The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-17


compared With those of the present day. If We
nave gained in freedom, we have lost a great
ueal OF outward mutual respect. Much oil
Wnat we mean still remains on the Cont
nent, Where there is considerable distinction
between the various classes IN matters of dress
Inc peasant has his or her style, and the mobiles
IneUs, Whlle the intermediate classes have their
distinctive styles. These distinctions are now
abolished. We bave no national costume: and
the lowest menials endeavor to initiate, to the
PEST, pest OF tnelr power, the grandest lords and
IL would be a great mistake to infer. from tho
pictures which have been handed down To ms
mat there was more daDdyism formerly than
hoW' VINO would lay anything of the kind Id
the charge of Lord Nelson? Yet we find him
| represented to u.s. in paintings DESCRIPTIVE of
! nis great naval action, dressed IN knee.brppches
| dress, N' Vi " OOul
1t was the custom which prevailed AZ that
| period, and IS by means fashion in the sense
~ %nlch the Word Is used to denote super-ex-
ceuence and super-fastidIousness i'm dress At
! the death OF Lord Nelson the officers who sur-
! rounded that great hero are deoicted dressed
accoIalng 70 me custom which was as much de
! navy to put on their uniforms when tbSv go
INTO the presence ofroyalty. To compare small
thlnes with great, we find that Lord Winchel-
Sseas Eleven played at cricket in slver-laced
naJs, knee-breecbes, and silk stockings Bumps
ana even blood would OCCASIONALLY show and
come through the stockings; and il is related of
one man tnat he tore a fngernail off against his
haJo GIuckIe Ii ID picking up ball There must
nave Deel very different kind of bowlnr then
20 Inat which now prevails, if we may Judge
HolA tne necessity for pads of all kinds and
descriptions, and when, in spite of pads and
Ep{ysi tpgers ana, occasionally, even legs are
Ofoken by the excessive violence of the bowling.
The iormaity and cOurtliness of dress which
existed even to so late period as that to which
ehaye referred, may be said to have gone out
with hoops and powder. Our ancestors, gno
doubt deplored the changes which took place
IN their days and sighed over the introduction
OF noYelues, the freedom or license as it may
pe calico, IN dress IN our times would have
shocked their sense OF prOpriety, for we find an
amusing account in the Spectator of the alarm
1elt at the way in which ladies dressed them
selves tor riding, lin hat and feather riding.
coat and periwig or at least tying up their hair
IN a bag or ribbon, in imitation of the smart
part OF the opposite SEX" which the astonished
countryman described as "a gentleman in a
coat and hat.'
There can be no doubt that certain amount Of
attention TO dress snecessary so far as it effects
personal cleanliness and neatness, A vel dressed
man, that is TO say, man who dresses like gen.
man, neither Ike top, nor a clerk, nor tailor
VINO makes his own back his advertisements is
sure to be well received in all good society.
Goldsmith says that "Processions, cavalcades
and all that fund of gay frppery furnished out
Dy tallors, barbers and tireWomen, mechanically
lhnuence the mind into veneration; an empe.
ror III his nightcap would not meet with half
the respect OF an emperor with a crown.n
Inc only complaint made against our gracious
queen, When she visited Ireland, by some of |
her poor Irish subjects, was that ''she was |
lrefsed like any other lady, and had no crown |
on her head.n There is much worldly wis |
dom in paying some heed to the adornment !
Of the outer man. 1t is a good letter of |
but when 1t goes beyond that, |
and branches out into eXcesses of foppery, it |
becomes unmanly, and, as such, cannot be too |
much condemned. When young men are either |
SO helpless or tastidious that the constant pre-
senCe of u valet during their toilet is a sine q,lc
mn that the nnrtlnp at the hack Of
Requires as much attention as lady;s "bocI
hair" 1t Is time, indeed, that some such satrist
as the old Spectator should rise up and turn
them into Tidicule.
But Of all the fops in existence the old fop
is the most contemplate. man who has
outlived his generation; who trips like
Agag "deliCatey," TO hide the iuhrmties
OF age or affect a youth that has long
OF the day in his attentions to the fair seX who
dresses IN the very extreme of the prevailing
fashion OF the day, with shirts elaborately EN-.
bloidered, and wristbands fastened together
with Consp!cuously magnificent sleeye-links,
which he is always pulling down, either to
show them or TO establish the fact, which no
one would care to dispute, that he has a clean
shirt to his back; who is scented and perfumcd;
whose wig, taultlessly made, is judicIously |
spTinkled with few grey hairs that IL may ap- |
pear to be his own hair, when he has long |
ceased to have any TO boast Of who uses dyes |
and cosmetics that the marks of age may be |
obliterated and the bloom of youth initiated: !
who is in a futter of delight when any one con- !
yersant with his weakness Is kind enough TO |
mistake him Tor his own son or the husband of |
one OF his daughters; such man Is an object of |
both pity and contempt. When age is not accom- |
panied by wisdom, but exhibits only the folly |
OF which mans weakness IS capable, it lis ahope |
less case.
Dirty tops are an especial abomnation. Men,
young or old, who are at great pains to adorn |
themselves without the most scrupulous regard |
TO cleanliness; who wear many rings upon very |
washed fingers; who haEg them |
selves in chains of gold; whose shirt fronts |
present the greatest variety, at different times |
of the most costly jewelry; whose discolored |
teeth and iil-bTushed hair are revelation in |
themselves such men only make their defect |
the more conspicuous by the decorations with |
which they overlay II.
It is related OF grdnde dome who was re- |
markable for her wit and beauty, that she re- |
Jecteo man Of considerable note IN the world,
as well as an "eXquisite,n of his day, and who
was one OF her most devoted admirers, for no
olher reason than that she saw ensconced be-
tween MS teeth, Rhen he made his appearance
at breakfast, Piece of spinach which she bed
nouceu the eV ening before, 1T Is Impossible
iof any one, " lether man, woman, or ChIid, to
De TOO partcu IRr about cleanliness of person and
OF haOlts. lrl these days, when there are such
laclllles Ior washing, and when all appliances
are so easy OF attainment, 1t is perfectly mex
cusahle IN any one TO fail IN cleanliness; and of
all people the fop, who processes TO make his
person b. 5 study, is the most inexcusable if he
neglect tne fundamental principle OF daudysm,
winch s, in fact, its chief, If not its only re-
comm sudatlon,
IL Eas been said that the youth who is not
molC or less a dandy wall grow into an untdy
slO' Qnly man. There may be some truth in this.
In Aaed, we should be sorry to see any young
Il Su altogether Indifferent about his personal
,y,Dparance Ii is not that which ottends IL is
rather the excess to which it is carried; when
vl,a IL IL n