Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1857-11-13

must inevitably overthrow them. "Sgns
are not wanting that some change is at hand.
Ridicule has always been revolutionary
agent. That which has habituallv assailed
with sneers and sarcssms cannot long sur
vive. The time is approaching, then, when
our system of social observances must pass
through some crisis, out of which, it will
come purified and comparatively simple"
Thus it appeared in 1854 that W had reached
such pitch of extravaganza in our tastes and
usages, that we could scarcely make ourselves
more absurd; yet, during the intervening
years, the gravest of these social extravaganza
es, that of female dress, has become so much
more conspicuous, than at any time within
three generations, that the expected crisis
must be very near indeed, and the conven.
tional professionalism must be ripe for promul.
CATION, if reform is really to come about by
such means. We see reason to believe, as we
will presently show, that the prophecy of 1854
was rational one and we venture to hope,
that the fathers and husbands of the rising fe-
male generations will have less to suffer in
mind and in purse from the follies of their
fair relatives, than our neighbors of the pres
ent day.
We doubt whether in any age of our ma
tional history, or on any spot of the globe, a
more indefensible mode of dress could be
pointed out than we have displayed before us
at this moment, in the World Of Fashion,
published by Simikin and Marshall, and Gas
the title page declsres) patronized by the
Queen; and in the Ladies' Gazette of Fash
ion, distinguished by its faithful PRESENT.
ments Of the actual mode of upper class dress.
Putting aside Punch, and every kind of carl
cature, we have plenty OF prints of existing
ladies before us every day to mediate upon
with more leisure than the mind can obtain
in Parks, Crystal Palaces, and Chiswick Gar.
dens, where we have met the originals; and
quiet contemplation of the garb Of 1857 can
leave no other conviction, we are confident,
than that, if our ladies were rational five
years ago, no more reliance can be placed on
reason than on caprice. But the truth is,
dress is not a matter in which reason has ever
yet had much concern. 1t may be OCCASION
ally reasonable but it is not, therefore deter
mined by reason.
The female world, which, in the absence of
any particular perturbation, some years ago,
dressed IN gowns of an easy length and
breadth, OF moderate weight in the skirt, and
natural division at the waist, now plays the
fool in costume which barbarians might
mock at and all this because Paris is charm
ing to the imagination, and venerable in the
traditions of the toilette, and because the wom-
duhlLlu VI L arts Is IulOu Oy d beCOIu JOs6pllneg
with whom dress is her favorite branch of the
fine arts, and who is also a sprightly witch,
we'll inclined to find how far She may 90 in
caprice with the world lat her heels, and
to put to the proof the power of her
beauty in making fools of ''all ladies in all
lands A crowd of emotions - curiosity,
wonder, admiration, and all the feelings
which go to make up what we call romance
have urged the women of England, Russia
America, and perhaps good many more into
eXtravagant eXaggerations of the caprices of
an extravagant beauty. One article alone,
the full skirts, will remain a monument of
their mpressibeness 1t was convenient to
the graceful empress to disguise her figure for
time, and every dowager, and every young
maiden just emerged from the school room,
adopted the device without any conscious
ness Of the absurdity Of the imitation. Thus
are our ladies proving themselves 10 wiser
than their great grandmother though they
plumed themselves for time on being so.
Their feelings have hurried them away into a
fanaticism of fashion, which Punch NAV ex-
pose, but can hardly caricature.
CHANGING at the fashion for 1857, what do
we sees On the head is a something, the
| purpose of which 1t would be difficult to dis
| cover by reason structure of silk and
straw, adorned with flowers, ribbons, and
lace, crowded on the angle of the jaws and
the nape of the neck, and with its fore part
just reaching the crown of the head. We
have Mr.. Spurgeon's authority for the effect
TO the eye of the spectator in front. Being
advised to preach against the prevailing folly
| in head gear, he paused as he stood upon the
| platform, looked around him, and said, II
| have been requested to rebuke the bonnets of
the present day; but, upon my word, don't
see any" This is the bonnet of the wear 81,
| pinned to the head in some troublesome way,
leaving the face exposed in such manner
that one need not be Turkish parent to dis
| approve, causing the hair to be powdered with
dust and the head aud face alternately heat
ed and chilled by sun and wind, so that the
| physicians are easily believed when they de.
clare that cases Of eye disease, of tooth ache,
and neuralgia pains in the head and face, are
beyond all precedent in their practice. For
many months past, English women and the
ladies of America, where the extremes of heat
and cold are greater than with us, have been
| subjecting themselves to the inconvenience
| of going bareheaded with the added annoy.
| ance OF an apparatus whi3h heats and worries
! the back of the neck. The broad brimmed
hats are piece OF good sense in the midst of
a mass Of folly. Punch, and other satirists
| may quiz the hat as device for looking
young, but the ridicule touches only the elderly
wearers, and leaves the hat unimpeached
Some quizzical specimens, plumed and be-
ribboned, and so turned up and twisted about
as to serve no more useful purposes than the
| prevailing bonnet, may be seen here and there:
but the simple original hat, with brim which
shades the eyes, and crown which protects
the head, is worthy of all appreciation, while
it is exceedingly becoming to young wearers.
AS to older people, if they decline wear
ing the bonnet which exposes their gray hair
| to the very crown, and feel that the hat is too
| jaunty why, do they not recur to the Judi
genuous. serviceable, becoming unobiection-
able, English straw bonnet Of all times ;
Not the fancy chip, or the open shell work of
straw, filled up with silk, but the veri-
table straw fabric, CTuscan or Dun
stable at pleasure,) which will outIast all
changes of fashion in climate like ours.
There is no occasion to wear it IN coal. scuttle
fashion, like holy District Visitors, so that a
pious woman is always to be looked for at the
end ola long bonnet; nor do mlners insist on
all ladies going bareheaded. The straw bon
net admits of all reasonable notifications and
that of five years ago, enclosing the face mod
estly and covering the head comfortably,
gratihed good taste then, while it satisfies
sound reason now. Instead of it, we daily
see old ladies in one of two extremes-either
their lank jaws are exposed by the dark
strings of a souched nat, or their wrinkled
faces and grey hair are encompassed with
blonde and artificial flowers, as the trimming
Of the little excresence called bonnet in our
day. One would think that no woman could
| fail to perceive that wreaths and garlands are
NOR n ffIl I'D arN,s 4 Al