The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-04-09
The Empire Dress.

The Empire Dress.
THE ORIGIN AND THE DECADENCE OF THE CT.As-
sICAL COSTUME OF THE FRENCH REVOLT
TIoN.
Mrs. IIaweis in the Queenl
The dress called the Empire drew its
inspiration from ancient Greek art and,
being a reaction from a totally different
kind OF costuu in the last stages or decay,
caught the fancy OF the more educated
classes under the artistic direction Of man
OF extraordinary originality and force Of
character. Jacques Louis David, the
French painter and politician. Indeed,
the whole nation was then eager TO
reverse all that had been popular under
the old noblesse, and to cleanse both the
inside and the outside OF The platter
and warmly seconded the offers OF the
artists TO bring in new school OF art.
| Hence, manners and habits, furniture,
china, plate, iewelry, everything connected
with aesthetics, followed the new bent.
In the dress reform which took place,
greatly under Dayid's instruction, the
ada aptation of dress 10 the human shape
was aimed ar, instead Of the adapta-
ton OF the human shape to dress, rs
in the previous fashions. Sa'ed and DIS
gus,ed by artificial forms aud foul cor
!
! out for honesty, simplicity, candor,
cleanliness. EXtraneous aids, such as pad
ding, patches, powder. buckram, and paint
were cast aside as unworthy the elevation
of awakened minds. Scarcely Greek, per-
haps, this-at any rate, -uerodlng
Herod"; but the Greeks wcie sometimes
misconceIvcd by their admirers. However.
this was the modern view of the permanent
condition OF ancient Greece, and thev ium-
bled up Athens and Sparta somewh1t, no
douOt. Hoops. fulbelO0s, and their at
tendant miseTles, disappeared.
For the first time for many years the fem
mime shape became normal; beautiful gifis
gained credit for beauties which bad lately
been buried under mountains OF deception !;
the lovely complexion, hair, and limbs were
ACKNOWLEDGED IN due order of prominence,
the attitudes ana movements were natures )
own. cleanliness suddenly became fashlona.
HE. and the toilet became Scentless and
took up very little time. The stifi brocades
gave wav to the humblest fabrics, white
muslin or calico, printed with unobtrusive
dots, within reach Of the whole "Egallte."
| Beautiful women simulated the philnsophlc
candor statUes-the gown. very SIMPLY cur,
in fact like a nightgOw1 or long chemlse, ie:i
straight to the feet, slightly longer Denlnd
than in front or at the sides. A small SASH
or girdle confined the folds OF tins loose
gown somewhat above the waist, under the
arms, often brought across tue shoulder to
keep it in position, and tied before
or behind. For outdoor wear, straight
scarf "a faint and shrunkeu echo oi
the Greek himaliOn) was cast about The
shoulders. The sleeves were Nil, for q
shapely arm brOOked no disguise. The
small bonnet, helmet'saaped, offered d
slight. very Slight, protection To the eyes (;
and the shoes without heels were ralher
high, aud tied with small bow on tue iu'
steD. By this violent reaction from the pre-
yious fashion, now called "Queen Anne"
which was a regular domino, graceful
woman could appear graceful; clean SKIN
could assert itself as dark or fair-in fac;,
one could detect pretty woman al glance.
Bur-and this is noteworthy could
also at 2 glance detect an ugly one. WORD
for The poor, plain, or plainish ones! The
| clipping low gown was unmercliuI 10 an
attenuated frame, still more so to one uh'
| duly robust. The large wide loot had no
retreat; the thin red arm no shield; the
skin spoilt by the long use OF bad painis
the hair worn thin and broken by years oi
pulling over an unclean cushiOh ldISe
enough 10 weigh something conslderaDie-
these bad neither pity nor pallatlon. III toe
! beauties were beauteOus, then-the pain
| were likewise most depiorably and hope
ltssly una;tractiye. Woman, IN iact, was
severely, sayagely herself
| This was at the time of the Revolution.
about 1893. Sir Joshua Reynolds has lett
US some very graceful examples OF what the
beauties OF his day looked like under the
reformed costume before it became servlle
plagiarism, and the promise was farer than
its fu6lment. a long plain gown, the Sc
verify OF which was broken by an Indian
scarf swathed about the waist or falliDS
from shoulder 10 foot-the somewhat unde-
fined waist revealing the curves OF a hne
bust without aggressive display OF charms
nor any attempt to deny their exist
ence-lhe whole contour OF the h"-
IRE acknowledged. but soitened by
the natural fall OF loose folds, which adapted
themselves TO every attitude gracefully
enough when the attitudes were graceful.
Gilrav shows US the ''other side OF the car
pet"-his coarse caricatures give us the
vulgar and ill-shapen gestures and frames,
which naturally went side by side with
beautv-he shows us how little chance had
those many who are neither handsome nor
ugly OF receiving fair credit for their small
merits in a garb so painfully candid, ana
how the smallest approach to vnlgarity or
defect became nearly as disagreeable rs its