Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-04
WOMEN AND THEIR DRESS
AZ ARTIST ON THEIR SINS OF
OMISSION AND COMMISSION.

- Reauty-The New Hats and Bon
ITS for spring Wear-NOvelties In Ma
torisls-BOw Spring Gowns are Made
beautiful TrOusseau-The Inaugu-
rstlon Ball.
NEW YORK, April 3.-Mr. Edmund p.
Pusseil. the rising young artist who has
.vcited so much interest of late by his lee
,irss on art as 1t relates to dress and every
5,v life. SAYS that the dress of women is
controlled by the word Stylish - which
means one thing to-day and another
tomorrow; whereas, it ought to be gov
orned by expression, which is the outward
Evidence of interior taste and character.
uedeclares that art is not drawing, but
mat it underlies alIof life, and brings us
;nto harmonious relations with all the
,,,roes about US. He deprecated the wear
iogof tight-fitting dresses by large women,
declaring that while it deprived them of
MAJESTY, it vulgarized them and gave
them an appearance of bulk, of
..neaV' bullying out in every direction.
He thought large women should be proud
If their size and rather increase than di-
mipish the grandeur of the effect. There
&c no reason why all women should be
reduced to the painful degree of slender
ness.
he thought the figure should not be re-
vpaed. but suggested by the motion of
graceful clothing; that it should not be
fitted like a ballet dancer with tights, but
draped for warmth and for harmonious
relationship with itself and with its en-
yironment. He deprecated the use Of de-
taebed figures in stuffs, such designs as
said. looking out from contrasting sur
face: "LO0k at mel | am a water lily, or
a rose. or tulip, or a strawberry, or a
bunch OF grapes. l am prettier-at least
more shOwy-than the real thing ITSELF"
Designs OF a distinctive character may be
used where the object is large enough and
The folds of a eiZe to conceal and suggest
rather than to display, but a woman's
dress should ''sing," not talk. Its lines
should yield to every motion of the plant
figure. and should suggest every posi-
bllity Of beauty and grace without say
inc by ostentatiOus display: 81 am beau
uiul. | am graceful"
He cited Ellen Terry as an example of
graCetulness and perfect harmony of color
and design in dress, but said that geuer-
ally the dress of women was like the fur
uiture in our houses-a mere collection of
unrelated parts.
ILLUSTRATING BY EXAMPLE.
Some of the stutfs designed and manu-
featured by the Associated Artists Mrs.
Wheeler's) were exhibited as models of
beauty and of skill in manufacture. The
majority are designed bsr upholstery pur-
poses. but after much close examination
he had found nothing so suitable for ar
tistic dressing. The reverse side of the
richest stuffs We're best suited for dress
purposes, because ON these the cOlOrs
were blended in shimmering beauty,
through which the designs were outlined
and suggested like the landscape in a
lake. Some looked like cloth of gold on
the under side, and in all it was quite a
subject for discussion as to which was
the prettier, The soft silk, and silk of
lighter texture, he recommended for the
slender and willOwy women; the more
massive textures for larger women, who
should wear vatican, princesse dresses
from the shoulder, but no tiny lace ruffles,
or small ribbon bows, or coquettish little
lrippery of that sort.
lie was very severe upon cOrsets and
bustles, upon whatever tended to check
the natural growth and development OF
the body, 10 prevent full and deep breath
ing, or to alter the pure outline of the HUI
Ban form. An error of this kind he con-
si1eEed more serious than we could ina
zine, because the mischief did not end
with the displacement-the loss OF vital
power of ans Ony organ. 1t changed the
relation of the human being to the whole
human race and made him discord in
stead Of a note of harmony.
But he had nothing to say to those who
wanted direct instruction as to how they
should dress-what colOrs and textures
they should employ. The only suggestion
be had TO make was that the hair fur
nlsbed a key note to becoming color, and
that no dress could possibly be devised
shat would suit all, or ought to suit all,
dTess-reformers TO the contrary nOtwith-
standing. The ultimate dress would be
partly the result of the general intelli-
gence of the race, partly of the taste and
cultivation of the wearer. He thought an
ugly tbing-a thing that does not belong
where 1t is placed-a sin and an allie
ton though often we are not conscious
OF it,; and he said the world had
suffered, or rather had not begun
to feel the Joy it would experience in
knowledge and adaptation to the dIaly use
0 the true relations OF beauty and har-
many to activity and growth. 1t had
been, he thought, an infinite pity that re-
Hglons mad discouraged art, because true
art holds all goodness in a loving embrace
-'t - a iNllsiOh III 1loGlts
THE NEW HATS AND BONNETs.
There is little that is new in shape in
oOnnets, but much that is new in trim
ming. The small capOte still fingers, but
SHOWS many varieties of brim. Some are
curved in at the top and flare like little
uuispread wings. Others copy the main
lront Of The Marie Stuart headdress. Still
olners show modified poke. All have a
'Ilhi OF some kind, and are not mere
crowns fitted to the head. The hats are
vac more aggressive in appearance. The
majority are so unlike what one would
aaturally select for modest girl to wear,
mat 1t is surprising how they could have
oeen manufactured for such use. The
cIoWns are enormously high, and are still
more exaggerated by the arrangement OF
1ne trimming. The whole effect is bold
.uu very pronounced, and for such Gus
piners as will not tolerate styles Of this
..escflpllOn, the milliners are using all
SueT ingenuity to tone down and modify
~ simple arrangement of quiet mate
T 11als ana softly blended tints and cOors.
aue general impression of the OOnnets for
Trrihs and "between" wear is not very
1uerent from that of the autumn. In
aSseu' the styles might very well be inter-
aa.i seaDle; the same Melted gold and
wLOloldered crowns, the same gold
ueut ana balls and pins and other orna-
Srels, the same gold lace, ana the same
sslA shades OF color. There is an entire
ces0hce as whole Of the freshness that
sas welcomes and Graves In the spring,
So, u ~ Is only a critical examination in
H,nel mat reveals here and there quaint
A'ue bonnet of male corn straw or trone-