Circus Chic

Actress <n>Clara Bow</n> in a Pierrot costume for the 1929 film <n>Dangerous Curves</n>. Photo by <n>George Hurrell</n>.

Portrait of the clown <n>Tammy Parrish</n>.

Dancer <n>Vaslav Nijinsky</n> performing in the ballet <n>Le Carnaval</n> in 1910.

Album art for <n>Lost In It</n> by <n>Sweet Pill</n>.

Actor <n>James Stewart</n> as Buttons the Clown in the 1952 film <n>The Greatest Show on Earth</n>.

Performer <n>Mama Jinx</n> photographed by artist <n>Katie Eleanor</n> for the series <n>Ghosts of the Stage</n> (2011).

In Pictures: London’s Young Cabaret Vaudeville Performers

A portrait of a person costumed as the character <n>Pierrot</n>.

Clown <n>Felix Adler</n> of the <n>Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus</n>.

A 2014 portrait by artist <n>Cindy Sherman</n> for the <n>Louis Vuitton</n> 'Celebrating Monogram' project.

A 1937 portrait of <n>Paul Jerome</n>, a clown with the <n>Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus</n>.

A scene from the <n>Ziegfeld Follies</n> in 1923, photographed by <n>Alfred Cheney Johnston</n>.

<n>Simplicity 7649</n> clown costume sewing pattern, 1986.

A studio portrait of two performers in <n>Pierrot</n> costumes, early 20th century.

<n>Domino Baby 8</n> from the <n>Bird Peeps</n> series by artist <n>Lisa Renner</n>.

Photo by the <n>Boston Herald-Traveler</n>, c. 1950s, used as the cover for <n>Flora Balzano</n>'s book <n>Soigne ta chute</n>.

Illustration by Italian artist <n>Sofia Chiostri</n>.

A clown backstage at the <n>Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus</n>, photographed by <n>Weegee</n> c. 1943.

A photograph of the character <n>Pierrot</n> from the <n>Commedia dell'arte</n>.

<n>I due volti di Giano</n> (2012) by photographer <n>Giuseppe Cicozzetti</n>.

Mime <n>Jean-Charles Deburau</n> in a c. 1854 photograph by <n>Félix Nadar</n> and <n>Adrien Tournachon</n>.

19th-Century Photographer Félix Nadar On How To Be Brilliant And Make Money From Art - Flashbak

<n>Léon Bakst</n>'s costume for Carabosse in <n>Sergei Diaghilev</n>'s ballet '<n>The Sleeping Beauty</n>', 1921.

Stilt walkers at the <n>Birmingham Carnival Fair</n>, from the 2015 film <n>The Show of Shows</n>.

Dancer <n>Lindsay Kemp</n> at the <n>Teatro del Mondo</n> in Venice, 1980.

A 1950s clown portrait by photographer <n>WeeGee</n>.

Actor <n>Tim Curry</n> as <n>Pennywise the Clown</n> on the set of the 1990 miniseries <n>It</n>.

Behind The Scream: 17 Photos Of Your Favorite Gruesome Horror Films

Characters <n>Piero</n> and <n>Arlekin</n> in the 1975 film <n>The Adventures of Buratino</n>.

Performer <n>Alexander Vertinsky</n> as his famous stage character, Pierrot.

Actors <n>David C. Montgomery</n> and <n>Fred Stone</n> as the Tin Man and Scarecrow for the 1903 Broadway musical <n>The Wizard of Oz</n>.

Performer <n>Danny Diesendorf</n> on a unicycle.

Actor <n>Fred Stone</n> as the Scarecrow in the original 1902 stage production of <n>The Wizard of Oz</n>.

A carte de visite of English clown and comedian <n>Funny Fred Hall</n>. Photo by <n>C.W. Stoodley</n>.

Funny Fred Hall, English clown and comedian

A still from the 1910 silent film <n>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</n>.