The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-11-01
FfCkLE FASHION.
some of the Costumes OF the Good Old
Times.
! HIsroY OF DRESS.

NV nat tne WOfiu WOuiu uuVe Deen
our first parents had escaped the pitfal
\ into which they were led by the
scheming serpent, it is difficult to cor.
ceive. The first change which resulted
I from their fall inaugurated, however
revolution of whose magnitude they
little dreamed, The adoption of the
! fig leaf was the birth of fashion, the
tickle goddess that has ruled the world
with an iron hand ever since. The
original garment was quickly i'm.
proved upon, and the simplicity of the
the first eOstuale was soon abandoned,
| for vanity followed fast upon the heels
/ of modesty, and dress became a means
of personal adornment as well az a
covering. An exhibition which should
iEcomprise every vagary of the tailor
and milliner, says writer in AL The
Year Round, from the dawn of history
to this present year of grace, would be
great indeed. k5.Llf
THE SKINS OF BEASTS,
Mentioned in Genesis as the raimeiit
OF our first parents, take precedence oi
all the materials for wearing apparel.
They furnished the winter garb of the
wood-stained Britons. They supplied
a covering for several of the wild tribes
| that followed the polyglot host OF
Xerxes in its expedition against Hellas.
Hercules degned to don the lions
skin, and Bacchus that of the. leopard.
The pear-throwing heroes Of Hof11er,
in lehene against white walled Troy,
lay down to rest, wrapped in shaggy
| capotes of goat skin, such as their rob
ber descendants, the Klepts of the
mountains, still affect. The brown
bear skin was bed and mantle in one
to the Norseman, and that of the white
hear was. held too precious by early
converts from raganism to be used for
meaner purposes than the coverings of
some high altar. The skin of the seal
is the only available resource to pro-
tect the Greenlender from deadly cold,
| as the reindeer gives clothing, food,
and means of locOmotion to the Lap
lander. The OpOssum rug of the Aus
| tralian black, the karOss of The Kaff1r,
| the sheepskin of the barbarous hOrdes
| who once ranged over at least two-
thirds of the vast empire of Russia,
were in a manner prescribed to them
by the circumstances of their cOndi.
ton. Turkish family tradition repre-
and the bleached buffalo robes of the
North American Indians, soft and
stamped in variegated patterns, as well
as their deerskin vests, gay with tinted
embroidery, with beads and shells,
with stained quilts and cOlOred sinew
threads, show how much can be done
by taste and skill to beautify the hum
blest materials
LINEN AND WOOL
Old Europe. the Europe of Gaul and
Greek, of Etrurian and Iberian, was
clothed in linen and i'm wool, the latter
predominating. Western Asia wore
much wool, and little linen. China
added to wool and cotton her exclusive
treasure of silk. Egypt had flax and
cotton to supplant the fieeces of Cos
hen. The Boman gown, the old
fashioned virile toga, was, like the
belted plaid which Campbell and Cor
dons wore before the invention of the
modern philabeg, adapted either for
peace or war. The Quirites literally
girtled themselves up for battle or broil,
and it was only in quiet times that
sweeping garments were to be seen.
The killed Greeks entertained a pecu-
liar antipathy to the loose robes and
wide Oriental trousers of the Persiail
foes. Such articles of attire were, in
Athenian eyes, the very badge and
symbol of Medish tyranny, and the
comic dramatsts spoke of them as
English satirists of the latter Stuart
reigns alluded to the wooden shoe that
/ typified French Influence. At more
| subsequent date the broce3 of the con-
quered Gauls, Odious and absurd in
Roman estimation, came to be regard.
ed as the distinguishing mark of a
| barbarian.
| CLASSIC DRESS.
From mutilated statuary, from fres.
coed paintings, marvelously preserved
beneath the ashes of Pompeii and the
lava of Herculaneum, We can exc out
the verbal descriptions which have
/ come down to us from the writers OF
antiquity, and for fair idea of how
! the woman of classic times were wont
to dress. The flowing drapery which
they wore was certainly graceful, but
scarcely convenient, while the ap.
parently unstudied arrangement OF
| those folds cost much toll and many d
sharp reproOf to the slaves who acted
as tiring women to the ladies Argos or
Auuileia. We find at this day gar
ments not very dissimilar in universal
use, not merely in India, south of the
Nebadda, where Mohamedan modes
have never made way with the mon
Moslem population, but also in Bur-
NAH and Siam. Various mOnastic or
ders. Capuchins and Carmeiites above
all, have kept at the habit of their
obedience tOlerably accurate copy OF
the costume worn by the poorer sub
jects of the Eastern empire during the
three or four first centuries OF the
Christian era. The brown serge cloak,
the cowl to shade the head and face
from the fierce sun, The rough but
serviceable girdle of plain rope, and
even the hair shirt Which We identity
with the asceticism of the anchOritel
were borne by many not as yet weaned
from the Old faith of once imperial
idOlatry. The poor man of Syria, Of
Egypt, and of Lesser Asia was indeed
somewhat, in his hardy and abstemi-
Gus method of life. given to mortify
the flesh. Gaulish and Umbrian
munks, on the introduction of the
austere Eastern discipline, regarded as
dire penance and uncomfortable priva.
ton the meagre diet and coarse appare
| of their more stOical brethren near the
Nile.
THE ROMAN PURPLE.
Romans of rank, if they had one
darling weakness, manifested it in
their passion for purple. 1t was no
merely because the dye Of the Tyriar
shell fish contrasted we'll with the
prevalent whiteness of classic gar
ments. but because the purple hue wa.
sacred to Caesar and a reflected glory o
imperial dignity clung about those
whose high stations gave them tht
privilege of bordering their gown
with a stripe, more or less narrow, o
the courtly color. Never did the en-
We'd scrap of red ribbon that decorate'
a Frenchman's button-hole occasion
prouder delight, and angry heart burn
ings, such eager lODgings as did th'
concession to wear purple among
the masters of the world. Even th'
pearls of the Orieut, brought by Alex
| andrian keels to the harbOrs of NeapO
1 lis and Ostia, hardly fetched highe,
price, weight for weight, than tn
precious pigment for which th'
fishermen were ever seeking among
the lone rocks where once had stOOt
the Venice of Syra. Alaric's demand
the ransom of besieged Rome, coupled il
with Hall the purple," gold, silver ant
slaves for nothing, every mart, iron
Gades to the Persian frontier. Stump
tuary laws limited its use within sucl
I;x~.;ts that had fhoro not hoo,