The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-09-21
aAUpY CLOTHES DEPARTING.
National Costumes Fading Away and
the World Dressing More Alike.
r.. a.. TorTo. T-oTooronb

the World Dressing More Alike.
From The London telegraph.
Fashions, as a rule, like Morality in the
! "Dunciad,n ''exrires unawarso,n and COS
tunes which have been worn from time
| immemorial fade away so gradually that
the period of their final disappearance is
! imperceptble The most experienced and
acutest of observers would be puzzled to fix
| the precise date when the nobility
and gentry ceased 10 retain black
footmen; or when butchers left off top
boots such as we behold in Sir Edwin
Landseer's picture OF High Life" and
Low Life" or when London servant
maids repudiated the use of patterns. There
have been, IL is true, exceptions to the rule.
Old editions of the Statutes OF Large
contain the act of parliament passed after
the rebellion of l745, solemuly prohibiting
| the assumption of the Highland dress in
Scotland, while 1t is notorious that yellow
starch went OUT because Mrs. Turner, a
poisoner in the reign of James |. was
hanged in a ruff stiffened with starch Of the
hue in question. Similar squeamishness in
1919 condemned black satin as q material
for ladies' dresses to more than twenty
years prescription, 1t having been in black
satin dress that the murderess Maria Man
| ming was hanged at Horsemonger lane Jail.
To the instances in which a certain fabric
or mode or color in apparel has for def
mite reason ceased at an ascertained date to
be worn must be added the proximate de-
mise at Rouen OF @ particular kind OF cheap
blue cotton handkerchiefs, printed in four
varieties of tint by the very old-fashioned
wooden block process These kerchiefs,
from period to which the mind OF man
runneth not TO the contrary, formed
distinctive feature OF the picturesque
costume worn by the women OF Plougastel,
near Brest one OF the last renaining strong
holds Of the ancient costume Of Brittany.
The death of the manufacturer has put an
end to the production of the cheap block
printed handkerchiefs, as the sons are I'M
willing 20 carry on the fabrication with the
present Anticipated plant, and are possibly
intent on turning out tasteful cretonnes
or japanese designs printed in colors
By steam from engraved steel
rollers. Furthermore, the demand
for these special handkerchiefs has been
growing Of late years small and unprofta-
bly, less. Already the male Bretons have
taken to having their hair cut, and at the
Pardon de Pioermel," nowadays, there are
quite as many closely cropped rustics in
wideawakes aud suits OF "dittoss" as there
are peasants with the traditional flowing
locks and clad in the traditional broad
brimmed cassors and voluminous gslligas-
kins Of the antique province.
The plain truth is that picturesque Cos
tune is rapidly dying out, the whole world
over. Take the ''Vierlander Madchen"-a
decaying race. by the way-who sells bou-
quets under the porticoes Of the thseters at
Hamburg; take the Roman "contadinan
with her kirle Of cunningly contrasted
husS, and the snowy "fazzoletto" of white
linen which she wears as head-dress; take
the Venetian 'florage" and the "portatrice
d'aque." or winter carrier, and contrast any
one of these types With the London flower
girl. IL MAJ not be generally known
that the astonishing picture" hat which
that hoarse- voiced and sometimes insemper-
ately tongued young female wears is rather
an expensive article than otherwise. for
which she pays by installments, and some
times oven ballots for it, IN the manner
adopted by members Of building societies
She patronizes, moreover, o particular
jacket, particular length of skirt and kind
OF boot, and she would scorn to alter the
wondrous "fringe" of hair cut over her
forehead.
The pity of it is that all these continental
c'stumes are drifting into extinction. In
| Rome the "fazzole.ton aud the many-hued
kirtle are rarely worn save by professional
models for artists; and the Venetian flower
| girls who pestersthe tourists at Florian's or
the Speech TO buy their posies, and often
thrust them -uninvited into the travellers
buttonholes. are rapidly reliuquishing their
distinctive gsrb and dressing themselves
after the fashions prescribed in the plates
| of the cheap fashion periodicals. As for
the gondoliers, they have abandoned the
wearing Of striking costume as completely
as they have discontinued their citations
from Tasso.
There are still Swiss cantons in which
the strongly marked and extremely
picturesque Helvetic costume is adhered TO,
and in certain parts of Norway, such as the
| Hardeneer and Telemarken districts, the
| peasantry still wear their characteristic
| native dresses, but IN both countries the
"wide-awake hato and the suit OF "dittoes"
! for men and the cheap and Unlocking paro>
| dies of the Paris fashions for women are
steadily making their igncble and depress-
ing way "Store clothes" have even invaded
| the Tyrol and the provinces OF Austria,
| while in European Turkey the upper classes
have wholly divorced themselves from the
turban and the caftan and have adopted a
monstrous dress in which the principal ele-
ments are the scarlet fez cap and the single
breasted frock coat The Osmanli, at
/ STEAMBOAT at least has even given up the
traditions "Chibouck" and the time -honored
"narghie," and smokes nothing but cigar
| cites.
1t is slightly consoling to the lovers of the
picturesque to know that there are still
some 40, 900, 900 Of Russian "moujiks" who
are uralterably conservative in their pat
ronage OF sheep skin ''tououpos" and red
cotton shirts worn over their baggy mex
pressibes with boots reaching to the knee
but a Russian gentleman, when he is not in
uniform, puts on precisely such morning
and evening dress as are worn In London
and Paris, in Milan and San Fran
cisco; while, among the Polish nobil-
| ity, where should we hope to fiud coun Ter
part of the costume worn by the heroic
John Sohieskil Even the conventional
"Unce Sam" whom the Americans them-
selves lsughiugly accepted as a type-the
gaunt, high cheexboned individual in suit
OF nankeeu and an ample Panama hat
has vanished. and, but for an occasional
cartoon, would be forgotten. 1t is
the same with our John Bull.
His spirit lives; his idiosyncra-
sizes are, happily, yet vigorous; but
his bat, his broad-skirted coat, his feathers
and his tops are to be found only IN the col
umns Of our facetiouS contemporaries.
Most varieties OF the costume OF the past
are dead, and the rest are dying What
order Of apparel is TO succeed theml Surely
"po." hats, "stovepips" hats and suits of
'dittoes' are not to be the universal wear
for mankind in the twentieth century.
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