Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1848-03-02
tainted their eyebrows, and wore false

!. . to debase themselves by wearing silk, which
/ was fit only for women. In 555, two monks
brought silk worms from the East Indies to
: Consan,inople, and The manufacture became
common iu the West. Silk was worn in
England in 1856, at ball at Kennilworlh
Castle In 1920, silk weaving was introduce
ed into England; and King Edward the Sixth
was the possessor Of the first pair Of silk
stockings.
The Anglo-Saxons and Danes considered
their hair the most attractive ornament
Young ladies wore it in flowing ringlets
the married. more confined. To have the hair
cut off, was such disgrace as to be consider
ed a sufficient punishment forany crime. The
priests were ordered to shave off their hair. as
al extreme modification. These, in revenge,
preached, that long hair was criminal. ST.
Walstan, says William of AIalmsbury, ere
buked the wicked of all ranks with great
boldness; but was particularly severe upon
those who were proud Of their long hair
lie reproached them for their efficacy, and
denounced the most dreadful judgments
upon them.''
The love Of fnery earl y led TO such bound
less extravaganza among the nations Of Eu-.
i'i'H' 'ii"t ld"S "tic i'dSSSu III
various countries regulating the dress Of diff
ierent classes, and placing limits. beyond
which it was not allowed to pass. Such
was the case in Greece and Rome. and still
more in other countries in Europe. Several
such edcls were published By Henry Fourth
OF France, who saw his exhausted kingdom
still more exhausted by the emulation of e.
merry in his female subjects.
| When we consider the greater cost of ar
tlces Of luxury, it will appear that the dress
OF ladies III the fifteenth century was far
more expensive than any known al the pre-
sent day. Laura, the celebrated mistress Of
Of Petrarch. wore on her head silver cor
1ne her hair was Ae sA " with Ih knot Of
with gold and silk at this time was four
pounds sterling a pound, and was only al
lowed to the nobility.
A very striking change was effected in
England. during the ascendancy Of puritan
ISM All luxurles Of dress were looked up
on as wicked, and even natural beauty was
looked upon as only temptation to SIM
The woman, full Of this lanatlcism, laid a.
side all ornaments and luxuries of apparel,
and some carried the idea SO far, that they
discarded clothing altogether; and 1t Is re-
corded that one of these came into the church
where Cromwell was, without 50 much as
the first garment of fig leaves, that she might
be, as she said, sign unto the people.
AT the Restoration, everything went TO
the other extreme. The royallsts, TO be
opposed in everything to the republicans,
dressed with the greatest extravaganza, and
the costumes of the court Of Charles H., both
in their richness and their immodesty, faith
fully depict the Righteousness which was in
a measure the direct consequence OF the 9th
err purilanical extreme.
When unconstrained BY law, female con-
tune has been governed by the manners and
morals of the times. When The dress con-
ceals the person, it it is an indication of
great purity or jealousy-when there is
much exposure, we may be confident OF
corresponding license. In Venice, the la
dies, at the beginning of the seventeen CEN
turv, dressed in such thin light, sluf1s. that
not only the shape of the body but the co.
! Tor of the skin could be distinguished
through them. In France, in the fourteenth
century, the women appeared half naked in
public assemblies, and IN public walks dress
ed so much like men that they could scarce
y be distinguished from them, except by the
voice or complexion.
The first we hear of the artificial COM
! preston of The waist was in the fifteenth
century in Italy, where the men, according
to Petrarch had their stomachs squeezed by
machines of iron.
1t was only toward the beginning Of the
last century that the impression became
| general that the female waist, as formed by
nature and initiated by painters and sculptors
in the masterpieces of art, was too large, and
systematic compression used to bring 1t into
proper dimensions. Stays were invented,
and the female waist, under its influence.
was brought into the shape Of an hour-glass
or an insect. Anatomy, physiology, and all
the correct principles of taste, were painful
ly or ludicrously disregarded !; for while we
shudder at the idea of lungs pressed up into
the throat, and liver damned down into the
abdomen-a stomach compelled to digest,
and heart TO beat under heavy pressure
, it is impossible for man of correct taste
, not to laugh at the carcaures of female
beauty which this arlifice produces.
1t must not be supposed however, that
! stays and tight-lacing held their sway stea-
5 Oily, from their first inventive to the present
, time. On the contrary, they soon met with
r a powerful opposition, and were denounced
| by both physicians and connoiseurs in fe-