Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-05-22
ODD FASHIONS.
Stealing Wigs-Thc Devotion TO
Brass RuftonS-VyhRt Fashion
MAY Not Revive.


Brass Buttons-Whst Fashion
May Not Revive.
New fashions lead to new crimes. Tn
other day some rascal followed a iadl
and stole her chignon. Perhaps this in
human form of theft viii become populal
With the 'sconveyancers'' of White Chape
aud the New Cut In the days of Charlie.
and James, wig stealing was no. uncom-
mon; wig was worth thirty or forty
pounds then, for cascades of blonde ul
sable hair were the necessary adornmcnis
of the men of fashion, and il was the
custom for the court gallanis to comb
them cOmplacently even during the
pauses of comedy. The wig robber
was a crafty fellow In his generation, and
generally carried on his back a broad bas-
ket with a lid. In this basket q small
boy lay hid. In crowd, or any conven-
lent place, the boy would lift up the lid,
snatch off the nearest wig, and at once
drop down under covert. The astonished
coxcomb with the bald head would stare
round him in utter dismay at the sudden
denudaiion he had sustained, but never
guess the hiding place of the thief. The
chlgnon is easier to steal; it is q ripe fruit
growing on the back of every lady's head,
and ready for the spoilers hand.
Can the new dress coat with the gilt
buttons lead TO any new crime Well,
we trust not, unless some traveller, ven
turing among sayages, be murdered for
his buttons-which the untutored Child
of nature shall mistake for gold. But
whence this sudden devotion to buttons?
Why this return to part of the costume of |
fifty years agol The costume reminds i
most of us of those old gentlemen who in 1
our youth were remarkable for wearing /
two waistcoats, the inner one red, Just |
such coat, frilled shirt front, and |
naDkeen brooches, and who delighted in
heavy punches or seals. These were the
men who occasionally powdered their
hair, and effected the manner of the old 1
regime. Munden, we well remember,
IN one of COlman's comedies, used to |
make great point of slowly removing |
the silver paper from the gilt buttons of |
his new coat. He did it with extreme
JUNCTION and delicious self-complacency.
His face was discovery in physiognomy.
But surely, if we must needs go back to
Old types, We might as well have gone |
further, and resumed the deep-collared !
coat, embroidered waistcoat, knee
brooches, diamond buckles, and black | {
silk stockings of an earlier period. | s
This dress, with the hair simply powder S
ed and tied back with ribbon, was, as | I
5trothard's pictures amply testify, espe-
cially manly, graceful and becoming.
The morning dress of the same period, /
with close fitting top boots and brooches,
he getaway coat buttoned across the f
breast; and the low crowned, broad | t
hat, was perfection. Io
There is no knowing in these DAYS of | il
'estless luxury what fashion may not re- C
i've. Powder is already much used this S
eason in Paris; probably it will not be q
ong before 1t blows over here; and as for | C
,aint, it has been looking up for a con- v
iderablc time. In the abstract, nothing, s
must be confessed, seems more absurd | g
han to conceal the golden sheen or silky | g
'lackneSs of Women's hair under a snow | fl
hover OF scented flour. But in practice Il
be result is far from unpleasant. Go into / b
flour mill and see robust miller at | V
york; you will then at once observe what t
value the rose color and healthy carna- il
ion of his complexion gain from the b
7hiteness Of his hair. Certainly his eyes v
)ok richer and darker from the contrast, | "
nd the result is an 1thetic gain. At ali a
vents, powder is better than the goli dust
sed TO spangie the hair of French ladies'
Ome seasons ago. That fashion savored | a
DO much of the days of the Roman en- Al
resses, when careless slaves were some te
mes thrown into tanks to feed the lam | d.
reys. Gold dust Why, the glistening 81
f tress Of golden hair, untempered by n
ny such sOphistries, eXcels metallic gilt 5
er as much as a sunbeam transcunds a | a.
freak of yellow paint. h
There is no knowing what may not be | e.
cvivcd. Perhaps the peascod doublcrs | "
f Raleigh's time, the sleeves hung with g
lit bells of Richard the Seconds period, | "
be tght-ftting cote hardies and broad | e.
ewelled belts of Edward the Thirds
ar0ns, or the cooked hats and the three
er wigs Of the Georgian era. The C;
lreeks had other views about these mat u
ers. They never changed their style Of 6
ress. The plain robe and tHnic of II
'hidias resembled the robe and tunic of a
the peplum of Helen hung G.
D similar folds to those of the peplum of "
Aspasia. The Greeks never grew tired of a
be simplicity and the statuCsque curves of s.
he dress their first sculptOrs had immor- Il
alised What would they have said to
he 'Grecian bend, that las distortion Il
f folly and affectation! The purest | b
Zeal of the way q woman should n
walk is the manner in which q L
milk girl carries her pail-crect, Il
uOyant, elistiC, the bosom thrown for o
7ard, the head up. Put such u child of | s.
ature beside young lady walking in the G.
bSurd way now fashionable 1t matt RS h
lite whether the modern belle tries to Il
walk SO, or whether high-heeled shoes "
,rOduce in her that Chinese helplessness. G.
)ne would think she was trying TO play q d
ort of female pantaloon, as she minces tt
Onward with pretty hclplessnesS, some n
orm of special disease being induced by b
very step. Farewell to what French q
ynics call ''the grenadier stride" of Eng W
ish women. Women totter forward o
low, they do not walk. The French ri
shuttle" and the Spanish 'slidc" are di- "
inc compared with such style of walking b
S the Grecian bend produces. The II
bend is ungraceful, unnatural and I'M
healthy. But it is useless 70 demonstrate
IT rcylle No folly in dress was ever C
aughed down. What did Hoga1h do II
grinst the absurdities of his day. Moth b
az. 1t is supposed that women's tickle u
ess in dress arises from a desire to please Y
nan. If it does, how is it that folly in q
ress never alters one hour the sooner for c
Il mans ridicule or dislkel "