New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-07-22
THE DRESS REFORM.

sidered-The New American Costume for
Women.
The following paragraphs form part OF
an elaborate article In the Westminster ReuieW
for July, under the general title of "THE IN
DUsrRIAL EXHIBITION" That this popular
Magazine, in some respects the best of the En-
glish Quarerlies, has spoken so favorably Of the
New American Costume for Women will crafty
many and perhaps surprise more.-Ed Inb]
In clothing we have the old style of things,
withimprovements in quality. All nations pre-
sent their costumes but the new costumes, the
new head gear, that the world talked oi-where
are they Where is the clothing made without
hands, without stitches; the clothing that
is to extnguish sempsters and say to the seam
stresses, BE no more :" The clothing so cheap,
that ii may be renewed as the trees their leaves,
and The old thrown away and not sold to the
Jews, or made to give an unpleasant Odor to
newly-purchased flowers Where is all this
Still hang the furlongs of cloth by the walls
still clink the shears that are to cut 1t up into
fragments still stands the needle-maker plying
his fragments of steel-wlre still exist the most
wretChed of Gods creatures eXulting IN false
lOy for the privilege to make stitches : but we
see French and an American stitching machine
working in rivalry, and we hear OF the numbers
that are used in Ncw-York, these, and an UNI
slightly round web of knitted network on kind
of barrel, give distant hope of the future. But
where is the garment of all nations, that shall
grow up into classic elegance without the mark
OF the slave thereon There is little enough of
grace or beauty IN the barbarian costumes. The
lay-6gure of modern Greece is as ugly as gold
lace can make II, and Is not cxceled by TunlS or
Eastern India, or any other hali-savage country
in the want of grace. European costume has
grown to an unpleasant commences, as though
sh.ah form 50 a
object for artist-work as houses and furniture
Ii may be the beauty OF undrcssed forms has
rendered people careless OF costume. But per
haps they are waiting the extinction OF stl,chery
and the new growth that shall then arise. Yet
there is enough OF the old and beautiful to re-
generate the new and ugly, when artists shall
again apply themselves to their legitimate task
OF draping the human form, and rescue their art
from the clutches of the stitching tribes.
What, after all, is the meaning of the term
clothing Not merely mtcgumcnts of spun wool
or other material Nor Will we consider It after
the fashion of Herr TeutelsdrOck--the outward
sign and token of mans nobility or mobility -
Considering II philosophicaly, It Is an artificial
covering to moderate the effects of heat or cold
on the human frame IN such portions OF the
earth's surface as are not exactly Edens garden.
For those who may be born to consume the fruits
of others industry, such mteguments may be used
as may express their helplessnoss and depend
tnCc. ncN may nave moving ufdptrltS like tnt
Turk of the harem, or may have the pumps and
silk stockings and hreecheS OF the last age, Indi-
eating that they are To be carried with care, like
glass, " this side uppemost," and not TO be eX-
posed to "wmtcr" or rough weather that they
are things TO be carried like babies IN long
clothes, dependent on nurses and servants. - My
master can't get up TILL am back" we once
heard menial say. Indeed great part of oar
clothing arrangements are contrlved to make us
as dependent as possible IN our persons, and tins
more especially IN countries where there Is great
alienation OF seasons Nothing will tend 10 cor
rect this 81 much as the construction of dwellngs
that may yield us always an eQuable tempera.
ture.
In mild climate the infant may he left 10 roll
on the floor. on carpets analogous to soft white
lambskm, without clothing, which Is always
more or less unwholesome In tins England,
calling itself advanced, the poor child is leased
and swathed IN bundle of things called long
clothes In Spanish countries, they fold up the
end OF their long clothes TO the shoulders, and
tie the poor chld round like package, to pre-
ven, all chance of the body being ventilated. -
And what with stays and wrappers, and multi
pliclty OF parts, the dress Oi women Is rendered
SO complicated that In MANY cases they cannct
dress themselves, and in most others their dress
Is unwholesome and unfayorabe 10 the develop
ment OF the form OF which nature has given
them the germ.
The objects sought in clothing are-irst, to
guard against cold secondly iha, II may be put
on and removed with the least possible trouble
thirdly. that II may possess the most graceful
form consistent with the former conditions
fourthly, that the material be of the best Kind to
accomplish these conditions, with the greatest
facility for cleanliness. We may sum up with
the advice OF Polonius to his son
.'Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed IN fancy. Rich, not gaady.'
Mems fancy walstcoats and cross-barred
trowsers, the whole of the chequered plaids and
women's shswls, and multiplicity OF fancy pat
terms, do not express these conditions Nothing
Is beautiful to the eye save form and color. Now
what are called handsome shawls for women.
with an intricate minute arabesque pattern OF
flowers. are merely lndistinct forms OF tracev,
not outline; and we do not look al a woman
through microscope. The colors produced are
hue, not COLOR and il is the merest conven-
uonallsm that can endure them Ii is the tat
tooing OF clothes, and like some patterns of tat
too which are intricate on the skin il is not beau
tiful but simply curious. Ii a pattern be used at
all on the human body, it should be something
distinct to the eye, as the features of the face
or it should be so small as to 90 into color.
such as the gray shawls Of Scotland. Chequered