Ellsworth American., 1881-01-20
Art and Dress.
GGood Words. 4

Scarcely of less Importance than sex and
age are the height, size, and general pro
portions of the figure. Tall and stumpy
figures cannot with impunity be dressed in
one pattern, the stately lady sweeping
through marble halls can gracefully carry
queenly robes that would crush the little
lady dwelling in cottage. The present in
clination is to treat dress as drapery, and to
consider the one as simply utilitarian, and
the other, as if of necessity, supremely ar
tistic The points of the figure are used as
pegs whereon to hang out decorative fabrics,
and possibly Sartor Resartus might stigma
tie our living ladies as lay figures and our
intelligent men as stalking clothes-horses
Some dresses are for sitting or standing
only, some for walking. while others reduce
the free action of the figure to physical en-
durance. A lady making a morning call
was asked to take a seat, but she begged to
be excused, because having on a walking
costume, she could not sit down Yet ma
ture, in building up the human frame had a
more extended scheme, which fashion would
do well not relentlessly to thwart. As to
the length of dress, that will much depend
upon whether the feet are of a beauty
deemed to be worth displaying; if inviting
permitted like little mice to peep in and
out" hence some ladies wear gowns always
short when other peoples are long, and 90
about holding them up above the highest
ter-mark in fine weather" The shoulders,
which call for at least as much anxious care
as the feet, admit of varied decorations. as
with scarf. shawl, mantilla, veil, robe, toga
"A black lace scarf carries an air of re-
spect, which is in itself protection A wom-
an thus attred glides on her way like a
small close-reeted vessel, light and trim,
seeking no encounter, but prepared for one.
Much, however, depends on the wearer; in
deed, no article of dress is such revealer
of the character. Some women will drag it
tight up to their shoulders and stick out
their elbows in defiance beneath. Such are
OF the independent class with strong opin-
ions. Others let it hang loose and llstless
like an idle sail, losing all the beauty of the
outline both moral and physical Such
ladies have usually no opinions at ALL but
none the less a very obstinate will of their
own" A real lady hits by intuition the
happy mean; she does not put on a turban
to drink tea with two people, or an innocent
white frock for a party of POO" she does
not appear as a milliner popped out of a
bandbox, or as an artist stepped from a pict-
ure, or an antiquary, kept usually as
curiosity under a glass case she moves at a
respectful distance from the extremes of
fashion, and though society does not know
what she mas on she is not in danger of
being mistaken for either Aspasia or Queen
Anne. What she wears, though perchance
homely, is always good; not scrap of
tinsel or trumpery appears upon her; "she
deals in no gaudy confusion of colors, nor
does she affect studied sobriety, but she
either refreshes YOU with a spirited contrast,
or composes you with judicious harmony"
And the secret Of her success simply con-
sists in knowing the three grand unities Of
dress-her own station, her own age, and
her own points. And no woman can dress