The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1883-03-02

How the Bellies and Bsaux Of That Tim.
Appareled Them ss,lv.s

"" s"o oehes ANA Beaux Of That Time
Appareied Themselves.
From the New York Evening Post.l
We saw picture recently describing
the style OF dress worn by gentlemen
sixty-five years ago, and beside a wom-
an arrayed In the prevalent fashion of the
period. TO our eyes of to-day it would
at once be set down as caricature:
and monstrous, wicked caricature, at
that. But the printed description that
accompanied the graver's art corrects
such an impression. 1t was an honest
portrait of the accepted style of that
day. The query, how any rational Great
ure, with freedom of choice in the
selection of suitable and becoming APP
parel, should consent to clothe himself
or herself in such a shocking gliise, is
only to be solved by falling back upon
the mysterious abstraction Which goes
by the name of Fashion. The man in
the picture was drawn as a very tall
and very lean, lank gentleman. with his
back to the reader. His coat, the col
lar of which was on line with the top
OF the shoulders, and tightly encircling
the base of the neck, was fash
reached no lower than the middle of
the back, from which depended two
scanty skirts which tapered gracefully
to point, nearly reaching to the heels,
and provoking the guess that the pat
tern OF the garment was suggested by a
partially-opened pair of BARRIERS shears.
The lower limbs were SO tightly in
cased in trousers or so obscurely drawn
that the doubt remains whether the
artist had not forgotten to complete his
sketch in this particular, leaving wide
margin fol the on-looker's imagination
to fill out at his leisure or discretion.
Two large buttons, which no doubt
would have shown as gilt metal had
printers ink permitted, showed where
the waist began and the back ended I;
and the browning grace of this memento
or monument of fashion Of sixty-odd
years ago was the hat of the stove-pipe
variety type of that which still lin
gers on Broadway, despite the fact that
it has been set upon by innumcrable
hosts of men who despise and condemn +,
and-wear it. If the man struck one
ut first sight as ludicrous or impossi-
BILE travesty of the gentleman of the
day, generous stretch of credullty
must be summoned in contemplating
with features i'll repose, the picture OF
the contemporary woman by his side.
Doubtless in her day, as we behold her,
she prided herself on the beauty and
artistic display of attire, and possibly
disparaged in her mind the jealousy or
envy which she was not conscious OF
meaning to arouse in the minds OF
women less favored 10y fancy or fortune.
p The picture gives us woman drawn
after the Grecian type, with bend III
it which makes the fashion of dozen
years ago seem natural. and far from an
extravaganza or ungraceful curvature OF
the body. The waist of the gown was
nearly on a line with the arm-pits, and
the short kirt-bell-shaped and bal
loony-was sharp reminder of tn,
widest days of crinoline. The sleeves
of the dress were in keeping with tho
style of trousers supposed TO be worn
by the man beside her; and the bonnet
which, unless the artist was lacking IL
a sense of proportion, occupied more
space in the world than the wearer, was
of the coal-scuttle variety, that out-scut
tied any specimen of head-gear that the
modern world of fashion has ever worl
uitp oSca1