The study essays a typology of courtly masquerades from the 15th to the 18th century. Mummeries, knightly tournaments, fancy-dress banquets and masked balls in all their various forms are analyzed as enactments or distillations of courtly ceremony. The examination of the socio-symbolic function of masquerades is supplemented by a detailed discussion of the practical side of these events and the regalia and paraphernalia they required, from the planning stage to the managing of the events themselves and the storage of the costumes. By adducing evidence of intensive reutilization of textiles and props, critical light is cast on the widely accepted cliché of the court festivity as 'prodigality elevated to an art-form'.