, 1888-11-15
BEAUTY AS A FINE ART.
walton of Bodily
OraCes.
Rarity OF fRealIy Beautiful Women --Ugii-
ness OF Current Fashions or
IIairdressing.

well.rounded, beautiful women2 No. The
reason for this fact lies in the neglect TO
cultivate beauty as fine art. We are
given to extremes rather than sensible
harmonies Ia our attention to the develop
ment of beauty.
Not one of us but can recall some we'll
featured woman whose method of arrang-
ing her hair is simply destructive of con-
tour of head--or some bright, piquant
girl, whose natural characteristics are lost
in the application of strictly conventional
forms. Not day passes that do not
meet women whose possibilities for beauty
have been absolutely overlooked in
slavish devotion to reiening fashions.
Could anything be uglier than the pres.
ont 'bang." cut very short and pointed
downward toward the center of the fore.
and upward toward the top of the head?
Not more than one face in ten, to put il
moderately, but is disfRured by this
method of "doinR the hair;" yet miles
walk down a popular avenue will show
that nearly every woman one meets wears
her front hair arranged after this execra-
BILE style.
Said a fashionable hair-dresser to a
friend of mine recently--a lady whose
head was very long from the bridge Of the
nose, whose cheek bones we're high and
prominent and the forehead narrow and
low: "You must allow me to cut your
bang in the latest style; everything else Is
do wdyish and common" To be "dowdy-
ish" was something so terrible that the
lady in question consented, with the re-
suit that her head became picture for a
comic; publication, looking as If the top
had been put into wise and pointed.
This peculiar face needed the most careful
arrangement of fluffy hair at the sides of
the forehead, with the entire center left
uncovered to give equilibrium to the
general shape. But all thought Of beauty
rs fine art was sacrificed to the god of
style, and the poor creature was literally
sight to behold.
Again frequently meet woman whose
entire shape Is q succession of sharp an
giles. The perfect human body is both
free and symmetrical, and coming from
the hands of the Supreme Designer wo-
man is a creature of curves and grace;
coming from the hands of her tailor, she
is too often a thing of angles and awk-
wardness. What u horror one becomes
when every joint of the upper body is ac-
centuated by the style OF the gown so that
each member seems to be proclaiming
itself superior to its neighbor.
Recently sat opposite a woman in an
elevated car for half an hour, whose abuse
of natures possibilities amounted to q
crime. She must haye been q superbly
shaped woman before the course OF tor.
turing every organ into independent
prominence began. The shoulders, which
were thrown up and squared out of the
natural shape; and the bust, which was
laced so high that the proportion of the
curve from the neck to the waist was lost;
and the hips, which were perfect shelves
from the closely drawn waist, formed
three distinct points Of observation.
Scientifically speaking, these members
we're seen to be exact truths; artistically
speaking no use was made of la vue senti-
ment, and the sense of affinity WAS entirely
lost-precision and extremes taking the
place of grace and subtlety. Had this
woman studied her own form from the
poll of art and beauty. instead of fashion
and custom, she would have been nothing
less than magnificent Juno. One could
fancy her released from the stiff and un-
yielding corset, wearing flexible bodice
which woald firmly support the ample
lines of her figure without destroying its
natural curves. with slopinR shoulders,
gentle flowing waist and hip line and ex-
| quisitely moulded bust, clothed in a soft
| and dainty wool or lace fabric which would
| have made of her picture of ravishinn
| loveliness. So clothed, she would have
been an inspiration for an artist. A very
unusual beauty; clothed as she was. she
| was merely an ordinary stylish woman
like whom you could see 100 on the street
that very day-the larger part Of them
padded into shape, and possessing not one
tithe of the natural beauty which was hers.
know that | was the only person in the
| car who gave the woman second thought;
conformity to prevailing modes had well
nigh destroyed the last vestige of what
| might have been, and to the casual OBJ.
server she was one of many. 10 cultivate
| beauty as a fine art one must have both in
dependence of spirits and taste, and to
these must be added an appreciation for
effects.
An artist who would set up an estab-
lishment in city like New York for the
development of beauty according to indi-
vidual characteristics would be god-send
to womankind. Such person would need
! to be an artist in the strictest sense of the
word. with thorough anatomical and
aesthetic understanding of the human
body. and the scientific knowledge of how
to correct radical defects Of structure,
shape and form, and not only as whole,
but in detail.
We will imagine such an establishment
| in full blast, and fitted up with every ac-
cessorv of development, toilet. and cos
| tuning. Entering, one would be met by
| an examiner. who would subject the client
for beauty development to rigid and
critical analysis physically and mentally.
| Every undeveloped part would be brought
to light under his or her searching scalpel,
and every point susceptible OF superior
| establishment would be noted and con-
| sidered in its relation to other parts. A
strict course Of exercise. diet and living
would be prescribed according to individ-
ual needs: until defects. inherited or ac-
| quired OF stature, poise, carriage, COM
| plexion. hair, eyes. teeth and voice had
been corrected. Next the mental endow-
| ment would be considered in connection
with the physical to determine what man