Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-05-12
DAILY COMMERCIAL.
BALTIMORE, MD.
Toilet of a POmpeiian Lady of Fasbion.

|
lhis was the subject of recent lecture.
The lecturer began by saying that he remem-
Dered seeing picture, discovered in 1853.
representing a gentleman entering the toilet
room OF Pompeiian lady. He remembered
the story of the minister whom the neonla
liked becausehep pitched into old n ebuchanezzar
for his sins, but said nothing of theirs :, so,
If he should enter one of the toilet rooms of \
| Pompeiian house, and should there see an
| inlaid box containing white powder, and If
| he should discover a lady endeavoring to place
| this powder upon her face by means of light
feathery brush, it should not be forgotten that
| he was speaking of 1900 years ago, and not Of
scenes Of to-day. They don't do such things
now If he should discover lady endeavor-
| ing to conceal the loss of her natural hair by
| means of the manufactured article, remember
this was 1900 years ago. They don't do such
! things now.
The lecturer then proceeded to his main
subject, and opened by saying that in all ages
| woman is what man makes her; men and
women exist for each other, and the reason
| that women adorn themselves is to please men,
| Our girls OF to-day are no less eager to adorn
| themselves than were the girls Of Pompeii
| put the position OF women among us is entirely
| different.
In the words of the apostle, the women were
| made beautiful according to the flesh. They
used every exertion to conceal the existence of
| wrinkles-there are none nowadays They
| had many rouges, washes, etc., to destroy the
marks Of time, and in their endeavor to pre-
| serve their complexion they were wont to
| battle IN luXuriously scented baths of asses
milk until the whole body became perfectly
| smooth. Their toilette occupied an entire
half day. At the swapping of the fingers the
| servant came to the beside to more thoroughly
awaken her mistress. First her face must be
washed before any man was permitted to see
| her. And not such washing as is undergone
now, for the paste of bread and milk, with
which the face had been thoroughly covered
the night previous, was to be removed so
carefully as not to leave the slightest redness
circumference. Theteeth were then replaced,
the eyebrows penciled, and the complexion
improved.
Notwithstanding the comparatively recent
discovery in dentistry, the teeth Of Pompeiians
were filled with gold.
Brown, yellow and even red hair being
scarce (red hair-there is no such thing now
a-days, it is either gold or auburn were CON
sldered fashionable then as well as at the
| present time. A species of soap was used to
| color black hair but when the hair absolutely
| refused to change color it was cut off and the
head supplied with q fashionable tint. This is
never done now.
The Roman ladies knew, with ours, that
| secrecy is one of the charms of their toilet
Their beauty was not Of the class to be handled,
taken apart and put together again by those
| whose eyes they desired to please. Like the
ladies OF our time, they attached value only to
that which was foreign, and no kind of wash
or rouge could be used unless it had foreign
name.
When in grand toilet a Pompeiian lady of
fashion glittered in real gold-not Attleborough
and she had a great number of Jewels
Some of the canoes are so deEcately engraved
as to require lens to see the design and how
could these be engraved unless the Romans
had magnifying glasses?
The lecturer, before closing, noticed several
similarities between Pompeiian lady's methods
| of dressing the hair and those now in vogue
with US, and illustrated the same with numerous
drawings. One had rats and mice skillfully
| arranged; another had a fine waterfall
The Fashions.
The Paris correspondent of the Philadelphia
North american, writes as follows of the
| fashions:
Dresses are made very long for evening
] tOltctteS the trains differing from those of the
| Cal ~ pdLG Vi Ile WIuteF ny Delug more pointed
at the back; these are called queues la comete!
| 1t is said that crinolines are out of fashion
and so they are, for evening wear, when an
| empire toilet is adopted. But in the street,
and for morning dress, they are still used,
| though smaller in shape and quite fiat at the
| hips. Theladieswho wear none in the evening,
and have dresses gored with one plat in front,
with the long sharp train at the back, look
| very much like they were cased in q sheath
but still, as that is the newest mode, it is
thought charming With this style, short
waist, very much decoLlette, and mere putting
of net for sleeves, are necessary accompani-
| ments.
Short dresses are spoken of as likely to be
| adopted for this summer; meanwhile those in
| spring materials are still made to loop up, and
often Topped up over lower skirt of the same
materials, made to simulate a petticoat. The
style is pretty for a walking costume, and the
materials coming out daily for these are pretty
and various. ,SULtaneS, shining mohair, and
a great variety, plain and in stripes, are ex-
hibited in all the shop fronts. Loose and half
fitting paetots in fancy materials are still worn,
| and vests and jackets for the house are very
| fancitul and pretty, trimmed with Cluny lace,
grel0ts in jet, crystal and even gold and silver.