The Yazoo Democrat., 1854-05-31
Dress as a Fine Art.

Dress as a Fine Art.
What progression from Gg-leaves to noun-
ces; to jack boot, red heel, pointed toe. from
deer-skin brogue, sandal, mocasin, yet still the
same human foot in each What clue are these
metamorphoses to the mind that animates the
bodies thus m4sked ana hidden Vanity and
love of change, from the time that Eve twisted
flowers among the fg-leaves and set the fashions
for the young antediluvian maidens Of some
twenty summers. What clue to the manners
of people, their religion, the climate, the coun-
try in which they live and from whence they
came of~tteir freelon, their wars, their con
quests, and their slavery The Highlander still
carries the Roman target, wears the adaptation Of
the toga fasened by the Roman brooch, the phyr-
gian cap is on his head, and the Roman crossed
garters are re represented in his chequered stock
ems. The initiative Saxon seems tosliave derived
from the sumo conqaerors their robes and arms
the Asiatc cap, the Asiatic double-head axe, and
the Asiatic shiehl. The Norman knight wore the
closed visor OF the Roman gladiator, and the
shield of Inc Grpco Roman. From the East the
Crusaders borrowed the long tunic over their ar
/ "
the helmet, and the scimeter-iike falchion
But with all its change, dress falls into few
simple division, into which we are unconscious
ly perpetually recurring. IL men widen their
sleeves they 60 back to George the Second,-i(
they tighten them, to far earlier date: widen
the brim of the present hat, and put in feath-
er, and you have the Spanish sombrero Of Van
dykes reign,-pin up the brim and you have the
cooked hat,-take to cap, and you fall back to
the flat bonnet Of Elisabeth's gn--widen the
band and you have the rich ornament of Elisa
beth's courtiers: turn down the top Of the boot,
and you will have Charles the Seconds wear" =
render the top immoyable, il becomes the fash
onable boot of the last half century, or the far
mers boot of today.
One of the most curious features in the hsto-
ry of dress is the vitality Of the most absurd
fashions. and their lingering for centuries among
the peasantry. long after they are superseded in
the court. Our own country has some curious
instances of Ihis.-The Garb of the old Thames
water. men, still occasionally visible in the
streets, is that of the Elisabethan boatmen, even
to the brass badge, which was then worn by cv.
cry retainer The Bluecoat boys rejoice in thg
semi nionastic robes of The age of Edward the
Isixth, the young founder Of their school ant
the charity-school girls of the City wear thC
plain mo5-cap and long white gloves of queer
Anne or the earlier Georges. The shoulder
knot of the modern footnen was. once the badge
of high military rank.-The stage smuggle
struts in the common sailors dress of the w i'll
lam of Orange era. The bluecoat Of the butch
er reminds US of the distinctive dresses OF th
; old guilds. The University dress of the presen
year varies little from that worn soon after tn
Reformation, except that the square cap has stiff
ened and widened, and the falling collar has bael
clipped into Evolutionary bands. The Judge
Golf is curious absurdity borrowed from th
silk cap worn by Inonkish lawyers to preserv
their shaveu heads from the draughts Of th
courts The wigs introduced from France
Charles the Second are retained by the sam
Judges, By our barristers and coachmen.-Ou
: footmen still exult in that powder which CAV
5 heightened lustre to Reynolds beauties. Th
t gypsy in the west of England. Ilaborers noi
: wear the deep tapped waistcoats and kne
: breeches Of the third George, and the snioel {
q very egrly age; and one is sure 10 meet in
DAYS walk in London the. Hessian boots {
, tight pantaloons so fashionable during the yoat
! Of he Regent. The Beefeaters at the Towc
wear the custume Of Henry the Seventh's bod
guard.-a our grooms the doublet of jaime
Q the First.
2 Though we have been always borrowers
# other nations fashions, even we sober Englis
S have run strange lengths. Look at the topplu
e Richard the Second in polish shoes with toes
yard long, tied up to the knee with silver chains
I and then in Henry the Fights time, The broa
shoe widen again to half-a-yard, slashed and pat
ded like small cushion. In Henry tho Sixth
time, it was considered s'the thing to wei
T forests Of feathers nearly three feet brad an
s sweeping to the ground and little earlier dress
f es were party per Pale Of two eolors, 80 th'
i one leg was blue and the other red,-a fayoril
!, attire which died out very slowly. Then can
sleeves Jagged at the edges like leaves, and reacl
!, inc from mans wrist to the ground.
The diseases of kings have been the ofigin'
: tions Of fashions Ia bald knight rules and a
his people shave, Ia equity monarch establish
I che beauty Of wide shoes. Scandal does say .
I unlucly princess ingeniously iavented hoop