it promotes inquiry.

  •  , I say go for it! I have several themed t-shirts that I incorporate into my lessons. From a "Revolutions" t-shirt for the Atlantic Revolutions, to "Use Text Evidence" for our writing workshops, and even an Anxiety t-shirt from Inside Out that says "Everything is Fine" for our testing days. I'm starting to run out of room in my closet but I look forward to the days I get to wear each of the shirts!

  • When I taught American History we invented Martin Van Buren Day.  I basically just shave my beard to mutton chops.   I didn't think anything of it but twice in the last few years "kids" who are now in their 30's have come up to me and told me that was one of their fondest memories from middle school.

  • I am inspired by this post. I don't usually dress up, but now am thinking of buying a dress off Amazon that would fit with what we are learning about in History!! Thank you!

  • I saw an AI video that had figures in history stopping at strategic times to take a selfie.  Seemed like an easier way to see period dress.

  • in reply to Rachel Reinhart

     this is so cool!! It sounds like you have quite a collection of costumes so halloween must be one of your favorite holidays! Do you tell students when you are going to do this or are they always surprised? How do you work this into your lessons?

  • in reply to Eric Schulz

    That sounds awesome.  Any idea how to search for that?

  • Anything that engages students and gets them excited about the material! We've thought about doing this as a department for Halloween and have students guess which historical figure we are. We are also planning on doing this for Women's History Month, give a short speech as the historical figure, and then have students guess.

    Have fun!