Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1859-03-24
Anecdotes Of Fashion.

a volume on this subject might b
fmade very curious anc entertaining
for our ancestors We're not less vascilla
thug, and perhaps more capricionsl,
grotesque, though with infinitely les
. taste, than the present generation
, Were a philosopher aud an artist, a
well as an antiquary, to compose sdcl
"a work. much diversified entertain
ment, and some curious investigation
of the progress Of the arts and taste
d would doubtless be the result.
). The origin Of many fashions was
in the endeayor to conceal some de,
formity Of the inventor; hence the
cushions, ruiis, hoops, and other mon
strous devices.
1 Patches were invented in England
in the reign of Edward VI, by a
foreign lady, who thus ingeniously
covered wen On her neck.
When the Spectator wrote, full.
bottomed wigs we're invented by a
French barber. one Duviller, whose
name they perpetuated, for the pur-
pose of concealing an eleyating in
the shoulders Of The Dauphin.-
Charles VII. Of France, introduced
long coats to hide his ill.made legs.
Shoes with very long points, full
two feet in length, were invented by
Henry Plantagenet, Duke oc Anjou,
to conceal a large excresence on one
of his feet.
Others, on the contrary, adopted
fashions to set off their peculiar beau.
ties-as Isabella of Bavaria, remark
able for the gallantry and the fairness
of beT complexion, introduced the fash
ion of leavingthe shoulders audapart
of the neck uncovered.
Fashions sometimes originate TO
some temporary event, as after the
battle of Steenkirk, where the allies
wore large crssats, by which the
French frequently seized them, "a
circumstance perpetrated on the me-
dals of Louis XIV cravats were
called Steenkirks; and af'er the bat
tie of Families, wigs received that
denomination.
In the year 1875 the men had no
hats but little chapeau de brae; in
| l745, they wore a very small bat; in
ll755, they wore an enormous one,
as may be seen in Jeffrey's curious
t"Collection of Habits in all Nations"
Old Puttenham, in his very rare
work, "The Art of Poesie," page
239. on the present topic, gives some
curious information: Henry VIII.
caused his own head, and all bis cour-
tiers, to be polled, and bis beard to
be cut short; before that time it was
thought more decent, both for old
men and young,to be all shaven, and
wear. long hair either rounded OF
square. Now again at this time
(E!izabeth's reign) the young gentle
men OF. the court have taken up the
long hair trayling on their shoulders.
and think this more decent; for what
respectI would be glad to know
1t is observed by the lively Vigneul
de MarviIle. that these fragrant fol-
lies in fashion must be endors-
ed while they reign and never
appear ridiculous til! they are out
Of fashion. In the reign Of Henry
III. Of France, they could not exist
without an abundant use Of comfts.
All the world, the grave and the gay,
carried in their pockets a comjft boz,
as we do snuff-boxes. They used
them even on the solemn occasions
When the Duke Of Guise was shot al
/ Blois, be was found With the comfis-
/ box IN his hand. -,
Fashions, indeed, have been car.
ried to so extrayagant a length as to
have become a public offence, and to
have required the interlerencs of
government. Shorthand tight breecb.
les we're SO much the rage ia
France, that Charles Y. was COMPEL.
ed to banish this disgusting mode
by edicts, which may be found in
| Mezoray. It is curious that the
very same fashion was the complaint
in the remoter period Of Chaucer.s
j Iu the reign Of Elizabeth Of Eng
] land, the reverse of all this took
place; then the mode Of enormous
breecbes Was pushed to most laugha
bic excess. The bucks Of the day
! stuffed out their breeches with rags
{ feathers and other light, matters, til
D they brought them out TO mos
> enormous size. They :. resemblet
wool-packs. aud IN a public spectacle