The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-09-17
For the Farmer and Mechanic.
Elegant Simplicity.
BY REV. DIR. DEEMS.

1t is dangerous thing for party of
he male sex to discourse on the subject
OF female attire
Every man of even the least cutiva-
ton delights in seeing women well dress
ed. The difficulty lies in settling the
question of what it is to be well dress
ed, /" and that difficulty arises from the
masculine ignorance of the details. Is
women pass before man 5 eyes he knows
at once whetherthe impression made upon
him in pleasing or otherwise. But he can
not tell why. He don't know how much
of an artist that woman had to become in
order to be able to array herself in differ
ent garments that should have perfect adj
iustment to the person and perfect har-
mony of colOring. She has had to study,
first, other women; secondly, herself
thirdly, the masculine intelligence, in or
der to reach the consummation she has
attained.
Sometimes it costs pecuniarily to make
such an achievement. The cost will vary
according to the female artists skill in
using her materials. The men who have
to pay the bills, the husbands and papas,
know something about this and in the
course of years secure valuable educa
tion IN this department of art and econo
my; and, ordinarily, this class of gentle-
men, if thoughtful and discreet, deliver
tolerably rational criticisms on the subject.
The men outside, the bachelors generally,
are those who make mistakes In utterlDg
their dicta on dress. As an example OF
this, young man says to his sister:
why can't you initiate the economy
and The elegant simplicity of the Van
Booker girls (? They don't dress in silks
as you do! For curiosity inquired of a
lady what certain morning dress which
saw on one of the Van Booker girls at
Saratoga, ought to cost. learned that
it was thirty five cents yard, and they
did look so sweet and fresh. +"
Quite true" said his sister, 'but
you must recollect that few ladies indulge
in that kind of toilet they must have
several changes and each dress must have
large quantity of furbelowlng and fix
ing to make it look well aud the laun-
drying of dresses Of that kind costs more
than the mere washing of pocket hand
kclchiefs. So that if economy is what
you have in view, dear brother, a good
dress that cost more at the beginning
may last longer and in the end cost less. y
The fact Is, we may as well understand
that elegant simplicity in dress as In man
ners requires an outlay which demands a
good income. Showiness is cheap. Ele
gance must be raid for by both money
and tast, but still more costly is elegant
implicitly, which for the indulgence de-
mands more and more taste. To look
er on nothing seems SO easy as to make
q raceful motion. As he beholds gym
mast or danseuse it seems to him as though
it only required him to will to do the
same thing 10 order to have it accomplish
ed. But let him step out into the middle
of the floor and try it. 4 few movements
of his limbs will convince him that it vii!
require months of practice, under tuition,
to move with the simple grace of the per-
son whom he supposed it would be SO
easy to initiate.
In literature we take our models of
simple elegance. the writings in which
the paragraphs run after one another as
the rIppes of brook 1t seems as tho
we cluld certainly write in that way, if
we could not employ more ambitious
sty e. And what mistake we find this
TO be ! Our attempts soon show Us that
| II Is much more easy TO turn off our pc
riods full of sequipedalisn words and in
fated bombast; and that little imagi
nation, Webster's Dictionary and Roget's
Thesaurus W Il enable us to write in style
which seem absolutely sublime to the
uneducated masses. But II we were to
write like an Emerson We must write over
aud oft, and take pains to correct. expur-
gate and polish, SO that each each word
shall seem to be the very best possible 10
its place.
| Our readers can carry this thought
into their meditations upon the forma-
tion of character An elegantly simple
character is one of the most charming
things in the world. But what thought,
what care, what constant discipline, what
incessant practice of fevery virtue, through
what number of years, are required to
give man the character of, elegant SIM
plicity Let our young readers ask them
selves whether it is not worth VIII lie 10
endeavor to attain such a character as
will rep ain for the admiration of the
ages, like the Apollo Belvidere in stat
uary, and the Great Pyramid, which shall
be the admiration of mankind when ten
thousand ephemeral prettiness, produced
by sculptors aud architects, shall have
passed away.
-. Mrs. Florence Kelly. daughter OF
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