Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-11-10
MODERN DRESS.

The progress OF clNlllZalloH mas uc
vcloped the decorative tendencies III
every direction, but the original impulses
are found in all countries and i'll all
| times. The savage who shows Il curious
| taste in nose pieces and body paint is as
much a votary of fashion as the Parisien-
ne whose whole soul is concentrated
upon the effectiveness of her dress.
Both sexes have been equally weak at
| times in their slavish surrender to this
tyrannical despotism. But the males
] have in measure emanclpated them
| selves. The garb of our modern bucks
and bloods compares favorably with that
of the dandies and macaronis of the past.
| Their attire has some manliness in 1t ;
they are sensibly shod; the stutfs they
wear are serviceable and suited to our
| changeable seasons. 1t il no longer the
custom to swallow up a whole patrimony
in tailor's bills. The lavish employment
of the most costly materials has also dis
appeared. Silks and satins, except as
regards gorgeous socks or decorative
neckties, are left to women. The use OF
frils and jabots or rare Nalenciennes
has gone with full-bottomed wigs and
small-clothes of gold brocade. Men do
not wear shirts which cost f10 or ego
apiece, as they did when that sum meant
six or seven times its present value; nor
do they fix priceless jewels in their shoe
laces, or carry muffs of rare furs on their
hands. The present fashions are a dis
stinct improvement upon those of even
a more recent period. The tight-titting
| high-collared monstrosites of the Georg-
ian epoch went out with the King who
permitted a seam but called a crease in
| tolerable. No one, not the most fatuous
and empty-headed devotee of high col
lars and single studded shirts, would
| give 1.-THE of the time Beau Brummel
| devoted to his voluminous and largely
unsuccessful ties. But with the weaker
sex the reverse is still the case. While
| men have in a measure shaken them
| selves free, women are now, rs ever,
completely under the dominion of dress.
The passion is as old as the hills. He
brew wives and maidens laced tightly
and added fringes of gay colors to their
snowwhite robes. For them Il siste
| discovered in Solomon's reign the special
uses of the silkworm ace yer rampant
| qui habille Phomme de feuilles d'arbres
elabtrees dams son SEM" Egyptian
beauties, sitting under the shadow of the
| pyramids in the days of the Pharoahs,
sleeked and preened themselves before
| their brightly Furnished brazen mirrors,
heightening their charms with collyrium
| and henna, and trying new effects in
| costume. Artifice was resorted to by
| the ladies of Greece to increase their
beauty they, too, wore body bands and
belts to improve their figures, and it il
more than probable that the celebrated
| girdle of Venus was the germ and photo
| type of the modern stays. The Roman
matrons carried the rage for dress to eXt
travagant excess. The beauty Wild
would preserve her complexion slept will
-four poultice on her face; she bathed
in asses milk, and spent long hours al
her toilet braiding, dyeing and dressing
her beautiful hair, of which all the ladies
of Rome were especially proud. Hei
garments were rich and varied in color
if not in shape, but the coquettish taste
of the wearer could give endless changes
to the draping of the palla or stole
Later civilization has proved as fancifu
in matters of dress as the old. The Sc,
through countless generations has main
tanned the traditions handed down from
classical times. Soveregns set the fash
ions to the ladies of their Court; tn,
crowd followed suit and set sumptuary
laws at defiance. One Queen introduced
the bonnet a canon another the "sugar
loaf" head tie. Catherine de Medic
ruled French fashion with the most i'm
perious sway. She laid down limits
which waists should not exceed, anC
popularized cruel steel corset intended
to compass these dimensions. Our owl
Queen Bess was woman to the finger
tips as regarded matters of dress. Sh,
was fond of the most gorgeous apparel
and at her death her wardrobe was founo
to contain 5000 costumes. Her loya
female subjects freely initiated her ex
ample, and their fondness for colossa
ruffs stiff with the newly-introducet
starch for long-waisted gowns made O
silk, velvet, satin, taffeta or gros grail
brought down upon them much causti,
satire at the time.-[Mrs Armytage, il
the Fortnightly Review.