Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1874-03-04
Touching TaflOrs.

primal pair in Paradise fabricated and
invested themselves with q certain kind
of clothing, although We admit it was
nothing to boast about. Costume OF
any kind, indeed, seems not to have
been much in demand among the an
clients while they dwelt in the tropics
but, when they wandered into colder
climes, they found that clothing was
very convenient hence in process OF
time, and in civilized society, the tailor
became a necessity.
Costume may be said to have q con-
trolling influence over conduct and
character. Dress a person well, and,
other things being equal, he will be the
more inclined to act well. Self-respect
is fostered and fed by cleanliness and
good clothing. Dress has undoubtedly
a moral effect upon the conduct negli-
gence of dress begets negligence of
address. Tailors, therefore, are among
those who conserve good habits and
manners, We all know the importance
of outward appearances and, since so
much of our success in life is often
covered up in broadcloth, it is polite
for us to keep on good terms with our
tailor. ''A tailor make q man? Ay,
sir, tailor % Titan on one occasion
was passing through street in Milan
in his working-gar all unnoticed by
the populace. He returned home, and,
arrayed in his courtly costume of pur-
pie velvet, reappeared in public, when
everybody did him homage. OaretuIning
to his studio he took off his long velvet
cloak, and, throwing it upon the ground,
exclaimed "Thou then, art Titan
so much for drapery p It was this
same Titan, who one day dropping his
brush, Charles ", who was in his
studio, picked it up, and, presenting it
to the astonished artist, said, "It be-
comes Caesar to serve Titan y Ii Titan
was nothing to the common people
without his robe, we see how very un-
wise it would be for any one else to
disparage his tailor. He it is, we must
remember, who helps us to cut good
figure in society and it would be
suicidal for us to cut him
By-the-way, the term tailor, being
derived from taller, to cut, is very
significant and suggestive of the fact
that. by the cutting of our clothes, the
tailor virtually determines our destiny.
He forms our habits, and these form
our characters, and character is destiny
1t is of prime Importance, therefore,
that our tailor's habits prove suitable
and proper, as well as profitable, before
we adopt them. For there Is not a
metamorphosis in all Ovid so wonderful
as that which the great magician of the
shears and thimble is capable of effect
ing. The tailor, therefore, it is evident,
makes the man, as Ben Jonson said !;
and, as many brainless member of the
beau monde has proved, Praxiteles
himself could scarcely do more than
the tailor.
The business of draping the human
form in the earliest or patriarchal ages
appears to have devolved principally
upon the daughters of Eve, the princi-
pal article of dress being an ample
wooden garment-a cloak by day and
couch by nigh.-serving, as it seems,
the double purpose, like Goldsmith's
stocking, which at night he drew from
his foot to place on his head. The
Saxons carried their own fashions with
them into England, and one of these
vet prevails there-the smock-frock,
which is the Saxon tunic without the
belt. The Saxons tenaciousiy held for
centuries to fixed fashion. The Danes
introduced fashions that sadly per-
picked the simple tailors of old Anglia.
The former, in the days of their pagan
ism, wore black garments when they
came to England, they even surpassed
ha q y
apparel. The Normans, to a great ex-
tent, adopted the smock-frock of the
Saxons. modifying it somewhat, and
lining it with fur for winter wear so
that the modern blouse, or wide-awake,
may be considered its legitimate de-
scendant.
In spite of the mutations of Time,
some of the distinctive Hveries of re-
mote periods still continue in vogue in
Old England. For example, the Thames
watermen wear the style of dress of the
reign of Elizabeth the royal "beef-
eaters" (bu6etiers) wear that of the
private soldiers of the time of Henry
VII. the "blue-coat" boy that of Ed
ward VI. and the London charity
children that of Queen Anne. The
costume of students of Oxford and
Cambridge dates back, We believe, to
the days of Mary the baptist while the
military red-coat is traceable as far back
as the Laced@monians.
We must not touch upon the curiosi-
ties of costume, however, although the
topic is tempting one. With some of
the butterfly voraries and fops OF
Fashion, to be out of the mode is dire
calamity; yet the gallant Sir Walter
Raleigh is reported to have once said,
in repudiating the use of excessively
gay garments, "No man is esteemed for
his fine attire but by fools and women"
Whatever may justly be charged against
the eccentricities of dress and its e1-
travagance in times when sumptuary
laws were demanded for their correc-
tion, we must not ignore the lavish
expenditure, unpicturesqueness, and
absurdity, of much of our modern ap-
parel. It is hardly fair, therefore, to
make fun of the figures of our fore
fathers when we ourselves cannot be
cited as models either of taste or
economy. Much has been justly claimed
for the representatives of the sartorial
art and manifold are the notable names
that have shed lustre upon their annals.
On the other hand, it is to be conceded
that much absurd raillery has been in
fiicted upon both them and the imple-
ments of their handicraft. Let us frs.
glance at some of the sarcasms referred
to. But what is there, forsooth, in the
insignia of their trade that any unpre-
JUDGED mind should take exception to
Why should thimble, thread and needle,
shears, and goose, be made the theme
OF ridicule? Or why should the indi-
viduals who represent the aforesaid
articles share in the general sarcasm
Is any one prepared to affirm that their
wit is not as sharp-edged as their shears,
or that their penchdnt for a certain
species of poultry is to be deprecated,
or that their ambition is to be deemed
a low one because it is not above but
tons? Fickle Fortune and false friends
may forsake us the doctor may poison
us with his doses and his drugs while
tho lauvar NAV DIVA ne mad with his