The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-11-08

able; but il Is not therefore determined BY reason,
variety OF passions or feelings may be implicated
reason to institute or spread fashion. except 6
some season Of equipoise or neutrality when the
judgment has o chance to rule for once. As judS-
ment and taste go together it seems rather surpris
ing that reason should have so little to do win
dress; but the fact Is 80: and, in the sup
posed realm of taste, we zee that arbiter
set aside together with the Judgment, on the 6rst
which in the absence Of any particular perturbatioo
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
costume which barbarans might mock at and an
this because Paris is charming to the imagination
and venerable in the traditions of the toilette, and
because the womankind of Paris is now ruled by
second Josephine, with whom dress Is her favorite
branch OF the fine arts, and who is also spright!y
witch, well inclined to try how far she may go In
caprice with the world at her heels. and to put to
the proof the power of her beauty in making fools
curiosity, wonder, admiration, and all the feelings
which go to make up what we call romance-hayo
urged the women of England, Russia, America, and
perhaps s,s goSd many more into extrayagsnt ex-
One article alone, the full skirts, will remain .
monument of their impressibleness. II was con-
yenient to the graceful empress to disguise her
young maiden just emerged from the schoolroom.
adopted the device without any consciousness of
the absurdity Of the imitation. Thus are our
laCleS proving themselves no wiser IMAM tncT
great grandmothers, though they plumcd themselves
for time on being 80 Their feelings have carried
them away into fanatcism Of fashion which Punch
may expose, but can hardly caricature.
CHANGING at the fashions for 1857, what do we
see? On the head is something, the purpose Of
which il would be difficult to discover by reason-a
structure of silk or straw adorned with flowers, rib
bon and lace, crowded on the angle of the jaws and
the nape Of the neck, and with its fore part ju2t
reaching the crown of the head. We have Mr..
Surgeons 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
he stood up on the platform, looked around him
and said, II have been requested to rebuke the bon
nets OF the day; but upon my word don't see any"
This is the bonnet of the summer Of 1857, pinned
to the head in some troublesome way, leaving the
face exposed in a manner which one need not be a
Turkish parent to disapprove and causing the hair to
be powdered with dust, and the head and face to
be alternately heated and chilled by sun and wind
that the physicians are easily believed when they
declare that cases Of eye disease, of toothache and
neuralgia pains Of 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 greater than with
us, have been subjecting themselves to the incon-
veniences of going out bareheaded, with the added
annoyance of an apparatus which heats and worries
the back of the neck The oad-brimmed hats are
piece Of good sense in the midst of Of folly.
Punch, and other satirsts, may quiz the hat rs
device for looking young; but the ridcule touches
only the elderly wearers, and leaves the hat unim-
peached. Some quizzical specimens, plumed and
be-ribboned and s0sturned up and twisted about as
to serve 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
q crown which protects the head, is worthy of all
appreciation, while it is exceedingly becoming to
young wearers. As to older people, If they sem
sibly decline wearing the bonnet which exposes their
grey hair to the very crown, and feel that the hat IL
too jaunty-why do they not recur to the indi-
genous, serviceable, becoming, unobjectionable
English straw bonnet of all times? Not the fancy
a.. hill 3D.. Ill
silk, but the veritabe straw fabric Tuscan or Dun
stable at pleasure which will outlast all changes Of
fashion in a climate like ours. There Is occasion
to it in coascutte fashion, like holy District
Visitors, that pious woman Is always to be
looked for at the end Of long bonnet; nor do the
milliners insist on all ladies' going bareheaded The
straw bonnet admits Of all reasonable notifications;
destIy, and covering the head comfortably. gratied
good taste then while it satisfies sound reason now.
Instead OF it, we daily see old ladies in one of two
extremes-either their ank jaws are exposed by the
dark strings Of slouching hat, or their wrinklcd
faces and grey hair are encompassed with blonde
and artificial flowers as the trimming Of the little
excrescence called a bonnet in our day. One
would think that no woman could fail to perceive
that wreaths and garands are a youthful adorn-
ment and that no one should wear artificial flowers
who could not attingy dress her hair with natural
ones; yet we see dowagers with roses and
foliage clustering around their checks at every turn.
The mantle is, perhaps, the best idea among the
fashions OF the day, and now and then we see one
worn by a sensible woman, which fulfs all
BILE conditions; but the majority of them
made to partake of all the disadvantages OF the
existing gown IL used 10 be thought and il will be
thought again. that everything in the cloak way
loses its character and therefore its usefulness by
being fitted to the figure. modern mantle which
is confined at the waist, and has sleeves inserted in
tight armhoe, Is certainly not a vertablc mantle,
whatever else II may be: and when we see it, as in
this summer Of 1867, cut down To a mere band round
the chest extending higher than the point Of the
shoulder, and turning into sleeved jacket below,
we have no more to say to IL as respectable mem
Der of the mantle tribe. But to responsibility in the
eyes Of taste IL usually foreits all preenson by its
parade of ornamentation Its fringcs. and bugles,
and braids and gimps, and laces, and buttons-its
Fittings and quings and puiiings, and edgings,
and slashngs are too meretricous for any garment
OF the cloak order or for permanent fashion, though
this article perhaps the least Objectionable OF the
whole suit now favored by the caprice Of the day.
The madness runs riot in the gown-(to use the
old fashioned word, which is more distinctive than
the technical use OF the term "dress.) The CON
seriousness Of the whole public enables TO be brief
on this head When we enter ON the topic Of the
gowns Of 1857, every readers prophetic soul"
warns him what anmadversion to expect on tight
waists, bare shoulders and arms, cumbrous and en-
croachng skirts and an apparatus for their manage
ment which h In every way Objectionable. The
costness the clnmsiness, the ugliness, the aflec-
tation. the stiffness, the noisness, the complete
reversal Of the objects and attributes Of dress in the
dress, evening and morning, Of the present fashion
seems TO be generally admitted; therefore We shall
not insist on them at any length The plain facts Of
the are these:The gown Of 1857 Is made of the
most expensive materials obtainable. Ladies who
used TO dress handsomely on thirty pounds year,
find that sum insufficient for their gowns alone;
and middle class young ladies, who have hitherto
been satisfied with twenty pounds year. are now
driven TO their wits end 10 keep up with the mode
At all and they have recourse to cheap
snowy silks that will not last or light gauzy ma
terials requiring a style Of petticoat which makes
the dress costly one after all Maid servants. who
have before deposited something in savings banks
every quarter, now feel morally compelled to buy
twice as many yards as formerly for their gowns.
" II Is but ninepence a yard the mistress says,
when q gown Il print. but the gowns are not all
prints and all require eight ten brcadhs in the
skirt the difference Mt the end of the year to girl
whose wages are ten or twelve pounds Ia not small
Even the cheap print gowns require much max
ing and are 80 troublesome to wash and iron, that
the custom n a tyrannous ono to those whom IL
weighs least As for the most numerous order Of its