The Xenia sentinel. [volume] (Xenia [Ohio]) 1863-186?, 1864-02-02

garments fashioned apart from, and
without reference to, herself.
II Moreover, there are certain clements
of beauty for the loss of which no
splendOr can compensate, and which
are within the reach of the compara-
lively poor as well as the positively
rich. One of these is softness,a beau
ty which never. finds its way into the
stiff folds of stately brocades and inn
posing moire antique, yet is seen to
perfection in the texture Of fine mer-
ino, and other soft wooden fabrics,
which catch the light and shade, and
fall around the figure in such grace
faf folds as artists love. 1t would be
absolute crime to mar the effect of the
gentle, uadulating draPery by patches
of trimmings, by frills, ruches, ,hounces,
tueks, or anything which would break
harmony of It's flowing, graceful lines.
Quiet, grave, such dress might be,
but it could hardly fail to be tender
and to most men would have greater
charms than all the elaboration of the
finest costume. A woman may dress
in velvet and diamonds to excite ad-
miratiOn, but she would choose softtex-
lures, and trust to the influence Of
more nature charms, if she desired to
win love.
Women have expressed themselves
as dying" for a MORE antique dress,
who, if they had it would find it more
unbecoming than the checker-board
plaids, which make Venus herselflook
respective. Only tall and elegant.
women should ever wear fabrics so
heavy andunyieIding as MORE antique,
and then the skirt would be veryIong,
wide, and quite plain. A short, stout
woman, envelOped in the ungainliness
Of this most impracticable Of ali ma
terials, blocked around with squares
Of velvet in such style as is frequent
ly to be seen, is a picture to make
angels weep. The skirt of a rich
dress should always be plain, but more
especially if the wearer be short and
inclined to rOundness- and that ampli-
tude of person which the French deli
cately call ''embonpOint." i"
It is only a short time since it was
fashionable to divide the skirts of
handsome silk dresses into a series of
founces, three in number; these foun-
ces. were subdivided again by rows of
brocaded trimming, which increased
the cost and added to the deformative.
4 richplain silk dress at half the cost,
would have been infinitely more be-
coming. Flounces should only be at
tempted in thin, waving, flowing ma
terials, in which the effect produced
will be cloud like, and Yapory; when
the lines become harsh, or too strictly
defined, the beauty is gone. 1t is mat
ter for regret that utility renders it
necessary to shorten the skirts in the
street.
The touch of the edge to the ground,
and its regal sweep, add to the divin-
ity which doth hedge a woman. Even
ideas of cleanliness can scarcely rec
Oncile US to the saerilegiOus raising Of
the line, the impertinent ridge, which
reveals to common eyes the.light foot,
the graceful instep, and taking the
goddess from her pedestal, replaces it
by that eminently useful but not poet
| ic growth of the kitchen and nursery,
a d" sensible woman"
There is one feature of the dress Of
the present day which is particularly
commendable, and that is the shape Of
the throat, which adds roundness to
| its. purity, and is charmingly relieved
by the little rim of embroidery which
some barbaFians are trying to replace
by the old Vandyke collar. Pretty
scarfs and mantles have also taken
away much of the stiffness and angu-
larity which belong to the square and
uncompromising shawl, and by giving
diagonal lines across the shoulders,
and sometimes in one broad line across
the entire surface, breaks the uniform
ity, and succeeds in producing a nov
eli and picturesque effect without the
aid of cOlor.-ROUND TABLE.