The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-08-22
w omen at Saratoga.

A correspondent of New York news.
paper gives the following sketch of wo-
men at Saratoga:
| | call to mind now two or three ladies'
whose physique is well nigh perfect,
whose limbs and chest challenge the
marbles of Conova, and whose counter.
ances are marvelously regular. To eve.
ry one there is certain deficiency, al
indistinct something necessary to COM
plete the circle of aesthetic combinations
the type of a perfect creature. For ex
ample, out of half dozen handsome
blondes, one has a diminutive nose
which destroys the effect of her magnifi
cent hair. Another has common fault
she Is too 5crawny and bloodless, else
she would be angelic. A third carries
with her spiritual and sublimed radi.
ance as if she were too refined and pure
for our earth, but an open mouth disen-
large and tusk-like.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF OUR wO-
MEN.
The prevailing defect is the meaeer-
ness and imperfect blood and bone of
our aristocracy. From what causes it
springs, we Care not; the fact is too pain
fully true. Up to the period between
girlhood and womanhood, their growth
is equable, generous and symmetrical.
but in after life the sweet and delicate
budding girl becomes either monstrous-
ly fat and sensual old whale of a woman
or, more probably, a scraggy, thin skim
ny, shriveled old skeleton. How is it
that the other sex cannot grow old with
corporeal symmetry as the men do?
Something in the education, physical or
mental, or both, must go wrong about
this time. Spa waters may do some
thing to remedy this trouble, but the
prevention must commence elsewhere.
REPREHENsIBLE PRACTICES.
Ourwomen, Iobserve, are much given
to eking out their natural charms by ar
tificial methods. T observe this, for
however skillfully the illusion may be
effected by the adopts in this species of
fiction, some less skillful is sureto let the
secret out. The prevalence of rouge and
the various kinds of blanche, such as
pearl powder and drops, almonds, bis
muth, chalk, originally borrowed from
the French stage, is, let us be thankful
sensibly growing less. The use of entail
and other liquid washes seems to have
| taken its place to some extent. The sue
cess in the use of these articles is very
unsatisfactory. Either the effect is not
visible, or it is overdone and meretri-
cious. There are two young ladies In
Saratoga who have achieved almost
miraculous success in a kind of enamel
polish OF the skin, which, combined, in
one ofthem, with form of great beauty,
produces wonderful effect at distance.
The face, neck and arms are as smooth
roQTlT- Fl I1a che &c
| iteles.
THE MACHINERY OF GOOD LOOKS.
! There is as general thing very great
effort to reveal as much as possible the
peculiar female charms without the de-
sign being too evident. The same bony
outline and niggardly fountains FREEDOM
mate, Either one extreme or the other.
Tight lacing still congresses the lungs.
Pads for every part of the body are in
use. A device for putting out to smooth
ness the wrinkles of the cheeks, called
"plumpers," has been introduced. False
necks and busts have been abandoned as
Improbable.
NATURE VERSUS ART.
On the whole, must regard the pres
ent fashionable methods of personal de-
coration as being CHASTITY failures. The
universal and expansion WATERFALL is
a libel upon the good taste and good
sense of our people. Some ofthe coiftures
betray spark of originality, while 9TH
ers are simply and fearfully hideous.
The golden, hair, if one may ever say
dye, Is decided step in the right direc-
ton. The neither brauchie of our la
dies are their especial glory. Like the
poetical creations of Moore, they are
something too gross for snirit. and vet
too obviously frail for earth. The teeth,
I observe, are usually regular and of
ivory whiteness. False teeth, many of
them, but quite exousahle In view of the
general dental decay.