Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1888-07-18
SONG OF THE SHIRT.

SONG OF THE SHIRT.
Strange Changes in the Fashions Within
Five Centuries.
The yOungster who looks upon the
recent rebellion against the style of
starched shirt he was broughtup in, as
an evidence of something new in the
world, has much to learn of the past.
The plain linen front, glossy and stiff,
to which he had been accustomed as
part OF every gentleman's attire, is no
monument of the usages OF centuries
as he may imagine. 1t is really a re-
suit of the conventional law prescrib-
ing the stern simplicity of the evening
dress. This itself is the result of elm
ination, every color and extraneous
ornament which formerly adorned the
exquisite having been discarded and
lines of rigid severity being adopted
as the extreme effort of elegance.
1t is not many years-only about
twenty it became common
FOR men to have their shirts made up
away from home. Until then the
women of every economical household
made the shirts for the men, and it
may be said parenthetically, a well-fit-
ting shirt was in those days curiosi-
ty. The taste and fancy of the fair
seamstress had every opportunity for
display in the way of variety, and the
result was surprising variety. Ruff
des had at that time nearly gone out
IT use, but plaits, tucks and gathered
fronts were common enough. The
tendency toward simplicity brought a
reduction in the number of these plaits,
until three broad plaits, the last touch
of fancy work that was allowed, gave
way to the p1ein front that has been
the style for a dozen or more of years.
This last is the only thing that really
harmonizes with the ''dress suit" So
called, or evening dress.
1t is not surprising that the fashion
should begin to change, and that new
materials should take the place, as
they are now taking it, of linen and
muslin for day wear and for neglige
garments. The very decided move
ment towards white flannel that began
last summer is likely to be stronger
this summer, but every other available
kind of woven goods is now employed.
Silken, wooden, cotton and linen cloths
Of numerous kinds find d place, and
the taste that finds expression in colors,
and even embroidery, is no longer con-
sidered outre.
These changes, however, are trifing
compared with those that have taken
place since five hundred years ago
when the shirt became thing of COM
mon use. Before that men had not
developed the undergarment plan of
dressing, and wore their clothes in
very different fashion from that
now in vogue. A writer recent
~ sketched in outline the vari-
Gus radical changes that have been in
troduced since the birth of the shirt.
Habits of personal cleanliness, he init
mates, were not as rigid in the four
teenth century as in the nineteenth,
and for long time the shirt was worn
like the modern undershirt, in conceal
ment, partly because it was seldom in
condition to bear inspection. Its
length varied in different periods ac-
cording to the fashion of the outer gar
ments, but it was kept hidden, until at
length an ornamented band, the pre-
cursor of the modern collar, began to
show the neck. Then display was in
vogue of the lower part, between the
doublet and the long hose. Then por-
tons of the sleeve were exposed
through slashes in the doublet sleeves.
In the seventeenth century the collar
was all that was generally shown, and
this assumed, at some periods,
enormous proportions and fantastic
shapes. From 100 to 1900 A. D. there
seemed to be a general desire to dis
play as much as possible of the useful
garment. The waistcoat, worn over it,
was only caught together by loops at
the waist, and showed more than
modern observers would consider
decorous. The reaction from this was
the closing up of the waistcoat and the
growth of the cravat, which latter, at
first as big as a shawl, gradually SUBJ
sided to the "stock" of our grandfath-
ers and then to the modern tie.
The various changes, narrated care
fully and in detail, would fill volume,
but these few outlines show the gener-
al character of the change. How soon
another revolution in dress may come
it is impossible to guess, but that it
will come some time is certain, and
that the starched shirt will suffer
change with the other garments adj
mits of no question.-N. Y. Graphic.
How Long Child Should Sleep.