New-York daily tribune., 1845-02-06
THE TRIBUNE.
From Blackwood for January.
ESTHETICS OF D RE SIS.

Oe olI the Colies that can can he fairly placed
10 The cboroe of the human racc-and, Heaven
knows, they are thick rs gnats III summer
sunbean-none can be laid at more people 5
doors than the lickleness and yagarles OF the
iudgcmentin adorning, 10 say noihlng OF cover,
ing, mans outer scaiioldug--thc body. And the
worst OF it is, that this folly-cap hts all men, from
the red Indian OF America TO the sallow-taced,
eye.slit,ed Chinese and through all the robed
bomp of the solemn Turk to the chatterine and
capering !nonkeyism of the Partisan exquisite
there are fops everywhere AS Mr. Catlin will
tell you, one of his lanI,y Ojibbeway, or Ioway,
or Cutaway or Anyotherk way Indians varies
the feathers in his head-dress, and sticks new
iinsel on his buffalo mantle, whenever he can get
them. spending much time in be-painting his
checks on summer morning, as Beau BrummelI
OF departed memory, ever wasted III tying ms
cravat And so it has ever Deen-so II will ever
be: man is not only two legged, uniedged ami
mu but he is also a vain initiative ape, fond OF
his own dear vsa9e, blind TO his detorIniues and
ever desirous Of setting himself off TO the best
advantage 1t is Of no use quarrelllng with our
selves for tins physiological iact--ior we presume
il 10 be one ot the best ascertained phenomena
connected with the genus homO--l is better 10
take il as we find it; aud if we cannot hope TO
cure man Of the absurdry any time this side OF
''''-
failing 10 some account, and make II useful as
well as ornamental
The chief quarrel 10 be picked with man for
his dressing propensites, is on The ground that he
not only hides and dstigures the fair proportions
bestowed on him by his Maker, but that he ever
and anon loads himself with such masses OF use
less nconeruities, that the very end and object
Of his care are stuItifcd Instead OF making
himself smart, pretty, becoming, beautful-or
any other word that you can find i'll the dandy's
dictonary-he frequently succeeds Ill making
himself positively ugy--trghtful, in the pure
abstract sense OF the term--or deestablc, III the
lingo Of the Stuzean tribe-and relapses, as
Frenchman would say, from civsm TO brutlsin
Ah quel dnimat que FhOnine
But let ii not be supposed that we speak ot
man only, as applied to that great branch oi the
species designated by the most experienced ma
turalists as homO uir II Is quite as true OF the
other moiety, the homo temiHa. II IL be possible
thst woman should ever be made frghttul by
ANYTHING except age, then II is surely by dress :;
if womnn never does foolish thing in amy
other way, yet ut least she errs in her habili-
ments if she be tickle at all (and speak TO the
fact, We disappointed bachelors and we compai
SAINT husbands ) in what is she more tickle than
in dress We might waste litc III linding Il
suitable simile for her volatility i'll this matter
rainbows with changing colours, water on a
windy day, the wind itself in the month OF March,
the much -desidcraiod perpetual motion all are
feeble Smiles 10 desciibc womans tickencss
in dress Shall we ikcn it to her tongues un-
firing play Or shall we not rather say that ii
is a psychological fact standing pei Sc the con-
colnitant effect aud consequence ol her beauty
But, dear creatures we are not going 10 quarrel
with them for what gives us SO much uncon-
scious pleasure 1--WE do not mean millincrs bills,
gentle reader) we glory in living under peit-
coat government, and in essentially petucoatlan
times All we shall do is to give word OF
advice and in trying on their caps for them,
we will show them the rationale OF their bows
and their lace, if theywill only have the patience
10 sit still for The experiment.
Before embarling on sucn an important pro-
jcct, allow us TO say that we are not going TO
quiz old Whang- Fong for his pig tail and pea
cock feathers nor his Cannihalcan majesty tor
his obstinate refusal TO wear decent pair pair
of ineXprcssiblcs il rs II stiff subject 10 meddle
with the dressing propensities OF people that live
I" in many place that's underneath the world
For all we care, Add e kuder and his Arabs
may sufc themselves up in their greasy blankets
swarming with ancestral vermin under nearly
tropical sun; and the good people OF lgoolik
NAV bedeck themselves with the spoils of fish,
flesh, and fowl to sci the fashion OF the Arctic
circln. We are going 10 speak merely of our
home ac0uaintances and our European friends
if those only would be reasonable in their dress,
wha; a new thing it would be IN the world--q"el
progr6S qaei euenemem
The fundamental rules of dress we take 10 be
the folIowing-u,i!ity in all cases, ornament when
practicable. The first should ever precede, and
serve as the basis the second and It Is the lt-
version of their due positions that causes so many
& -. ,ka .f,,I-e m a N
sheer absurdiry. The usefulness OF any article
or system of dress depends entirely upon climate,
modified OF course by tho occupation or pursuits
of the wearer the beauty OF ii or the suiablenesS
Of the ornameu, 10 the character OF the vcsment
| We DEFY all the editors of the RecueiiS des No
des. Pefits Couy1isrS des Danes, Beiies Assem-
| Mes. etc. with even the poet laureates OF Moses
| and Son, Hyam and Co, wiih the whole host ol
| Isr,eHtish schnoidcIs, 10 find out better pSthe-
h ,c definition OF the law OF dress than this. Who
| Rould have the eiirOntery 10 maintain that an
| Enrlishman, the very type OF the useful at Cal-
cp,ta in his cotton Jacket aud nanScens, wculd in
the same liabiiiments be suitably dressed man
| sSt Petersburg and however much weil.se
rinnmay ornament an aris,ocratic hnger (though
arstocra,c fingers, like aristocra,lc hands, as by
ron observes, need no ornament to tell their ori
GIN, who but an Otahcitan would admire Tue ap-
p!ca,ion of them TO the gouty toes OF some "hne
old English gentlemen ~ Usefulness hrst. then
and ornament afterwards: think inst OF what yoN
actually want for your health or comfort; GU
your Goa, upon thai pattern, clap on your lace al
rewards; bat enrich ii only to improve It's ap'
pearance, nor TO interfere with, 10 conceal, or to
alter lis original destination.
To begin, however, mcihodcuily, let us take
wha, are commonly understood by addressed
English people OF the present day. and let us
e,iucise them from top to toe. And first, then
| ola genteman's head-is chef, as the French
suii-and the chapeau, It's present gear. What
acovering what termination to the capital OF
that pillar of the creation, Man, what an un.
gaceiul, mis.shapea. useless, and uncomfortable
appenduge to the seat of rcason--,he brain-box
Does it protect the head from either heat, cold
OF ,uet 2 Q.es il sci off any Of nalnral beauty o