Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-12-11
MIisftIIareons.
Apether Plain falk on Dress.
BIZ A. v. B.

A Boston gentleman, who has written
. book on the subject, and may therefore,
be considered an authority. says it IS not
polite to dress better than You can Afford
Perhaps it may not be 80 much question
of p0liteness, though. as the term IS COM
monty used, as one OF propriety and right.
But there are other good reasons why
lady should shun extravaganza in dress.
Not to speak OF what one can afford, 1t 10
no uncommon thing to see female hgure
20 loaded down with profusion OF ex-
pensive and saudy finery that she becomes
an object Of marked attention on that ac-
count and makes herself ridiculous. Over
dressing is an unmistakable sign of
vulgar taste and lack Of good sense.
Simplicity in dress is prime desidera-
tum, and has been so regarded by persons
of correct taste in all times. Addison
says: IF ladies will take my word for it,
land as they dress to please men, they
ought to consult our fancy rather than
their own in this particularly | Tan assure
them that there is nothing that touches
our Imagination so much as beautiful
woman in plain dress" Here is the
secret; nor does plainness mean cheap
ness, or paucity Of trimming; one who
can afford it may dress richly and yet
plainly.
To dress appropriately one must take
into account all the conditions which go
TO the making OF becoming costume for
her and it does not follow that what is
entirely suitable for some other person is
the thing for her. To dress well is to be
In harmony with ones surroundings and
with ones self No woman can be sure
of attaining this happy condition who
trusts wholly to her dressmaker. or wears
fabrics, shades and ornaments that are IN
fashion regardless of what her own cast
of style may require. Every woman must
study what suits her own style; in other
words, she must put thought into her
dress. Nothing valuable can be accom-
piished without thought. and a woman
who applies her mind intelligently to the
subject, NAV dress on hundred dollars
far more suitably and beautifully than an
other who leaves the thinking to the dress
maker may on five hundred.
Artists insist, and rightly so, that the
human form itself, unaltered in its essen
tial outlines by any of the conceits OF
dress, is the true standard of beau y; and
In their eyes all attempts TO improve on
nature by changing those outlines are dis
tortions. Hence garments that conform
most closely to this same gracefulness are
most truly artistic and becoming. The
best exemplifica,ions of this idea are the
princesse dress and the long polonaise.
These costumes also admit of a form OF
trimming which has not changed essen
tally with the mutations OF fashion. This
10 kilt plating; or. in its best form, fine
knife nla,ipO which Is ALWAYS in style
and good taste.
"As an artist" says Mary Gay Hum
phreys II approve of the tints and the
harmonies which we now see in the shop
windows. Nobody can object to them.
/ don't see but that the whole matter (of
progress in artistic dress) is going on all
right, provided only that women forswear
hoops. II they go back to crinoine, then
the case is indeed hopeless" Here. then,
Is AN artistic edict against a repetition OF
the follies of ten years and more agD.
which were only new attack OF the hoop
epidemic known To the fashionable world
for centuries. For an old writer tells us
that the hoop has been known TO expand
and contract itself from the size OF n but
ter-churn to the circumference OF three
hogsheads at one time it was sloped from
the waist in pyramdal form at another
1t was bent upwards like an inverted bow
by which the two angles. when squeezed
up on each side. came in contact with the
ears. All the fashion journals have put
their foot upon this hideous uprising. so
to speak, and say it is very doubtful
whether the hustle and hoop-skirt will be
permanently revived.-Our Home Paper.