New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-03
LIFE IN PARIS.
TIER FROM ARsENE HoUssAYE.

,,rnSvsn,v cosruME-suMPTUARY DE-
CRIES.
,,.ov vpcuI,R CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBuNkl
p.p,s March s-The Countess dArmaillac was
,o,, 10 start for the ball of her children "ho
had not vet gone to bed came to say goou his"''
and see her in her fine dress
20. mamma how pretty you are when you arc
undrcssed." c.oss
"What do you mean-undressedF Inc Oo"N'''
lacked only her gloves and fan. H..
"Why you see, mamma, you nave ~ H">
below and so little above"
This childs speech brings US to the important
Question of Partisan follies one might nave hopeu
for moment that the disasters OF the war ana the
Commune would be for Paris terrible lesson which
wonld metamorphose the public morals. Some
reople did think that all the women were going
to invest in spinning wheels. They expected to see
nothing in the salons but mothers of family In calico
gowns made by the dressmaker round the corner
wearing hair but their own, renouDcing the pride
of high heels discussing no longer the DEGREES OF
fashion but elevating the dignity of woman by
daily good works going back to primitive virtue,
like q river driven by gorges back toward It's
source The gorges in this case were the catastro-
Plies which God had interposed in the torrent OF
evil passion.
There has been nothing Of the kind We must
certainly do justice to the women of Paris to the
heroic during the siege in charity and in suffering.
they sustained the courage of the men in the hour
of battle and the hour of death. History will give
them the palm. But this was only truce of their
passions. After six months Of sacrifices they re-
turned with renewed ardor to their habitual courses
Some had fancied there great gulf between
1870 and 1871. They passed light-footed over this
gulf paying il the tribute of tear But as soon as
they got over, and unpacked their sacs-de-nuit,
they found there the old "unbrded luxury OF
women satrized by Senator Dupin. And here we
have them again. more devoted than ever to their
traditional reckless extravaganza, running them
selves with careless grace, punging into the abyss
with an adorable abandon Never have
they had such dresses to wear, such
carriages toride in, such fees to amuse Them People
used to dance over volcanoes. now they dance over
ruins. The gay Neapolitans have never given balls
in the ruins of Herculaneum or POmpeii; the French
less gay perhaps, but more forgetful dance In the
shadow of the war and the wrecks of the Commune
as if nothing had happened. What would Juvenal
say to thisi lie would find his rude Latin at fault
And if he spoke in French all these pretty mouths
would laugh in his face. Where does this fellow
come from who loves neither women nor tiddles
His songs are stale. Let him go preach in the
desert"
If man of to-day were Juvenal in verse
Suetoaus in prose. he would find no hearers. The
fashOnp the true journals OF politics. Paris
leaves to Versailles the right of making speeches,
but reserves to herself the right of amusement
Formerly the Carnival lasted three days, ending
in Shrovc Tuesday. There little gayety, also,
at Mi-Car6mc. But now the Carnival lasts three
months and it abuses the meaning of the word to
plunge into every eccentIcity, every intrigue every
caprice There used TO be one Opera Bal-now there
are two. Formerly there only Valentino; now
there is Frascati. The Coscrie DIES Lilas, is
olaI ~ hall ithaca he
of Carnival Paris laughs, smiles, or grimaces in a
thousand places, from the pretty hail of the Puce
qui repi6iC to the pretty of the Smoking
Doll" Among these there are Incompatible enjoy
mentS-for inst ince the Undertakers' Ball-bu let
not linger! The common people have their
rendezvous like those of society. They are worth
seeing on Saturdays. wasting the hire of a weeks
work on Carnival fOlies Sunday they continue their
spree, and Monday they drink oblivion of their
poverty Why should they not follow the fashion
of the greati Do suppose the lower classes free
from the "unbridled luxury" of the lamented
Dupn. They have caught its oontagion. Every
Winter you can see on their way to the balls of
1.-The Star" tn trades unions of Paris in carriages,
white gloves, black coats low-neeked aud trailing
robes, hired hair and all the herbs of st. John on
their heads. At the Servants Balls, it is coats
and the dresses of our wives which serve but that
is the only expense which our dOmestics spare them
selves and us.
These are all innocent sports. But what terrible
games the women of fashion play when they go to
the Museum of Worth TO choose the armOr where
with to dazzle their lovers and eXasperate their
rivals The quotations Of dresses rise without the
least reaction have seen the time when dress
cost hundred francs i frightened the day
saw those Z" securities" at five hundred francs. AT
thousand francs, made up my mind-for you can
make up your mind about anything At two thou
sand francs grew uneasy for France; the women
were so pretty that pardoned them. like everybody
else. But at five thousand francs $1,000 stopped
following prices, aud washed my hands Of the mat
ter.
The silk-makers will say l am dreaming For
after all . yards of silk at 20 francs make only 800
francs Yes but the dressmaker knows very well
that am not dreaming. She compares herself
modesty with that great painter who, with 80 sous
of colors made picture of $1,000 francs. The ma
teria is nothing says the dressmaker il is the art
of fitting the science of smtng, the marvels of bows
and of laces. And besides, when you calculate %
wards il is because you do not know how to count.
half yard is enough for the waist and arms in
fact You need allow nothing for that for the dress
really begins at the belt. But dress cannot really
be said to be becoming unless it follows you for
quarter of an hour. People called it an exaggeration
when the fair Drouard occupied the entire stage in
Nile Thiriy-sir- Vrtpes. With that incompatible
train she only day or so ahead of the fashion.
Yesterday at the masquerade ball of Emile de
Girardin, the beautiful Countess de Ia Vaette, dis
gused as q haute gOmmelse set dangerous example
to all the women there her dress such a wonder
of pomp and emphasis. Before such dress, Louis
XIV would have cried "Sbe who wears it shall
be Princess"