Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1854-03-16
BELL SMITH ABROAD.
FASHIONS AND FoLI1Es.

Gus female friends, begging earnestly t
send them the fashions latest wear
l have been very delinquent. To tel
the truth, I am at loss, and have beer
since my arrival, upon this important
point. The French women are the best.
dressed persons in the world, and being
such, have no one pattern of an article
which all exhibit, as with US. The fail
and brunette, the tall and short, the
slender and robust, cannot, save by
miracle, find one garment suitable to all
Yet, at home, the attempt is made, and
the unbending milliner deals out to each
the one thing, casting every one who dare
depart from it outside of good society.
This is one of the mysteries of Partisan
toilette that have made some approach
to solution. The spirit which adopts
the becoming, gives peculiar wear to
the dress. Come with me upon the
Boulevards, this sunny afternoon, and
let us take Paris as it promenades.-
What a countless throng, and all on
parade. If there is a single affair oI
importance in two miles of this stream
of life, / am no judge of business. Ii
is the hour for an exhibition, and let us
Ytake it in such spirit and notice The
stores have their contents in the win
dows; the idlers have their best upon
their persons; and representatives are
here from all parts of the world in COM
petition, but without success. The
Parisians are at home, and without
equals This English woman, with her
thick shoes, costly furs, comfortable
dress, and ruddy complexion, is a real
daughter of John-has, doubtlessly,
many acres, good health, and feels inde-
pendent and above all creation-but she
is no Partisan, all her money and influ-
ence cannot make her that Here comes
a pale, delicate American girl-intellect
in every feature, and unlimited wealth,
too, at~her command-yet all her in
genuity and ambition, sustained by un-
limited resources, only make her con-
spicuous failure. The very ''bonne" in
cap and gown, is something more than
they. Look at this animated instance,
as she walks gracefully along. What
complete picture. The dress is not
dress, but grace born with her, and far
beyond the touch of art. She owes
nothing to the bonnet that is so small,
and falls so far back that in front it ap-
pears only cap; she owes nothing to
the velvet cloak and rare furs, though
she carries three thousand dollAs on her
shoulders and arms; she owes nothing
to the well fitting dress, so subdued yet
so rich; nothing to the fair face even,
to the delicate hand, to the well-turned
ancle, and exquisite foot-those all may
be given to another, and amount to moth
ing. 1t is the manner in which these are
carried-are shown to the world; it is
not dress it is grace; not modesty pre-
cisely, but spiritual. She comes and
goes, a thing inimatable, unparalleled.
She lifts her skirts to escape the soiled
pavement in way that would startle
our home people-yet how well done.
Crowds may jostle, carriages may
splash, yet she glides along untouched,
unsoiled, creature of grace, of beauty.
She has not the dignity of the English
woman, nor the modesty of an Ameri
can-yet superior to both on the Boule
wards, she has the talent for dress that
makes up for the want of all else.
The great evil with us, is the spirit of
imitation. An American woman dare
not dress becoming, for the fear of ap
pearing odd. The Parisians have way
of holding their dress, not unbecoming
precisely in them, because done with the
talent. That manner will be important
TO the United States, and one and all
will attempt the performance-awkward
and unbecoming, to say the least, as it
must appear. Yet, the "Bloomer" dress,
a costume very well in its place, was
hooted and laughed out of the country,
because it did not originate in Paris
Now, l beg of you to remember, / am
not ''strong minded woman" but quite
the contrary-something of a timid,
weakly conservative-andt the Bloomer
dress / by no means think becoming; in
it we lose the long sweep of drapery, so
DeduuIuI III our present. uTtSSS Dut, III
the country, for fields and woods, riding,
driving, or travelling, it is necessary to
comfort and health, Yet, such are the
wrongs of our humble imitation, that
the very evils of Paris are unhesitating
ly adopted. We wear improper dresses
at evening parties; we dance improper
figures in public assemblies, and suffer
all kinds of uncomfortable ways, because
we dare not be honest and independent.
We have the belief prevalent athome,
that gaudy colors in dress are peculiar to
our country. This is not correct. The
Parisians, on bright day, resemble, if
you can imagine such thing, garden
of promenading sun-howers. Til e
Boulevards have looked to me, at times,
as if the merry owners had put in cir
culation their window curtains. Stran-
gers, perhaps, do not notice this SO much
as with us, because Partisan women can
carry anything so gracefully. Before
we pull down the curtains and shape
them into dresses, we must learn to
walk, and to learn this art, we must
walk. The shambling, rolling duck step
the hard, angular, upright. grenadier
duck-step-the slow, the fast, the un-
certain, may all be hid in carriages, or
kept at home--but never cured, save by
exercise, continual walking in the open