New-York tribune., 1884-12-08
MINK DRENN

For some timo past the gilded youth of America,
France and England have mingled their laments
with those of tho tail0rs that their lot has beon
cast in an ago gwen to so complete prosiness
of costume They sigh for the fashions of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; they yearn
aucr slasicd doubcts and bran-stufied trunk
hose or for tho graceful array of tho Stuars.
or for the brilliant aud variegated dress of tho
Georges with it's gold and silver embroidered coats
and waistcoats. its hp-p kots of hugo dimens0ns
its WIGS ITS knee-breeches and silk stockings. and
later its IIessian boots Aud 1t is said that IN
France some of these aspiring youths have actually
resolved to reyolutionze the male evening costume
this very winter by dscarding the customary
suit of solemn black" and Indung themselves
with gay and par;icoOred raimcnt, all OF
the Olden time The of velvcts, satlns
and silks for mons coats Is to bo
revived and thus the wealthy are TO gain OPP
portunties for indicating the plethoric condition
of their purses by the expense and gorgeousnesS OF
their external decorations The conception is crude
and silly however. and it may safely be predicted
that the experiment, if mado. will fail. For the
male drcss of the period like everything else. the
result of evolution and it represents gradual but
steady access of sense and gain in comfort aud good
taste. The costumes of tho past were for the most
part neither comfortable nor elegant. The Stuart
wear and head-coycrings, for 1t must be admitted
that the modern stiff hat and starched collars are
barbarous and clumsy inventions, and not to be
compared for grace or convenience to the Van Dyke
collar and soit-lapp.d lat
But in nearly everything else we arc more ration
ally clothed than any of our ancestors were. Tho
male evening dress of tho period is certainty not
beautiful but thcn neither are those who wear it,
as rule. But 1t is modest, quiet comfortable aud
by no means undignifiod. and 1t typies that mod
ern tendency to regard what Is III man rather than
what he carries on his back Ii s all very well for
gddy boys whose animal spirits run away with
them To masquerade in pink and blue coats ana
waistcoats and to want to show their well-shaped
legs in brecchcs and silk stockings but the world
will hnyo nothing 10 do with such nonsense. Ii
will continue to wear its unODtrusive, homely
dark colors aud easy fits. It Will prefer clothes
which the weather will not destroy. Ii will cling
to its somewhat grim and funcrca even
ing costume 1t will reject tho frippsres
and millincries offered it, with disdain. For the
spirt of democracy is after all at the bottom Of the
mems dress of the period and it IL the moribund
spirit of aristocracy or plutocraoy which speaks
in the present effort to restore the past ana 10 Drng
back formal modes Of class separation and distinc-
ton Democracy il not declining, and therefore
butterfly fashions for mon cannot he introduced
with success. The tailors and the gilded youIh
may lament the obtuseness of the masses but so IL
is. and protest and regret aro equally intilc ana
vain. But let the Glded youth pay more attention
TO the cultivation of their heads. and then thoy
will cease to trouble themselves about the fashion
of tho vestures whcTcwith thoy are clad