Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-08-21
TEE LAST FASHIONABLE ABB.
~ ~ ~, iSURDITY. ,.a, 'l..' a
ExtFAoFdfnary ReveIatfous- anInside
view Of R;asIatonnhle BeTIe- How
the Grecfan Bend Is Produced.

Correspondence Of the New York World.
'SARAToG1, AHgut 14.--The nights are
more absolutely than they ever we're, de
voted TO foliies the most fascinating, and
exhibitions of fashionable manners and al
tire 30 absurd, that il would seem as if the
taiiors and modistes had conspired TO
gefher this season 10 play monslrous joke
upon their patrons. Perhaps the dandies
are worth less notice than ever, The diff
ference between fop and a gentleman in
the United States is happily wide enough
to render it impossible that any sane person
should ever confohhd the tao. But the diff
ference between a female popinjay and a
lady is here defined by such a curious and
vulgar set Of pecniiari1es appertaining TO
the former person, that cannot forbear
70 describe them. Ia the frat place, toilet
II is affected, which of itself sufices TO
turn a woman in faAo dress into, earica.
ture. The body and waist Of the
dress are remarkable in only a8e respect
the last is exceedingly tight and the, for
Iner rather loose al the top and exceedingly
loR.l 1t is below the waist that what is
monstsous in the costume first attracts and
I then repeas the eyes of man. A hoop of
moderate dimensions, oyerspread with an
underskirt or two, and dress Of whatever
fabric, are worn. Underneath the rear OF
this hoop, gust below the waist of the per-
son designated, is bound Il coil ofgire from
two 70 three inches in diameter, which
"lhrows OUT and eleYates the upper por-
ton Of the dress behind, and forms the
foundation, 80 10 speak, Of on exterior pro-
tuberauce called the pdnier. The pGBier is
hustle, more or less enormous, upon
which, in successive folds or layers gath
cred up or confined by band encircling
the dress from the stomach of the wearer
around and beneath, an extra skirt reach
ing Just below the posterior, hsngs, or
rather ,"wobbles" to and fro. The dress
has train from four to six feet in length.
The posture affected in order to act. off
this attire, is called the " Grecian Bend, /"
a contortion of the body, which, az z is
highly improper in itself, / find it difficult
to describe with propriety. High-heeled
shoes dispose the wsarer to incline for.
ward, and high-heeled CATERS are, there
fore, adopted By the belle Of the season.
She is thus, the more readily enabled to
eleyateher hips unnaturally behind enhanc-
ing the aspects of the panicr, TO contract
her stomach, and TO form an S-like curFi-
ture Of her upper shape, by thrusting out
her chest, drawing back her shoulders and
bending forward her head. The latter is
crowned by hideous chignou, SURPRISING.
by several inches the thickness of the
shallow neither brain. So bent and de-
formed, the belle constrains her elbows
against her sides; and, with horizontal
forearms and little gloved hands dangling
from limp wrists tits painfully along.
The profile of such figure, and its un-
graceful gait, are irresistibly suggestive of
q, lame kangaroo. When it is whirled and
tossed aSs1ss;:t in a dance by one Of the fash
ionable jumpingjacks in black broadcloth,
who are here SO numerous and so much
alike that you can hardly tell one from
another, the sight-Woman's paHier and
the agile sidelong leaps of the jumping-
jack across the immense trail piled on the
floor--is too exasperatipgly ridiculous for
laughter. ge.. s. f... a .E.,s
1t has been con6ded to me by an elderly
woman with whom conversed at recent
ball, that the distortion Of the shape known
as the ''Grecian Bend" isquite painful and
wearisome, and that some girls adopt arti-
fetal contriyances to aid them ir preserv-
ing the posture for several consecutive
hours. "a belt is fastened about the waist,
under the skirts. From this belt, down
either side the hips, two straps, furnished
with buckles, descend, and are attached to
strong bands, made fast around the lower
thighs. As the buckles of the straps are
ughtened, the hips are drawn up and held
in positioa This" said my amiable in-
formant, lis q relief, of course, to only one
part ofthe frame. The construction of the
upper part has TO be preserved with no
other aids than The stays; and those often
render it the more difficult and tire
some. You perhaps notice another
peculiarity about some Of the ladies'
dresses. The bodies are not only cut
very low, but are 80 far from elinging
jealously to the figure as to seem to chal-
lenge the gaze of partners to that satisfaGf
ton in regard TO the reality of certain
charms, which it was formerly claimed by
marriageable bachelors that they were
denied. So gracious a condescension, on
the part Of our bellies" continued the
matrOn, in a tone tingling with irony,
"commends them, you will surely admit as
q far more honest and unequivocating set
than the haunts of fashion are usedtO beast
OFF, And, indeed, this claim might be
founded upon proofs even more striking
than the one alluded to. Nobody who has
been entrapped here, as spectator Of the
frequent displays of under-drapery on the
stairwsys and the edges Of verandas and
can doubt that many of the
embroidered hose and delicate laces which
adorn the limbs of the exhibitors were
donned as we'll for beauty as for wear, and
that the manner Of making graceful dis
closure of them is studied as a fine art.