The Portland daily press., 1883-07-10
Fashions Whim.

The whims of fashion are said to be good
for trade They certainly speed the circala-
ton of money. But the summer of prosper
ity they create is nearly always followed by
very hard winter. Great manufacturing
Interests sprang in France and England out
of the revival, by the Empress Eugene, of
hoop petticoats. In a day they collapsed.
The industrial crisis which the fall Of ''crin-
oline" brought about was indirectly due to
NJ Rochefort's theatrical felow-worker, a
confectioner of the Rue de la Paix. He
placed in his shop windows two large dolls.
One was the first consuless (afterward EN-
pressl Josephine, in the slim elegance of he
fashion, which she had Invested of its origi-
nal meagreness, into which she had infused
peculiar grace. The other doll was the
Spanish lady who had been elevated by Ma
poleon III. to the imperial throne. She was
ro5ed in crude Metternich green, trimmed,
in geometrical pattern, with purplish Ma
genta red The bonnet, parasol and mantle
were in the same tone, and crinoline gave
vida expansion to the skirts. Caricature lay
in contrast. All Paris went to see the two
dolls, and was amused by the ingenious
manner in which NJ. Rochefort's friend at
tackled the empire. The court people en-
joyed laugh as we'll as those who were in
opposition. At the next Monday evening
dance, the empress and her ladies were all
IN toilets. Crlnoline was at once shelved,
and cries of distress were sent up from ST.
Etienne and Birmingham, which manufac-
tured steel hoops, slender and elastic, for
petticoats. The fashionable wbim, in virtue
of which gentlemen in the evening appear in
society ungloved, has destroyed one of the
few manufactures which does not break up
the operatives home. The masculine hand
is now only gloVed in the morning and at
race-courses. A strong kind of old-fashioned
CANT cavalier is alone permissible. 1t is the
glove which appears as an accessory in many
OF Vandyke's portraits, and which was worn
by Louis XIII. when he went to hunt.
Paying, this afternoon, a visit to the ed
itor of journal, at his office, / noticed
there largeidressing-table with water-tank
In porcelain. Repeating a joke of Roche
forts, about NJ Cazots indifference to SOAP
observed, "You are not in the same case'
He said: "As we do not wear gloves any
longer, | and my sub-editors must often
wash our hands" Ladies have only re-
nounced white kid gloves. In paying visits
of ceremony, they may on white Swedish
gloves, with toeir heraldic bearings painted
or embroidcr rd~oa the back of the hand,
near the wrist. The glove now follows in
tint, evening as well as morning, the color
OF th9fdress OF harmonizes with it, AT the
old esTert OF france, ladies only were gloyed
when riding out or travelling. The glove in
society was device of Josephine to hide
the coarse arms of marshaps wife, who
had been laundress. The Duchesse d An
gouleme had an old-fashioned prejudice
against gloves, But the veins were prom
inent in the backs IF her hands. and, rings,
of which jewels she was fond, accentuated
this ugiines so she wore lace mittens. In
Louis Philippe's time, the waltz and the
polka dances. unknown In France under
the ancient monarchy, rendered gloves
obligatory. Nearly every one who was not
stiffened with age and infirmities danced I'M
der the Bourgeois king. Respectable fami-
lies used to take their country cousins to Val.
entino's TO dance and finish the evening with
gay supper The taste for dancing
is extinct. When fashionable lady gives
soiree dansante, her great trouble is
to find partners for the girl guests
Young married ladies more enjoy
quiet Irritation than gyrating round ball
room. Young dandies dislike the physical
consequences of the gyration-the flushed
face, the too moist forehead. and the disor-
dered hair. 1t is only the 12-month yolun-
teer who is really useful in ball room.
His readiness to do, in a cheerful spirit, any
thing which his hostess orders him is to be
explained by the hardships of his barrack
life