The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-17
DRFss AND ITS ECCENTRICITIES.


taken of their children year by year, that they
nav have memorials of the various changes
vvbiob annually take place. 1t would not be
sniss f. by some similar means, the changes
of fashion could be perpetuated. 1t would be
very entertaining II the monthly publications
ef fe Foilet or LIE Petit Courier des Danes were
nrsserved. so that the revolutions which are
eontinnaliv taking place in the fashion of
ladies' dresses might be noted. Photographs
Wonld give such an imperfect idea of dress,
owing TO the absence OF color, otherwlse they
would supply the want more reauiiy 'nan any
thing else.
A volume has lately come into our hands,
- ul,iob the fashions of ladies' dresses some
ffty wears ago and more are depicted II Is
uuite amusing to see them. 10 our eyes they
have rather grotesque appearance; Out not
90 orotesoue as they would have seemed two
~ hhres years ago. because, in some respects,
no are demonstrating TO some OF them, espe-
cially TO those of the "Empire."
We can imagine IL to be very perplexing
thing to know how to keep pace with the
changes which each year, and, we might
sinost saw every season of the year, bring in.
At one time the dresses are as full as they
are seanty at another. The changes are pro-
pitious to dressmakers and milliners and
haberdashers, but not to anyone else, except
ing so far as one fashion happens to be more
becoming than another.
We have before now rallied against the in
PRODUCTION of the orinolne, and the annoy
ances to which il led. Though it was said
that it would be laid aside, we ventured to
doubt the assertion, and presumed to say that
it had taken too firm hold upon the public
Tor il TO be easily discarded. The origin of
the crinoline was singular enough. It was
said TO have originated at q time when the
Empress of the French was expected to give
birth to the Prince Imperial.
Is it not singular that fashion so univer-
sol llu hu Unun Of oil
tion, married and single, should have had such
an OriginY Surely one would have predicted
of it beforehand that it would have been re-
jected with disgust and scorn. Instead of
which it has been welcomed, is universally
adopted and tenaciously retained, in spite of
the remonstrances jeers, sneers, and dislike
which it has continually provoked, and not
withstanding the attempts made from time to
time to lay it aside or bring it into disrepute,
Our eyes have become so accustomed to it that,
when we meet with any of those limp, straight
down figures which are the result of its disuse.
we are startled and shocked, as if some of the
"corps de ballet" were walking abroad in the
MONDAY. We are disposed to exclaim against
them as an infringement of the laws of de-
oency. We are indeed strange mortals, to be
so much the creatures of habit that, if our
eyes are accustomed to one state of things we
are ntolerant of any other, without any par
ucular regard to the fitness, and proprietv.
and decorum of that to which we have suffered
ourselves to become habituated. In time we
might get used to any costume, however short
ana scanty. 1t is dangerous state of things,
ana We thlnk that modern society shows that
it is so.
The Saturday Review has, with powerful
pen and caustic tongue, taken upon itself
the unenviable Office of censor morum. We
had been longing to enter the lists against
the prevalence of certain fashions which had
crept into the best society, but we were
restrained from doing so, partly from hope
that society itself would Indignantly reject
the attempt to introduce a laxity Of dress
which cannot fail to have demoralizing effect
upon the public mind, and partly from fear
of directing attention to the style which we
consider to be so much to be reprehended.
But those apprehensions have no longer any
force. The attempt hos been made. and has
not been protested against, except by Eue,V
Saturday, which has also directed the public
mind to certain peculiarities in the dress of the
present day, which might almost be called
scandals without any great straining of the
meaning Of the word. The article TO which we
refer was by no means eXhaustive but it is
perhaps impossible that it should be so, as the
freaks Of unlicensed fancy which gave rise to
the remarks are almost without limit.
1t was but year ago that complaints were
loud against the amplitude of ladies' dresses.
The extent of ground they covered was almost
fabulous, and the consequent cost of gown
was a serious item of expenditure, and
alarmed young men and old. The young
feared an ENHANCEMENT which might lead to
matrimony, when lady's dress was so costly
and their means were not great; and their
elders looked with apprehension upon a state
of things which, if it should find its way into
their homes, would paralyze all their energies
and exhaust their resources. But now the
complaint is that, while the dresses are plain,
almost to inaelicacy, in front, they have
such immense trains that they actu-
ally interfere with the enjoyment of
the public. A lady who walks in the
Park with long train trailing behind her in
the dust and dirt, occupies so much space
that no one dares to follow within three or
four yards of her. Imagine, then, what the
inconvenience must be in large assemblies
within doors, where space is not illimitable,
and where the trains are even longer than
those for morning wear. The inconvenience
has been felt TO such degree that it has given
rise to a different kind of costume for those
who care for walking exercise, and dislike
equally to bold up their dress, and to suffer IL
TO sweep the ground. Their costume consists
OF a petticoat, short dress which shows the
pettiooat, and kind of cloak or mantle to
match. When this costume is worn. il has
the effect OF three tiers of dresses, and has a
most peculiar look, though we do not doubt
that 1t possesses great advantages.
In order to make the modern fashion of
plaltless gowns applicable to all, it is found
necessary to shorten the waists of the dresses:
and as all persons are not made alike. and
some thin and Otbare efovt Z