The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-08-10
WEEKLY STATESMAN
Luce Gossip.


Pictures and engravings of the time Of
Louis the Fourteenth bear witness to the
profuse employment of lace Weeping
rufles, and the jabot, or breast frill, came
into fashion under the Grande MOnarque.
Ruffies, like all new fashions, were laughed
at by the sstirists, who explained that they
were worn by sharpers 10 facilitate the
manipulation OF cards and dice, and pre-
tended that many wearers OF gay ruffies
were actually shiTtess. There appears to
have been some foundation for the latter
sneer. The Marechal de RicheHeu-who,
all warrior, astronomer. and lady-killer as
he was, could not spell-thus wittily ex-
planned his mental condition, "They sup.
piled me with no shirts, but have bought
me some rufilss." There were various kinds
of ruffies for grande and demi-toilete, for
night and day, and many Of them cost large
sums. The archbishop Of Cambray pos
sessed four dozen pairs Of the costilest kind,
and poor LOUIS the Sixteenth, the year be-
fore his death by the guillotine, owned
ffty-nine pairs twenty eight OF point,
twenty-one of Valencennes, and ten de
scribed as Angleterre. Everybody had
Tuffles-nobles, sharpers and lackeys-even
Monsieur de Paris, the executioner, mounted
the scaffold in velvet suit provided with
poiDt-lace, jabot and rul1es. Madame de
Crequy. describing her visit to the Dowager
Duchess de la Ferte, says that when the
lady received her, she was lying in state
bed under a cOyerlet Of Venice point made
in one piece. 81 am persuaded, 4" she adds,
''that the trimmings oil her sheets, which
were OF point d'Argentan, were worth at least
40, 900 CROWNS" To such a pitch had the
taste for lace-trimmed linen reached that in
1889 when the eldest daughter of Louis the
Fifteenth was married to the prince of
Spain, the bill for these articles alone
amounted to f25. 000 to the horror of Car
dinal Fleury. Nearly half a century later
Swinburne writes from Paris: 1.-THE tros-
seau Of Mademoiselle de Maintenon will cost
a hundred thousand crowns. The expense
here of rigging out bride is cquaLto a
handsome portion of England. Five
thousand pounds worth of lace and linen is
a common thing among them" Towards
the latter part of the reign Of Louis the we'll
beloved, French point was rivaled by the
Flemish laces, generally termed Angleterre
in France, and Mechlln in England. Ar
! gentan and Aleucon were pronounced winter
laces, the lighter pillowlace being deemed
more appropriate for hot weather. Madame
Dubarry's lace accounts give grand idea
of her consumption of Apgleterre and Mali
ness. When the star of Marie Antonette
rose on the murky atmosphere OF the French
court, a tremendous reaction set in favor OF
simplicity. Indian muslin supplanted the
fine point of the old school, and the lace
makers of Alencon actually set themselves
to work to initiate the inferior laces made
on the pillow. At this period the rich
garnitures shrank to narrow edgings-semt
de EOis -the only article of lace which es.
capped degradation being the lappets worn
on occasions Of ceremony. Whether OF
point or pillow lace, these were always rich
and handsome, and their arrangement was
rigidly prescribed by the etiquette fol-
various occasions. .