The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1885-03-01
Fob Chains and Evening Costume.

not ml&nC Do Carried. hDDlSOS, IOr lu-
stance. as quoted by DR.. JOHNSON. snys:
"Hs put his hand into HE fob and presented me with
tobacco stopper"
DRYDEN also speaks OF
"Ths wellnlled fob. not emp,y'd now alone"
And In Hudibras" we find the lines:
lie who had so lately sackd
The enemy. had done the fact,
Had rihed all his pokes and fobs
OF gimcrucks, whims and jiggumbobs"
Poke. by the way, is also an old word, which
DIR. JOHNSON defines rs "a pocket. small
bag" and RICHARDSON derives from tho
Anglo-Saxou pocd, which was probably
that wherein anything was poked or thrust,
pushed or pressed" Ordinarily it meant
bag or sack, and is still used In that sense In
the north Of England. The old saying "to
buy pig in poke" brings UP the word,
and. OF course. means to buy pig In sack
to purchase thing without seeing 1t and
finding out its quality and value.
As to fob. SWIFT uses it more as we do at
present when no says:
1.-TWO pockets he called his fobs; they were two largo
sits squeezed close by the pressure OF his body"
In The Windsor Prophecy" he writes:
when holy black Swsde, the son Of Bob,
With saint at his chin. and seal at his fob"
That is by fob we mean more especial =
now small pocket for tho watch in the
waistband OF the trousers, and fob chain
is more particularly a chain attached to a
watch in such a pocket, generally broad
ribbon with large seals depending. Many
years ago all gentlemen Of substance wore
such fob chain. but the fashion went out
until recently, when it was revived. and now
some middle-aged' men affect it. even when
they are in evening dress, especially IL they
have inherited family seals.
But here we must make depression to
warn our young Vermont friend that to call
trousers pantaloons is both vulgar and
radically incorrect use of language. Panta-
looms, as defined by several old writer's,
means " a sort OF garment worn anciently,
consisting of breaches and stockings fas-
tened together, and both of the same stuff"
and SHAKESPEARE refers to such n garment,
and not to what we know as trousers, when
he speaks In "As You Like 1t" of
"rhe lean and s!irper'd pantaloon."
The word trousers comes from the French
trousser, to tuck, to fasten up. They are
very different from the old pantaloons. and
the name was given them to distinguish
them from that garment RICHARDSON says
that they were perhaps so called from
their being tied, girt or laced tight, but
toned fast" and he quotes as an illustration
Of the use OF the term this from SHAKE
spEARE's Henry w:
"Doph-O then belize she WAS old and gentle and
you rode like herns of Ireland, your French hose of.
and In your strait SrOsyers."
Oh. no, never talk about pantaloons when
you mean the garment we call trousers; and
above all things avoid that horrible vulgar
ity, pants!
And now as to the question concerning tho
usage in fashionable society" with regard
to evening dress for men. Fortunately, that
is now SO we'll defined that nobody need
make any mistake about 1t. In general, the
aim is toward simplicity and tho abandon
mcnt OF everything snowy in the way OF or
nament. In fact, the best taste Is to wear no
jewels at oil, though as we have said, tho
fob chain Is to some extent used with even
ing dress by mon OF middle age or beyond
their prime. Anyway, gold wnlstcoat chains
are rigidly eschewed. We owe it to the
Prince OF WALES --who with all his faults, Is
n pretty sensible and rather an unpretendng
fellow-that white gloves are no longer re-
qulred at any sort of entertainment; that.
indeed, it is altogether contrary to usage to
wear them. The result of the custom, which
has now lasted for several years. is saving
to the pocket, greater comfort for men, and
tho Improvement OF their appearance, for
white kid gloves wero always unbecoming,
and looked especially i'll on large hands,
which they made to seem all the bigger
white neckte of lawn Is tho correct thing
for evening dress. and it looks clean, has tho
<>f init onl
Nowadays, happily, a man who has an even
ing suit, clean and whole shirt and collar.
presentabe boots or pumps, and a white
necktie is rs well equipped for tho grandest
occasion at night as tho richest millionaire
can be. All the rest depends on himself, on
his intrinsic quality. his breeding his man
ners; for tho better man is dressed the
more he may exhibit the defects OF his train
ing He may not live up to his clothes
This simplicity of Dress and this avoidance
OF everything snowy. OF everything that
makes a display OF wealth, and calls Ntten-
ton to man specifically and to his mate
rial circumstances, indicate great improve
lnent in taste and a decided advance in civili-
cation. But some foolish young fellows who
are spending money hardly earned by their
fathers, complain that 1t puts them too much
on m equality in outside appearance. They
long for the fashions Of past centuries. when
a mans garments showed what no was So
cially and those who had much money to
spend on their clothes and ornaments had n
great advantage over their poorer neighbors.
Such manner OF dressing might have
suited courts. but 1t has no place in this dem
ocratic republic whore there are no social
grades, and every man stands on his intrin-
sic merits. Besides, we are too busy to spend
the time In rigging ourselves out In such