The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-01-31
FRIDAY. JANUARY 81, 1890.
TIE COLONIAL BALL ANp IT'S SUE
GESTIONS. ~

GEsTIONs. -
The Colonial Ball. that was celebrated
10 this city on Wednesday night with
40 much distinction, was not only q
spectacle exqusitsly beautiful and at
tractive in itself. but 1t was also sug-
cestive Of a very interesting train OF re-
Election.
Changes in dress have deeper signi-
iicance than is generally supposed, for
such changes are not dependent upon
mere fancy. but mark the most radical
alteration in tho manners and disposi-
tions Of social life. Who tsat looked
on the minuet Of Wednesday night. IN
which so much beauty. grace and ele-
qance we're illustrated, failed 10 recog-
nize that such a dance could only
have been popular in an age Of stately
dignity and refined formality. And
vet this was the very age in which an
exclusive taste for warmth aud variety
of color in dreis prevailed When
splendor and even gdudiness Of hue were
accented as the mode. The wide gulf
between the social spirit OF the old and
that Of the new is marked by the diff
ference between the dress suit now
worn by men ard the dres suit OF the
age long past. Could there be two
styles more diametrical in character
the one funefeal black, the other gay
with all that art could suggest in va
-iety, refinement and brightness Of
color. 1t would appear as II fashion IN
moment Of within had leaped from one
extreme 10 the other, almost at a
bound. for the change that has taken
place has occurred in the comparatively
short period Of seventy or eighty years
It's notable. however, that this change
from bright to a sober mode Is con-
fined to the gentlemen. A modern ball
room would be as brilliant in color but
for the sombre "swallow-tail," as a
ballroom Of the Colonial period. The
ladies not only refuse to yield to the
serious habits Of fashion that distin-
cuish their partners of the other sex.
but they are constantly rsverting ia
their own costumes TO styles that pre-
vailed long ago, many Of these styles
being SO beautiful and becoming thst
they should never be permitted by wo-
men OF taste to fall into disuse.
If any conclusions are to De drawn
from dress it would seem as if the midi
viduals of the male sex were growing
in gravity of thought and soberness Ct
demeanor with the progress Of time.
while the women still retained in all its
original strength that charming frivol-
ity, that fascinating taste for display
through which they have from ages inn
memorial exercised such powerful in
huence upon the imaginatious Of men.
1t is, indeed, fact worthy Of thought
full consideration, that ouch a mode as
the present full dress for gentlemen
should have come into fashion at the
very time that the ladies still adhered
10 bright colors, and men continued to
be az much under their dominion as
they ever were. IL goes to show that
the disposition of the female sex to-
wards the male has little to do with the
fashions of the latter, for with the
consent Of the ladies the black suit for
full dress would probably never have
been adopted.
win the modes for nen ever revert
to the brilliant colors OF the old social
regime? We are inclined to think not,
although no just idea can be formed OF
what freaks fashion may indulge in in
one decade even, not to speak Of a.
period covering several centuries. The
ages to come within an sppreciabls
course Of time, are likely to be more
materialistio than thepresent age, and 10
the matsrialistic spirit, which demands
above all things, simplicity convenience,
and the exact adaptation Of means
10 end without flourish or parade, the
present styles Of dress for gentlemen.
both in the ballroom and on the street,
are more precisely suhed to surround
ing general conditions than styles
in which the secondary objects Of dress,
that is. show and display, arc even
more fully reflected than the primary