The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-23
FASHION SIXTY YEARS AGO.
The Time when Waists were Shortest
and Murderous COrsets were I'm


Sixty years ago this great city. of New
York was. a moderate-sized town.
! Where now dwells the fashionable
world was then an unbroken country,
with here and there the hoEesteads of
old Dutch farmers, and what is now the
heart of the metropolis was then above
the confines even of fashionable prom
enade. In those days the Battery was
the favorite rendezvous, and Broadway
as far as the hospital the great thor
oughfare. No one ever thought of walk
ring north of Canal Street, where the
boys skated on goOd-sized pond, and
Pearl Street was the fashionable quarter
for residences.
Now, what did ladies wear who, in
that dead and vanished time, picked
their way daintily over the rough pave
ment of Broadway, or danced at night
in the Assembly-rooms? From Mrs. D.,
venerable dame who was herself a
great belle in those earlier days of the
century, have gathered full descrip-
ton of the costumes and fashions of
those by-gone times.
The earliest ball to which this lady
ever went was one given by the Dutch
Minister to this country in 1915. 1t
took place at Castle Garden, and was
held in honor of the entrance of the al
lies into Paris and the freedom of the
Netherlands from the power of the
mighty conqueror, Napoleon. 1t was
called the Orange ball, and, in honor
of the occasion, every lady display
ed orange color in some part of
her dress. Mrs. d., who was
very young at the time, wore simple
white muslin dress, extremely scant in
the skirt, and so short-waisted that the
belt was just below the arm-pits. On
this she wore orange-cOlored satin
shoulder braces, form of trimming
then much in style. Broad ribbon was
crossed on the back and passed around
the arm-holes, exactly like the braces
used to straighten STOPPING shoulders;
it was then twisted about the waist and
tied in a sash at the back.
When this lady first made her debut
into society, the waists were at the
shortest, and the classic STYLE" as it
was called, the prevalent mode. And
these excessively short waists were dis
agreeable and painful to wear, as the
belt passed across the swell of the
bosom, confning it unpleasantly. A
dress in those days measured two yards
and half at the bottom of the skirt,
and was gored upward until the little
fullness that remained was gathered in
by drawing-string at the neck. There
was one advantage about the style-cor
sets were unknown, and no lady laced
herself, as only the outlines of the fg-
ure appeared below the waist, and the
more natural they were the more fash
ionable. Indeed, every pains was taken
to show the lovely proportions of the
women of those days, and the revela-
tions of the modern ''pull-back" are
nothing to the lavish display of that
period.
No well-dressed woman wore any
thing but white muslin; winter and
summer those flimsy dresses were al
ways cut with low or at most only half
high necks. Beneath them was worn
only one scant white petticoat; even in
winter flannel skirts were avoided by
the faShionables. No starch was put
into either dress or petticoat, and some
ladies, in order to make the material
cling the better to the form one would
think already sufficiently revealed, actu-
ally had their dresses dampened, as the
last finishing touch, before starting for
"a ball. Truly their appearance must
have justified a rhyme which was popu-
lar at that time:
Ladies fair this gay garb dressed in
Look like, angel-like, and interesting.
One wonders why these bellies did not
positively freeze to death in the long
severe winters. The houses were heat
ed only by open wood fires, stoves being
almost unknown. And in rooms only
half-warmed these thinly attired ladies
lived. Worse yet, the ''modiste" length
of the skirt was just to the ankle bone,
and silk stockings and slippers were the
only covering for the feet, even to walk
on Broadway in the snow and slush of
midwinter. Pattens or clogs might be
put on to go out of an evening, but they
looked so sold maidish" that the gay
girls did not like to use them much.
There was one mitigation of the hard
ships of this dress-the outer garments
describes her street costume in one of
those years when she was a society
queen. NOver the white muslin frock
she wore a long scarlet broadcloth pc
lisse, which was fitted to the figure and
ornamented with small cape. Her hat
was very wide brimmed, made of white
satin, and crowned with ostrich feath-
ers- IA .---- -r-f -
One would think that this style of
wearing white must have been rather
troublesome, and l asked if it was ab-
solutely worn all the time? eyes, ="
Mrs. y. said, ''for dress always, winter
and summer" When she was a girl
her mother allowed. her to have three
muslin froeks week in the wash; for
morning or housework, French calicoes
were worn, but, as they cost dollar a
yard, they were quite expensive. Every
lady had also one dark silk to wear to
funerals, or if by chance the muslins
were not in order.
1t was at this time when scantness of
drapery was at its extreme that Miss
Patterson married jerome Bonaparte.
A cousin of Mrs. d. was at the wedding,
and when asked afterward to describe
the BRIDES toilet, replied: "All the
clothes she had on l could have put into
my waistcoat pocket Her dress was
of such a muslin, only richly embroider-
ed, and of extremely fine texture, and it
was said that beneath it she wore but a
single garment.
OF course, when white was so univer-
sally adopted, any device was resorted
to in order to give variety to the dress.
Various materials were used, null,
Nainsook, bishops lawn and India mus.
lin, which was extremely soft and deli
cate; none of these fabrics at all resem-
BILE our modern organdie, or Swiss, as
they were neither stiff nor wiry, soft
ness being requisite of style. l#
There were devices for covering the
neck, which fashion barred. Three
cornered handkerchiefs, of muslin or
lace, and small silk capes or squares,
were thrown earelessly over the shoul-
ders. A very favorite wrap was the
pelerine, a cape with long tab ends
this was made for opera wear, in pink
or blue silk, trimmed with swan's-down,