The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1885-03-03 00:00:00

MR. OSCAR WILDE ON " °REAL"

Mr. Oscar Wilde delivered hie lecture on " Drees"
at the Town Hall on Tuesday meninx In cannection
with the Dorchester Lecture Society. There was •
fairly numerous andimoe.
The Rey. T. Aniessm.-Waiairr, In Introducing the
Wearer. saki Mr. Omar Wilde hardly needed any
intrudes:Won from him for hie same was very well
known sow. The only thing he would venture to say
with regard to his lecture would be thal he was not
eme al them lectevers about whom it could be eaki all
QM is Dew I settees,. lied all that is trew is not asv,

for they were perfectly well aware Ur. 0 car Wilde
brought to bear upon his subject a freshness that did
not characterise every lecturre, and It was for that
freshen. and that wonderful skill and facility with
which he banded his materials that Ur. Wilde hen
made himself • very wide- spread name. (Apv
planet.)
Ur. OSCAR WILD!, who with all hie lectures on
dress has not yet see the example to hie fellow men of ,
discarding the wooderful swallowtail dress ota!, alto.
mewed his lecture by remarkius on the wonderful
development of artistic t este and the revival of artistic
feeling that had taken place during the last few years.
It was now impossible to enter • home without Wine
struck with the change 'hit had takes place. To
dress Well, one should be a muter of colour and of
form. Beauty of dress must ma from within, and
not from without—from the perfection of that which
it covered, and not from any added witticisms. If
every child were taught ti draw as early NI It WY
taught to write, be was quite sure an improvement in
dress would be very speedy. The lecturer commenced
• tirade Assiut the small waist of the period, remark.
lag • waist we, not beautiful because it was email,
but only se it was in proportion to the rest of the
figure. The same with the hand and the foot. He
proceeded to give • low useful hints as to dress As
In a room, so with the figure, any horizontal line,
tended to diminith the height, and vertical line.
would effect the opposite, but by vertical lime he Oki
not mean stripes in the texture, but in the folds. He
suggistiod also the rabies pith, waiet.baud, as Is the
Lees century, es • means of lamming the appareot
height. They should be equally careful in the decors.
Non of dries as with their rooms Unleesthey wanted
their rooms to be alma or a museum he prayed them
to be careful with their imbue, and too with duos.
If a memo were small of stature, me colour ; aed if
the renew, two, or even three, might be allowed. He
characterised fashion as the great enemy of men in
all centuries. The amount of money spent ia /instead
In dress was fabukus, aud if he were but to tell them
the amount spent in tourists alone one bad of thou
present womd be filled with remorse, sod the othof
half with despair. He proposed no style of dress in
the sense of • historical style. With motto ilogy art
bad nothing to do. Hs showed the mistake of pr-
imate being suspended from the waist, Musa I of Irma
the shoulder, an innovation which mine in, OJ far es
this (smeary was concerned, in the 16th century. It
had nothing to recommend it but the misery and
Lae Otiose of humanity. Lie attributed thelotioduotitu
of the tight corset to Catherine de Medici'. db. bad
bees guilty of • great gamy minim, but he considered
nom worm than the lunation at the tight corset.
(Laughter.) lie traced the progress of fashion during
lA. past few sentaries, mesterei as in detail the rutin'
monstrosities worn by the ladle, of the period, Includ-
ing the farthingale, In wearing' which • fully-decked
lady would take up as mach room as we should haw
tastso • gooditised political meeting. (Laughter.)
had given up the farthingale, the hoop, and
the oriaoline, but what had taken its place? That
dreadful—that wicked thing called the dram improver.
(Loud laughter) lie was quite sure nom of those
present won 11—(Iselghtm).—stiU, there might be
others who were not Ito prodent. The lecturer then
Indulged In a lengthy gloriliostioa of the Greeks as the
pioneers of art in architecture and in drew, the ooly
sentence of which appeared to be that the
=octanes sewed on bows when there should be
no bows, or put flounces where their shod I be no
201111011. (Laughter.) lie contrasted the art of the
Greeks with the art of the rhumb millions sod dress-
makers—the latter of whom formed ami fashioned
highly dmoratel prisons, iu which poor humanity was
',pry 11l at Nye. (Laughter.) lb o mks iwledmici the
Greek lady lived very loos ago, but 1,,,j rho or.n
modern fashionably dammed woman she would have
sail—" Why is it, when you climate Iv si
treacherous, that the hued coveriar
materials too absolutely ephemeral and flimsy?' lie
hal ~'es a bonnet composed oily of • etoffed bird
alighting on • piece of tulle. (Laughter.) The Paris
milliner and dr...welter constructed his Inventions
from his own wicked fancy, and left notortuoate
humanity to get into them as best be could. One
day he was rut enough to invest in Lc had to see
how far the wickednesse of the leaden of fashion had
led them, and he gaud with horror on a thing called
a bonnet, to which was appended • note—" This kind
of bonnet mast be worn with the, mouth slightly
open." (Loud laughter.) Leaving the subject of
ladles' attire, he pared on to say a few word, to his
fellows, who, be considered, bad been just as great
*laves to fashion as the ladies (Applause.) He did
not consider a man's ire.. of the pre ont day either sea
edge or practical. All about the tall hat, which had
become to be regarded as • sign of immense respecta-
bility on week-days, and of orthodoxy on Sundays.
Hate should be of some soft material, and in shape
should be taken from the way one liked to wear it.
It should be able to adapt (itself to circumstances.
With a few amusing words on the coat and waistcoat,
' the one without • front and the other without a back
he diensisied men', dress with the remark that the
only alteration needed was t het they should dress ao
did youog men in the tennis field, or when &hies—
vetl vie Norfolk jacket, knickerbokers, rough
strckiogs, and high hoots. The only persons who re-
taioni howdy lo dives were fieber-folk, peasant., and
the like—th,io who had something It do and did it—
while ugliness was retaioed by those who had nothing
to do and did it (I:tighter). He 000clude 1 with •
scatbino contrast of the art of the ancient Greeks and
the nation that went about in dress barmiere and
high hate. The latter mieht have built the Pantech-
nicon, but the Parthenon never (Applause).

THE PROPOSED BATHING CLUB.
To the Editor.

Btr,—Your correspondent "Bather " calls attention
to the want of bathing facilitise and suggests the for-
mation of • club for the paroo-e of utilising the river
near Poundbury. No doubt • 'eleme like that
would suit • few of us, but what about the children
and ladies of the town, all of whom should I. In a
pesitiou to learn the art of swimming and enjoy the
privileges of bathing, which could not be hid in the
plan suggested. What ought to be done, and what
wee intended by Parliament shoal I be done, when
the provisions respecting bath in the Public ITIo alth
Act were introduced. Is the eatablishm-ot by the
Town Council of properly constructed public b iths
where bathing weld be Indulged in all tlte year
round, Instead of havinglio wait for the summer months,
which of latii years have not been of long duration.
Mr. Joseph Arch pitifully and rightly referred to
the state of our town respecting the hiring fair in this
day of advanced olvillzstioa, in I I now do the same
with respect to the want of a place where rich and
poor, not blessed with prooer convecting*, in
their own honors, °fluid enjoy the luxury of a bath.
Well may the Commissioners who have been
Inquiring into the condition of the dwellings of the
poor report that local authorities do not take &defin-
ers of the means within their own hen Is to Wesel
he people when, laterees they ere elected t. 1111 l ,
and I think they ahnuld also beer in mind that there
tie far wider scope for their business capacities than
simply considering pounds, shilling., and pence.
What we want Is our Act. of Peril inient Is the
words shell do,' instead of may do," and then all
weak and vacillating local bodies would be oblh,ed to
do their duty Instead of neglecting some most use-
ful aanitary improvements.
Dorchester I should say, without much fear of con-
tradictioo, is the only county town In England with-
out proper bathing (militia, The first outlay would
not be very great, and I have no doubt but that
the annual expenses would be more than met by the
receipts. Why don't the medical gentlemen in the
Town Council take the matter up, and win the
gratitude of everyone

Penh) Smarr