The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-06-29
Fashion.


There seems to be nothing more capricious
and often more absurd, than that which is
called Fashion, Yet, we doubt not, that there
Il reason for most Of the changes that occur
in dress, in furniture, and also in the modes
Of polite conversation, in etiquette &C., &c. The
only difficulty is to get at this cause.
III the East the fashions, both of men and
women have been pretty much the same, time
out Of mind The causes Of the fxity of the
modes Of dress in this REGION ARE plain enough
The men are the subjects Of despotism, as
they have always been, and they do not live
in public like the people of Europe. 1t is al
most necessary that they should dress plainly,
for fsar that a display Of luxury should cause
a belief in their wealth, which would subject
them to extortion at the hands of their ty-
rants Moreover, as the Orientals keep them
selves so much at home, there is no occasion
Tor display. Their women, ALSO are so very
secluded, by the jealousy of their masters
shat they have not the Inducements to
'splurgs" that they have in Europe. The
general poverty of ths people is such, that
they cannot afford to change their mode Of
dress every few months; but when a man is
lucky enough to save the wherewithal to pur-
chase mantle OF even the coarsest material
be wears that out, and their sedentary habits
enable their clothes to last long time. AS to
their ladies' thay have to be satisfied with
but a very few changes Of raiment for the
wealth Of AURuNzEBE himself could not have
4 enabled him to dress his five hundred wives
in the style Of European women. 1t men find
it $50 difficult to furnish their better halves
with enough to prevent their lamenting with
the beauty 20. Madison Square, they have
nothing to wear" what would it be if we had
an Oriental allowance of FLORA MCFLIM-
s9Ys
In the middle ages, fashions were much
more stationary than they are now. and for
the same reason that we have given for the
permanence Of style in the East, viz: the
poverty of the people. 1t was not until the
MASSES had increased in wealth that the modes
began to vary frequently. $3.50
During, the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, the fashions were set bv The crowned
heads Of Europe, and by their chief mobility
Ia the earlier portion of the eighteenth CEN
tury, for example, it was the vogue to wear
beauty patches" or black spots made Of
court" plaster, or plaster used at courts
These most disfguring marks were stuck over
the cheeks, and no lady appeared in public
without them The cause Of these queer
spots is said to have been, that great lady
had very fair skin. the wilderness of which
she Thought was intensified by the contrast
of the black patches and 50 the rest of thsl
kingdom initiated her, whether they had pale
compilations or not, An
1T 10 said that queen Of France once in
vented hoops, and the other ladies of her
court initiated her dress, and SO the fashion
was set for the whole civilized world; and her
influence was such among the elite Of that
day, that the style temporarily adopted by
royalty became permanent for christendom,
Z and has maintained it's sway through many
generations. IF 9aaasA ssis
= But all this was upwards of hundred
years ago, and the mutation which brought
them back rests on the hest and most SEN
sible reason, which is that now assigned.
They were introduced, it is said,to take the
!. place Of yoluminous and heavy petticoats,
which were worn a few years ago as we have
been told. We take this statement of the
japons, put by some authorities at two dozen,
upon trust, as we never counted them. ri Such
/. an absurd and weighty dress must have been
/ most cumbr and oppressive, and its abo-
lition was undoubtedly wise.
Itisssaid that the present filters were adopt
ed by a famous French loreste. to exhibit the
fine proportions Of beautiful ANGLE. 1t is
denied, however, that she made use OF ordn.
eprincipal cause, however, q the changes
Of fashion, is the desire Of gain on the part OF
the nodistes of Paris. They set the fashions
there, taking hints from the dresses oi the
stage, or froln the peculiarities Of costume
which the affsetations Of certain leaders OF So
ciety induces them to assume, or winch tney
invent tocpnceal natural defects. These fash
4 lonabls medistss get up vogue 10 dfess'