Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Original drawing from a fraternal supply company. Full-length illustration of a man wearing a green fez, high-collared white shirt, green bolero jacket, and white breeches with a green snake on each leg. He also wears a green bow tie, white gloves, high white stockings, white heeled shoes, and a white belt with a gold-colored buckle. He holds a short sword in a green scabbard in his proper left hand.

This illustration depicts a costume from an unknown fraternal order. While the fez hat and snake-embellished jodhpurs are distinctive, the simpler elements of the costume – such as the gloves, bow tie, shirt, belt, stockings, and shoes – reflected popular fashions in men’s clothing around 1900. Regalia catalogs were typically printed in black and white. Full-color illustrations like this may have been sent to customers to show a specific item’s color and other details not visible in the catalog.