The traditional whiteface makeup of the clown is thought to be introduced by the character of Pierrot, the French clown with a bald head and flour-whitened face. He first appeared during the latter part of the 17th century. He was created as a fool for Harlequin, Pierrot was gradually softened and sentimentalized. The pantomimist took on the character in the early 19th century and created a famous love-sick, pathetic clown, whose melancholy has since remained part of the clown tradition.

Harlequin clowns came after the jesters, appearing in the Italian theater of the 16th century. They always wore tight-legged, full-sleeved costumes that were bright diamond-shaped patterns. They also wore black half-masks and white ruffle collars.

The Grotesque wears the most outrageous of outfits. This clown's face is painted white and has a red nose and a red smear of a mouth that literally stretches from ear to ear. Sometimes the Grotesque pads his stomach and hips to make himself appear fat. Felix Adler, known as the King of Clowns, was a typical Grotesque. He carried a tiny parasol, wore a small hat with a long-stemmed flower growing out of the top and led a pig on a leash.

Midget clowns are in a class all by themselves. They often dress up as dogs or elves. Sometimes they pose as babies and ride along in carriages pushed by normal-sized clowns dressed as their mothers. Otherwise they usually adopt variations of the Auguste or the Grotesque costumes.

White Face

The white face clown is typically the straight clown with make-up of white grease paint. A straight clown will usually be the one acting very serious but who falls prey to the brunt of the punch line ("blow off"). The white faced clown's costume tends to be more formal than the auguste clown. This just means that the colors will tend to match and flow throughout the costume. The colors are less likely to be gaudy and mismatched as in the other clown types.

The make-up of the white face clown is typically simple to look at and will highlight the natural features already present on the face (i.e., eyes, cheeks, lips, nose, etc). The variations of a white face clown are endless and there are no specific guidelines other than the basic white base.

Auguste Clown
The auguste clown tends to be the silly clown in skits and make-up is a bright flesh-tone. The silly clown will usually appear to not know what is going on but usually somehow escape the "blow off." The costume of the auguste clown tends to be gaudy, mismatched, and very bright. Primary colors are most popular with this clown type and the clothing is usually over-sized.

The make-up is usually bright and exaggerates the natural features already present in the face (e.g., a large nose, large outline of mouth, etc). Again there are millions of variations and each clown has his/her own special characteristics.

Character Clown

The character clown is the Hobo or Tramp clown. The Hobo usually has tattered clothes, a tattered hat, and make-up that suggests a weeks worth of a beard, a red nose, and other exaggerated features.

Character clowns can be from almost any walk of life. Some of the other more popular ones are police officers, women, or babies.