Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-06
FASHIONABLE 1srMoDEsTY.
Points About England's Noted Beauties.
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Points About England's Noted Beauties.
L0ad0n Litter.
Take the family portraits which hang
in the picture galleries OF all great
bouses. and we are driven to admit that
vrbatever else Of womaTly virtue our
granImotbers and great aunts possessed,
modestv was not one 81 them, and that
The study Of female asnatOmy was as ad-
vantage0usly prov ded by the paintings
81 GainsbOrough and Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds as by the TSritings Of Dunglson ana
Hunter.
But 10 come down TO our own time: In
ENGLAND tho, female evening or fun dress
il and aIvSavs has been, de rlgueur, decol-
Iete. IL Is the established court dress Of
the Fnrliish Court. and there never has
6oo,, : seov-araiern s. strict in the rules and
,,eo11I stions winch enforce its observance
80 S,Ueen Victoria. The Queen herself
~ brsr 1,ssf DAYS was never alarmingly re-
Iuctant as 70 the extent Of her own dis
nIav Of those wOmanlN charms with the
possession Of which she is in no small de-
rec accredited. Her daughters, too,
when in eTening dress, are quite lavish in
an exhibition which leaves but little to
tho Imagination. Especially may this be
said 70 be the case with the Princess
Louise And, indeed, she can hardly be
blayped for not seeking TO conceal one Of
the most rounded, plump and satiny necks
and pairs Of shoulders and the most bill
Iogvy Of bOsOms in the United Kingdom;
udthatis saying good deal. Certainly no
Inen object to the gracious view she gives
them. and what women may say is Of course
actuated by jealousy and spite. doubt
il LabOuehere has ever seen the Princess
Louise in a lOw-necked gown. If he ever
had he wouldn't have another word to say
against the custom.
The Princess of Wales, on the other
hand, makes a great mistake in dressing
so low as she does. In many harmless
things an avOwed prude, her bodiees are
not only among the most decOllete in
England. but she has a way of hosting
up her shoulders that, aside from giving
the appearance Of effort on her part TO
crawl through, shows the complete con-
tour Of both arms between the top of the
bodice and the shoulder Joint. One could,
perhaps. forgive this trick if the result
was satisfactory in other respects. But
her neck is bOny and scraggy to degree.
What surprises one most is that she should
be as fond as she is Of being photographed
in a semi-statuesqUe fashion.
GLADYS, Countess Of Lonsdale, has a
beautiful neck. aud bust which, to once
see as she gTaciOusly cOndescends 20 un-
veil il, would make one regard as a
species of vandalism any movement OF
fashion directed TO even a soupcon of its
future Obscurity. Mrs. CORVALLIS West
is now getting decidedly passes but in
her best days, about three or four years
ago, she dressed as dec0llete as-well, as
decOllete as everybody dresses now. Bur
at the time she was considerably satupOl
in consequence. Yet no one could reaky
blame her, beyond its then styled imncd
| desty, for showing as lovely a neck Snd
/ shoulders as one could well wish C see
/ The Young Warehouses of Kildare. lksady
| HermiOue DuncOmbe that was a few
months ago, has a beautiful neck, o.
which she never hesitates to show what
would be considered a sUpeTabundeEce in
| a less favOred-by-natUre woman.
And, after all, that is really where il
all is. One doesn't object TO the pretty
necks going as decollete as they please. Ii
is the ugly ones that make the fashion de.
| testable. Did fashion restrict the custom
1 to the pOssessOrs of marble shoulders
/ satin necks and biEowy bOsOms, there
I wouldn't be a word said. But UnhappiIy
| it lets every one take part in the full dress
| ''undress" parade, and, as consequence
| fat old dOwagers with necks and dump
| ling-like combinations OF purple buck
skin; ancient maideRs with yellow parch
ment backs more rounded than theil
| chests; tall, ungainly women who COR
/ slider skin-coyered shOulder-blades AM
! tOllaL-DUnGb d
| and aesthetic young damsels, the Me
/ green of whose compilations and the IN
I broken fairness of whose outlines seem Il
| intensity as they descend--al find en-
I trance, and, in keeping with the welLes
| tabhshed pecuHaTities of ugly women
/ think there charms are so great that Other
people cannot be shown enough of them
/ No wonder, then, is it that the sights one
/ sees at balls are enough to nauseate one
I NJ M in :
/ continuance Of a custom that forces then
/ to look against their will upon nude hide
| BUSINESS. But could the fashion, as | say
/ be strictly confined by act of Parliament
/ to the women I have mentioned and a few
/ others, such as young Mrs. SRssOOn
I Lady Beatrix Herbert, Lady GarOagh and
Mrs. Langtry, the anti-low neck move
ment would no more be heard Of
OF Mrs. Langtry in connection with the
subject, | need not say much. / under.
stand that her theatrical tour in America
/ viii this time include san Francisco, and
! those who have not already seen her will
then have the opportunity of judging fol
1 themselves. / will say this, if after see
/ ing her in a decOllete dress they do not
| express a regret that gowns are worn sc
| high nowadays / shall be very much mis-
/ taken. Some people there are who will tell
/ you that that is her chief attraction. Per
/ haps they may be right, but l do not
think so. Exeellins as she does in all
that goes to make physically speaking) a
perfectly beautiful woman, it is impOssi-
bic to say in which she eXcelG the most
lin feature. carriage, complexion, form,
figure. smile, expression or manner.
Whatever attracts your notice most at the
moment will seem to be her greatest
charm. 1t in turn will give place to an
other, and so those in her presence will
experience an eVer-present but ever
changing delight. She never tires you. 1t
1 is in the immense variety of her attrac-
/ tons that Mrs. Langtry really stands
| alone among women, not only as the most
beautiful, but the most bewitching woman
Of the day.
Her powers seem inexhaustible, limit
/ less. Not only does she attrac: attention,
but she keeps it; and defy any man Cor
woman either to keep his eyes off her
while she is within sight. The subtitle in
I fuence of her presence have never heard
denied by any one who has ever been
thrown in her society," have nOdOubt there
VIII be many who on first seeing her on
the stage will say they are disappointed.
But they won't really be. They will only
think so. A woman whose beauty would
please all precOneeived tastes and satisfy
all anticipations would not only be an inn
possibility, but a nOndeseript as odd as
ever delighted the willy Barnum. No
such woman ever existed. The majority
will like her at once, while the others,
with ideals of beauty different from hers,
Will and their real and only disappoint-
ment in the SCATTERING of the models their
minds had ever pictured to them as the
perfection of female lOveliness. But once
the ideal destroyed, they will soon be won
over. To those who come back from
her first performance ] say, S'Xait. Wait
a day or two, and see if you can help
wanting to go and see her again, and if,
during the interim, she does not come up
before y0ur minds eye a thousand times,