Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-12-17
WHERE FASHIONS COME FROM.
The People Who Set the Style for
the Rest of the World.

The People Who Set the Style fol
the Rest of the World.
"Don't try to reason logically abou
fashion," said dainty little milliner
shaking her head disconsolately, as she
reviewed the latest pattern-plates, anG
frowned as they failed to meet her ap
proval ; for of all illogical and unreasonable
laws, those which govern fashion are
positively the worst Perhaps yor
imagine that the various styles which
invade the ladies of to-day are
the result of carefully considered
experiments, or that meetings are held
and certain fashions unanimously de-
clared desirable You make great mis-
take. Such is not the case. Nearly all
the fashions which have become popular
in civilized countries have simply been
the result of accident. I am not exagger-
ating. Let me give you illustrations. In
France the beautiful Ferreniere was once
Il grieve to say it-smoking cigarette.
She was not accustomed to indulge in
that habit, you may be surprised to hear,
and met with slight accident. She re-
moved the cigarette from her mouth,
| held it between her fingers, forgot pre-
sumably that it was there, was about to
rest her forehead on her hand,
when the lighted end of the
cigarette came in contact with her
brow and burned it. 1t made an
ugly scar. Do you think that worried
her? Not bit of it. The next day she
covered the scar with jewel, and the
next day every lady of the court who
valued her reputation as society star
wore a similar jewel on her forehead.
Ha, ha! That's one instance. The
Princess of Wales, as everybody knows,
has an unfortunate limp, which nothing
under the sun could render beautiful.
But the foolish London ladies, seeing this,
said to themselves: Dear me! how chic
that limp is The Alexandra limp as
it was called, became extremely fashion
able, and it was obtained by making the
heel of one boot shorter than that of the
other. The Princess of Wales has also a
very, long and meager neck. She was
absolutely obliged to wear only high
dresses, close up to the throat. But the
thousands of English ladies who had not |
very long necks followed her example |
and made themselves ridiculous. Dear |
me! How stupid the fashionable world |
is"
The little milliner sighed at the frailty |
of her sex, but tortured herself by relat-
ing still more of them. EDO you know
the origin of the puckered sleeves which
are worn by every woman to-day, and
which look like pimples on the shoulders?
It was simply this: The Countess of
of the most beautiful women
Of England, by the by-was invited to a
dinner one night, and was expecting to
shine in very elegant costume, which
was being especially made for the occa-
sion. When the countess was about to
dress, the maid informed her that the
iressmaker had not vet sent home the
costume. The Countess was in despair.
She wrote note to the delinquent, de-
that the. dress be sent immedi-
ately, finished or unfinished. 1t came
within an hour-unfnished. The Coun-
ess felt bound to don it, as several soci-
,ty papers had expatiated upon its won
lerful design. The sleeves were only !
acked in. The Countess was not daunt-
ID. She took needle and hastily sewed
n the sleeves-so hastily, indeed, that
'ver each shoulder the material was Y
,uckered and stood up in alarming folds. |
She wore the dress as it was, however.
'he knew she could wear anything. A
week from that time puckered sleeves
we're all the rage in London" i
The milliner blushed with shame at t
his new instance of female weakness a
Do you know who originated high-heeled .
oots?" she asked. ooh! that woman
as great deal to answer for, 1 can tell ,
gu. 1t was the Marquise de Pompadour.
he was so small, and it was the fashion i
} be SO tall, that she invented high heels, +
l fit of desperation. That lady also
riginated the black patches which were c
, fashionable in the French court, and /
hich people supposed to-day that the f
dies wore in order to heighten the bril- 9
ancy of their complexion. They were
lus simply in imitation of La Pompa- i
our. She had an aggravating pimple on =
er cheek, of which she tried hard to get ST ST
d. All her efforts were unavailing.
ne covered the offending growth with
ack plaster, and set the fashion. Anne,
Austria, introduced the fashion of short 10
eeves. She was not beautiful woman, m
1t her arms were magnificent, and in the
me spirit with which Katisha expati- 7
es on the beauty of her left shoulder ca
ade, Anne, of Austria, resolved to exhibit VI
r arms. Short sleeves were almost un- ar
lown before that time. Marie Antoin- :
5e had masses OF exquisite hair, and the
ge coifures and outlandish designs -
lich are so much ridiculed to-day were [
nply the result of that fact. She could Ha
nothing else with her hair, as there Vii
IS SO much of it. But her ladies imi- 6
ed her. and actually bought false hair "a
order to reach a proper standard of ,
rfection. Fashions originated in the - -
'st ridiculous ways. It is absurd to "
, that one person sets the fashion. She n
y have great deal to do with it, but b
is not alone in her empire over her Il
:. The Princess OF Wales does great
u, but she is aided by the Countess of
dley, Lady Randolph Churchill, and
Warehouses of Kildare. In Paris. it Sa
n acknowledged ia ct, that at the pres
day, the demi-monde exert consider W
e influence over the fashion. I could Eth Eth
ntion at least dozen instances all ton,
strative of the fact that fashions are EN-
result of accident merely-but 1 won't anu
tho, won't do it," and the little CT
, piled her needle in silence.-N. Y. nist
u and Erpress. nc
v to Consult DIR. Foote. ST., by Mail.
r. Foote, Senior, author of ''Plain
ne Talk, I" Medical Common Sense" L.
atos x,,o,,1d c,,, -