All fairies, except, of course, for the FAIRY QUEEN ( who is supposed to be dressed like a Wagnerian Valkyrie ) have always worn very floaty, sheer material, wispy dresses.
The VERY big deal, about the original opening, was that The Savoy was the FIRST Brit Theatre to use electric lighting, starting with this show AND the fairies had teeny electric lights twinkling in the crown the wore. Perhaps that is why Brits call tiny Christmas tree lights "FAIRY LIGHTS"; which we don't. :-)
Sounds like an interesting staging; though strictly speaking, non-traditional and not at all what Gilbert would approve of.
Yeah I wasn’t exacting on the lingo(tights, leotards, some of them wore just pantyhose since money was tight), but you got the idea of what I was describing. A few of the fairies looked just like posting 13. I remember one of the principle speaking part fairies(who was a fellow choir member with me in school), a Korean girl, was absolutely smashing in green lacy chiffon. The queen was rather “stout” but in “moderation” and she was dressed more regally with a sort of cape and a holding a rather imposing wand.