The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-09-04
DRESSMAKING AS A FINE ART,

l n a X L..
| Within the last few years there ha
been a great revival in many branches
of decorative art. The school of needle
work at South Kensington is rich il
designs for costly and beautiful hang
lngs. There are large number of eff
cient workers employed there, and some
of the embroidery produced by til.
ladies is extremely good. In many shor
windows are to be seen fine plaques Of
china and admirable tiles, while ever
the convicts at Woking turn out very
credltable mosaic. Wall papers have
reach the point of being really decora
tive, and the most fastidious person car
hardly fail to find something to please
him amongst the many patterns brought
out by competent people who have
studied the subject. 1t is now possible
to get both men and women SO we'll eau.
Gated in art and archaeology that they
are able to design appropriate furniture
to suit any given style of architecture.
It is surely time to try art dressmaking.
80 long as we were contented to follow
French fashions with regard to- the
furnishing of our houses it was perhaps
natural that our wives and daughters
| 1aI16.
Now that we have ceased to look across
| the channel for the patterns of our
carpets and clocks there is no reason
| why dress should not also be provided
at home in harmony with other decora-
tons. Ladies with delicate perception
and sufficient skill to know how to
furnish their rooms often express wish
that they could order their dresses from
the same artist who paints their rooms,
but as that is impossible, they 20 to
Mr.. Worth instead, and try to conform
their taste to the last new Paris whim,
no matter how ugly or indecorous it
may be. The fashions which have been
worn for the last six or seven years are
certainly much more picturesque than
those of the days of crinoline. More
care has been taken by the milliners
that colors shall be few and harmonious.
The wearing of black even by those not
in mourning has been very generally
one, and looks we'll out of doors, it is at
immense amount of bad dressing to be
seen everywhere which is quite needless,
and which would be simply impossible
if the art was at all understood by either
dressmakers or dress wearers.
Dressmakers, as class, are vulgar
and uneducated, with little appreciation
even its more obvious proprieties. They
have learned to load their work with ugly
and senseless frills which do not end |
with bows which do not tie |
and with buttons which are |
of no use, until their eyes are incapable |
of seeing or their minds of understand |
ing the grace of simplicity and the |
charm of suitability. OF what consti-
tutes true beauty in the female form
they are entirely ignorant, and they
adore q waist that can be spanned.
They think that q dress is a perfect fit |
in which lady can neither raise her
arms nor use her legs. Artificial flowers
and glass beads are the highest ideal of |
decoration and costly trimmings of art.
A novelty, However ugly, if stamped
with the approval of Paris, is accepted
without thought, but the suggestion
of some pretty design which has not
from that centre of frivolity
is at once rejected with scorn because it
has no "style." It is not uncommon to
see vigorous efforts made on the part of
some ladies to emancipate themselves
from the thraldom of fashion and to
strike cut line for themselves. Too
often these efforts are signal failures
from want of sufficient knowledge of
the subject. There are very few people
who have a genius for dressing them
selves or even the perception to know
what style suits them best. A good
design is spoi]t when badly carried out,
Or when the workmanship is not highly
finished. Laces of different periods and
countries are often ignorantly mjzsd up
together and sleeves of one century
worn with bodies of another. It is I'M
pleasant to see Stuart costume sur
by Victorian chignon or an
head dress finished with a
mob cap. Some ladies, too, will appear
in a medieval dress one day and in
Pompadour robe the next, giving one
The impression that they are using up
their fancy ball costumes. Every
woman has a certain style of appear
ance, and her dress should correspond
with it. In French fashions there is
generally great want of dignity
dignity of simplicity. To country
gentleman accustomed to see his women
folk in fresh muslins and clean prints it
is not little surprising to be taken to
The homes of some of the literary and
semi-artistic families living in and near
London. An atmosphere of mouldy
decay pervades the house, which is
painted in dark green blues. The walls
are hung with every conceivable absur-
where no candles are ever
lighted, go' gs which are not to sound,
curtains which have no purpose and give
the air of an old clothes shop. Whole
Inner services of china are strung on
the staircase, and everything is covered
thick with o black, oily dust made by
smoke, smuts, and fog. The poor girls
try to dress in way which they fondly
believe to be artistic, end end in looking
ike rag dolls. They tie the refuse of
Cairo round their waists, and wisps of
strange fabrics round their necks. Pea
cocks feathers eye us from unaccounta-
Die situations, and frills of old lace, SO
dirty as to be almost nasty, garnlsh
throats which would look much better
in clean linen collars. But clean linen
collars and cuffs have unfortunately no
lone they are incompatible with artistic
dressing. Then, too, tidy hair is mad
missible. There is another style of
artistic dressing which when badly done
IS almost as offensive as the withered
style. We may call it, fot want of a
better name, Free Classic. It is gener-
ally adopted by short fat people with
high shoulders. It consists for the
most part Of shapeless cream cofored
cotton or woollen robe with a gold
yirdle. On stout figures the effect is
oy no means attractive. A model attired
IN night-gown which has been properly
7amned and draped no doubt looks very