Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-07-24
aai1S eagle
WOMAN,S DRESS.


The Antique and the Modern y-ocomsorl
0Die Devices Tor Cbangir. tI- Figure
Caprfces and FOlIies a.: Fashion. bu
Present Styles COn.menGal.e
This univei sally attract i've subject /
emphatically SO when the light, warnt
and brilliant beauty Of Spring and Sum
mer bring out the best results OF woman
ingenuity in the matter Of dress an,
adornment. When nature is gayest
woman's attire, at any rate as seen on tn
street and in public places, is also tn
gayest.
Not that she is wanting in regard fo
her personal appearance at any season
OF the year. Nature has given her tn,
disposition to wear dress and ornament
No wise man quarrels with this arrange
ment Of the universal mother. Though
abused it is blessing.
That awoman brings with her gracious
presence the scent Of flowers, brigh,
colors to please the eye, and the sof,
rustic Of Summer silks to crafty the
ear Of lover, husband, father. brothe,
and friend. is proper and delightful.
PRESENT COSTUMES
as well as probably everything else
the female costume evidences improve.
Inent upon old times. There is no excuse
for anybody grumbling about the degen-
generacy Of wOman's dress, from better
past.
A walk in one leading thorougfare to-
Gay will convince any one but bilious
Old bachelor that the female costume of
the present time is neat, Serviceable and
attractive. 1t is happy blending of the
classic mode of arts best and purest
days, with modern ides as to utility,
prOpriety and attractiveness.
COMPARED WITH THE PAST
Let any one who doubts that this is
not the age of sensible dressing visit one
OF our public Libraries and glance through
some OF the ancient tones that show
pictures Of the costumes of our ancestors,
or get at an old volume of some fashion
magazine and laugh over the fashion
plates OF previous decades.
GRACEFUL ANTIQUE STYLES.
It is not in the chronicles of ancient
Egypt, Greece and Rome that the gro
tesque and absurd in fashion can be
found.
Some OF the models Of Egyptian female
figures show costumes that, robbed of
the splendor of jewelled adornment,
could be worn to-day without comment.
Ii imagination fills up the peculiar out
line drawing OF the artists of the days
OF the PharaOhs, indications OF changing
fashions from modest crinOliue to cling
ing skirts can be found.
The costume of an ancient EGYPTIAN
queen would hardly answer for prom
enade suit for Fifth Avenue to-day. But
take off her bejewelled head dress and
the gems around her neck, put pair Of
slippers on her feet and broom in her
hand instead of sceptre, and she would
pass as good matron of the present time
intent on housekeeping.
The dress of the ancient Greek Lutte
player may be little airy for outdoor
use at present, but something near like
it can be seen at the opera
On the conquest of the Roman Empire
by the wild and savage HunniSh tribes,
art, TASTE literature and civiliza-
ton were swept ruthlessly away and
long night of mental darkness may be
said to have reigned from the tenth to
the fifteenth century.
When at last an attempt was made to
revive fashion some Of the efforts were
crude and grOtesque. Some of the most
ludicrous styles are found in the six
teenth century.
SOME RIDICULOUS COSTUMES.
The Venetian ladies of 1860 wore most
exagTer friils and ruifs. The STAN
dard - b'au,r 1T that time appears 10
have t pe,i ,lr',der WAIST. Tight Iacing
and enI ,rI g other portions OF the
dress were Tosorted to, TO produce the
effect.
Queen Caiharine de Medici of Franco.
Nf
Engla 10 insisted on thir.een-inch waist
rs the standard Of fashion.
Henry III. OF France CathariIes son,
wore tightly laced stays. and his wife,
Margaret 81 Lorraine, had q wasp-like
waist. produced by the torturouS steel
corset then in use.
From about the middle of Queen Eliza
beth's ign The upper classes of both
sexes carried out the custom of tight
lacing to an extreme which knew scarcely
any bounds. The corsets We're SO thick
ly quilted with whalebone, so long and
rigid when Laced to the figure, that the
lonC-poiuled atomacherS then worn fitted
well without a wrinkle.
The following lines by an author Of the
period viii give some idea OF the IN
bending character OF such corSetS:
60 Their privic coats by art made strong,
With boacS, with paste, with such like
ware,
Whereby their back and sides grow
LONE
And now they harvest gallants are;
We're they for use against the foe
Our danes Cor Amazons might so"
Queen Elizabeth INDUCED in most OK
travagant devices for frightening her
PERSONAL attractions. She was the owner
Of eighty wigs of different hues. When
dressed for a state occasion Sho must
have been the most uncomfortable
woman in the kingdom.
On her head was thick wig, studded
With jewels; an immense ruff encircled
Ter neck, her body was incaSed in Stiff
stays, over which was steel corset;
he stomachcr which terminated In
,ont, was as hard as the breast-plate
If mailed knight.
The farthingale, from which the modern
.rinolinc pctiicoat came, served to give
he hips extraordinary width, which, ac-
with the frill around the
;tomacher, gave the waist the appear
nee Of remarkable slendernesS as well
IS length. The great size of the frills or
uffS also lent their aid in producing the
anne effects. Our foremotherS displayed +
,reat ingenuity in torturinS and distort-
NC themselves.
DRESS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Awritcr of 1863. speaking Of the young
aides of his d2y, says:
They strive all they possibly can by
traight lacinS themselves to attain unto /
wand-like smallness of waist. never |
linking themselves fine enough Until |
hey can span their waists"
Ladies must have suffered serious
hysical Inconvenience from adherence to
he prevailing fashion. Alarmists OF
hose days had more cause to lament
he dangerous follies Of women than
he most meddlesome Of their represen-
atives in these times.
In the reign of Louis XIV. Of France