The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1872-03-28
Art in Dress.

10 man who has a quick eye for
the picturesque, or, let Us say, the APP
pr0priatc, the violations of taste lie
meets in modern drawing-rooms are
more than disagrccable-they are
ghnstly. am saying nothing about
indeccncy. That is hardly portion
Of my present subject. But why, ifa
woman has neck like skeleton,
must she tell the world so? Why, if
fate has made her grow stOuter than
it is permitted to he, must she squeeze
and fold her llut into tight low dress
because it is the fashion? Why must
she draw IL hard line around her
shoulders, that seems to cut her in
two, and wear sleeves which are
mere straps to keep her gown on,
without caring, without knowing,
whether her arms are models? why
must she wear trimmings Ofgrcat O'5
and KS and vandyl>es ON her skirt,
so that at II little distance the first
thing about her that strikes the eye
is the trimming? Why, if very tall,
must she take the arm Of a very little
man, and make herself and him look
absurd? Why will she draw atten-
ton to her want Of color by wearing
red or arsenic green" Why, with
red hair is her dress pink? Why,
when in a pale dress, does she lean
against the wall which the barbarity
of custom has papered with white?
Why, with black hair, does she carry
a heavy burden OF jet flowers, combs,
and impossibly thick plaits that make
her head look like an elephants on
an antclopc's body" Why will she
trust to the very moderate gifts na-
ture has endowed her with, to fight
against the most abnormal disadvan-
tages? Why why-but enough;
these are only some Of the insane
mistakes that nearly all girls commit,
many Of them girls with artistic
tastes and capacities, in every dircc-
ton except dress, whose eyes you
may see SHINE with pleasure III n sun-
set or bcan-ilowcr-which, never
theless, they .teadi y refuse to take \
hint from?
Very few women know what style
of dress suits them best, or what
colors even those who study the art
study it wrongly. One may often see
woman who has the makings Of Il
dignitied goddess sc poser en- cOquCUc,
or Il little creature attempt to be state
ly who can only be simple. The best
grace is perfect naturalness. Our
manners form themselves, but we
must form our setting of them. Ma
ture can do much but not every
thing. Art should do something.
You must choose suitable cOlors aad
suitable shapes for your dresses; you
must study the room you are to ap-
pear in, if you ever mean to look
right; and if you know what kind Of
room you are about to he seen ill., or
if YOU know that it is one of the
modern white and glaring draWiug-
rooms, Il plain black dress hut never
with low neck and short sleeves will
always be safe. The reason that an
ordinary low neck with short sleeves
looks worse in black than in any
| other color is hecalse the hard line
round the bust and arm. il too great
a contrast to the skin. y low neck
always lessons the height, and dark
Ircs. made thus lcssClis il still more,
; and it strikes the artistic eye Is cut
ting the body iii pieces, in this way:
If you see Il lair person dressed in Il
low dark dress, standing against II
light background some way of, the
effect will be that of an empty dress
hung up, the face, neck, and arms
being scarcely disccrnablc. On the
other hand, against II dark back
ground the head and bust will bc
thrown up sharply, and the whole
dress and body Will disappear. This
| aft ,ft.,, ,t,,utri, t.. ~,
bud. | you must wear Il low black
dress, let it be cut square, giving thc
height of the shoulders lUr better, the
angles TOHaiCd, ;or corners are very
trying, and have plenty of white or
pale gauZr, or tim black net, to soften
the harsh line between tie skin and
the dress. White gauHe or lace
softcnI down the hlarknc~s OF the
dress ut the edge Of the bodice, a-ld
thin black stutl has an equally good
!, effect, rs it shades the wh,tcncss of
the skin into the dark color OF the
gown. Oniy HGO' these conditions
does the sudden contrast enhancc, as
some persons suppose, the fairness of
: the complexion. Nature abhors sharp
edges. We see contrasts in flowers
and in marbles; but they are always
softcncd, each color stealing littic
of the Oth.r at the junction Of the
two. Even the sharp edges of crag
or house against the sky are seen by
practiced eye to gather some soften
ing grayness either from the sur
rounding colors or by more perSpcc.
tive. Trees grow thin ut the edges
and melt into the sky; in Il prsia,
of course, we see the tender ainalga
nations of hues more distinctly, the
secondarics lying clearly between the
primaries. Ruskin had noticed this
surely when he said, "All good color
is gradated," each mixed into the
next where they are contrasts UJNtG
JOuW0l.