Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-06-01
MALE ATTIRE.

AS tne world has advanced III age the
Ideas concerning clothing-the quantity
that shall be consumed in the making OF
any article, the quality of the goods to be
so used, and the mode in which it shall
be fashioned-have expanded and changed
until the present time the matter is so
uncertain, and subject to such IN alarm
ing extent to the tender morcies of the
fashion. .molders, that the garment Of yes
terday is to-day q source of amusement
Tor lack OF prevailing style. Possibly at
no time in the history of the world Of
dress has there been n period when such
variety lof shapes in the makeup of
mems clothing existed MS now. Constant
visits to tailoring establishments are con-
duciye to gray hairs and an early grave.
The freaks of fashion are such that many
men who have neither desire nor oppor-
tunity to keep track of alterations would
slmost welcome a return to the primitive
costume of the human creatures in the
stone age, if by SO doing they could avoid
dancing attendance upon fashionable
Knights of the shears and goose And,
indeed, judging from present appear
ances, it seems that the votaries of FASH
ion are slowly but surely returning to
first principles. True, it is not likely
that the primitive tig-leaf costume will
come into extensive use, yet the tight
pantaloons of to-day are certainly long
return step toward the chausses or tight
pantaloons with feet to them that were in
vogue until the sixteenth century. These
primitive unmentionables seem to have
been of Oriental origin, as, according to
historians, they appear in Phrygian cos
tunes, which, from cap to shoe, resmbled
the Anglo-SaIou. "The Amazpns were
depicted in tight leg coverings, as though
affecting male attire" says Plauche, in
his elaborate work on costumes. And
again: "They are found on Etruscan
vases, and especially distinguished in
Venetian costumes, from whence the
name pantaloons The articles of the
present day seem absolutely senseless. A
few years ago men censured the opposite
sex for appearing i'll trailing dresses that,
like the gowns oontemned by Chauccr's s
parson "trailed in the mire on horse and
exc on foot, as we'll of man rs of woman.
What shall the paragon of animals do
now to atone for his inconsistency in
bringing into uso long pantaloons, that,
Ill tue course of q days wanderinSs up
and down sidewalks and across muddy
streets, accumulate as much filth as did
any of tho trailing dresses. The man has
now no recourse unless he be SO lost to
all regard for appearances rs to roll the
Objectionable articles up at the bottom.
The most sensible pantaloons, after all,
were the knee-breeches, with stockings
and high top-boots, and for pleasant
weather, the pumps of our forefathers.
No getting up after nights tramp in the
mud and finding them coated with filth
for half the length of the leg, inside and
out. There would be less profanity in
this world if fashion could be hit upon
that would combine cleanliness with
style. A young man of the present age
made up after the strict fashion-plate pat
tern looks, rs to his neither extremities,
like sand-hill crane with clothes on. Nc
provision is madefor men with contracted
calves and expansive pedal termini. Take
an individual whom nature has blessed
with good understandings; place on hin
n pair Of these scant articles, with {
straight cut at the bottom, and the
amount of man that appears turned up or
the ground is enough to make one trem
BILE for the preservation of insect life
Again, select the same man, and place
upon him pair of trousers that contain
a little more cloth, and that have liber
al spring at the bottom to conceal a por
tion of the feet, and the objection disap
pears. Just as ludicrous are the exam
Piles presented by seeking the other ex
treme. Here is man going down Fourtl
street. He is SO fat that he is almost Il
broad ns he is long, and to complete hi
resemblance to dollar he has inserted
his legs in pair of what, from their out
line, might be adiudgcd meal-bags. On
wants to change the language a little an
exclaim with the dragoons in "Patience :
"Pray pray pray for happy mcdiur
that will suit all classes and conditions G
men"
, With regard to the coats and overcoat
of the present age, there are many stril
| ing points of resemblance with those wor
, by people of earlier periods. Coats wer
: not seen until the second half of the se'
9 enteenth century, but the term was in lie
G for articles worn by both sexes rs earl
! rs the thirteenth. These coats, howeve
T 80 say historians, bore no resemblance
the coats OF the present time, but wei
what we would now term gowns. In til
reign of Charles II. what bore some sin
y ilitude to the coats of to-day first appea
+ ed, and in an inventory of Kings clothin
dated 1929, is found the item of suit
. clothing consisting of coat, waistcoat an
Il breeches. These coats were long, reacl
e ing to the knee, and had square-cut sti
n skirt, and short sleeves reaching to or b
G low the elbow, adorned with lace al
. cuffs. The points of difference betwee
II those articles and the Prince Albert styl
y now 80 fashionable, are not SO alarming
70 ly numerous. Sacks, sacques, which n
IS at the present time designed e1clusive
e for women, would appear from histol
cal reference found in Il satirical poe
. printed in 1903, and entitled, "a Recil
q for Modern Dress" to have been used
~ men and women. Says the poet
ic "Let your gown he sack,
re blue, yellow or green"
T. The article was introduced from Fran
- into England in the reign of Charles
- ard was in fashion at the time the poe
/, above quoted was written. In satirit
, poem on the subject, written some yea
mi LITER and entitled advice to Painter
We young lover, whose fair lady is the su
n ject Of the painters art, says
III "Flowing loosely down the back,
he Draw with graceful art the sack;
q Ornament II well with simpng,
l., Flounces, furbelows and crimplng."
rs The same writer, in reference to
're stomacher, which at the close of the
teenth century was worn by both men q
Oh women, says:
m
,ot 'Let her breast loo. rich and bold
In stomacher OF gold;
'ne Let II keep her bosom warn,
Amply stretched from arm TO arm,
his Whlmslcally travelled Ger,
;s Here knot and then now'r;
ere The term coat has been the occasion
OF much confusion to various writer's, in
the much as for three centuries, according
my the best authorities, all upper garme
but were called "cotes." The gown was W
III by women, and was frequently dis
guished by the name it still bears
France-robe. Tho fourteenth centr