Before the sexy maid.

Before the sexy cat.

Before the sexy throwing-a-white-sheet-over-your-head.

There was the masquerade...

And so it is with great pleasure that we unveil A Visual Retrospective of the Masquerade Ball, a slideshow’s worth of costumed people at parties from the very first of such soirees until the present. You can see it right here.

You’ll see supermodels in Venetian masks. You’ll remember that David Bowie went to a weird masquerade in Labyrinth. You’ll just click these words and get in there already.

Oh, great, now you’ve come too far.