Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1851-07-30
Becoming Costume.

When l was small lad, there com
mcnccd a change in personal apparel
which has continued now, with little va
ration, for half a century and in refcc
ting on the past, am ready to exclaim
how great the folly of severely censuring
the fashions of personal attire When
was child, the ladies wore shoulder
straps to their petticoats, but men none tc
their brooches. The consequence was
that gentlemen had frequently to adjust
their Wristbands to the state of their di
gestion, and the bulk Of their dinner
Learned judges standing up to charge &
jury. and venerable clergymen preaching
in the pulpit, l was accustomed to see
hitching up their small clothes with one
hand, while with the other, they tucked
the lower portion of fine ruflled shirt be-
tween the waistband and the long flaps of
an ancient vest. This was necessary to
prevent the exposure Of a double linen
ruffle below the Haistcoat, extending n r.
zontally from hip to hip. This horizontal
fold of white linen, in connection with the
long, porpc .dicuil rufie Of the bosom,
formed sort of inverted cross, Of greater
dimensions than the one Iaraded on a
Roman Bishops back. The fashionable
bleeches of my early days, were but a few
inches longer than the thigh bone Of the
weara7, and were huckled tight below the
kncc-pan, often to the obstruction of free
circula,.oa of blood, and productive Of
such ling as made q gentleman glad to
uubackle his knees when in his own
dwelling, in the company Of his family
alone.
Was such a dress in itself desirable ?
Yet I remember when the male sex began
to use suspenders and they were ridiculed
who first wore shoulder straps. They
were said foolishly TO affect female mode
of dress but why was it not well to keep
breeches in their place by suspenders, in
stead of hitching them up perpetually
with the hands? Many elderly gentle
men, even in 1900, wore large wigs made
of gray or white horse hair and to orna-
mcnt themselves with these articles, had
for the greater portion of their lives shaved
their heads. OF course, when the wig
was off, cap for the head was necdful, in
&ie absence of natural hair. This was
commonly made of white linen, or of black
silk velvet At the same time all, the
old and the young, filed either their wigs
or their natural hair with powder; and to
make the powder stick, they made free use
of pomatum, or in the absence thereof, of
a tallow candle OF course, also to retire
to bed without wearing night cap to
defend the pillow case from tallow and
-four, was great indecorum and no gen.
tleman was considered we'll prepared for
company until the cape of his coat, as we'll
as the covering of his head was we'll pow
dered. Will any now say, that change
in the fashionable attire Of the eseventeenth
century was an immortality, or something
undesirable?
Nevertheless, such is the force of habit,
and the power Of prejudice, that many of
the good old people fifty years ago thought
those who chose to change their attire
worthy of ecclesiastical discipline, as some
of the Bloomerites are now thought deserv-
ing of communication.
In those days of ancient customs, it
was deemed quite orthodox for the ladies
to wear cambria caps, half yard high,
surmountiug cushion on the head of six
inches Of matted horse hair, over which
the hair Of the forehead was combed up,
and tied back They wore articles of |
matted hair, or wool, upon their hips, |
called bishops, which rose beneath their
low WASTED stays Of whalebonc, like
hussar saddle, large enough for child of
six years to ride upon and the skirts of
their gowns were extended by hoop three
feet in diameter. To pass common door
it was requisite to elevate one side of the
hoop with the hand. When these fashions
began to change, not few preachers
thought it to be their duty to warn their
hearers against new, uncouth fashions in
dress, and persons given to fashion and
change! Boonserism is now probably
just as censurable, as was the change from
wigs and powder to natural hair; from
stays down to the hips, to short waists
and from gowns expanded by loops to sack
skirts, which neither disigura nor expose
the lower limbs Of the body. rrb,,,s s,,