Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-06

~ GsF it necessity, land
if this were mo-
eyident enough, on reflection we should
know it bv the speech of art when grea;
art has touched the sleeve The body OF
the gown serves modesty, the sleeve does
not; the body is essential to protection, the
sleeve only to a much lesser degree; the
rest of the garment is an incorporate whole,
the sleeve is by itself, an extension OF
putting forth, q sprouting, as it were, OF
the garment - an afterthought. The
Orientals muffie their arms in the body of
the dress, but we extend the dress out over
the arms, which little straw might serve as
q commentary on the difference in activity
between us.
The sleeve NAV be of different material
from the rest of the garment and more
precious one, because the arms are more
independent in function than the rest of the
body and have nobler use. The legs bear
the weight, but the arms serve the brain.
They are. therefore, rightly honored in the
character Of their covering.
LIKE WINGS OF THE BIRDS.
In respect of dress the arms may be looked
on as analogous to the wings of bird. Ma
ture provides homely covering for the
birds legs and body, but on his wings she
ated thing, the sleeve has its ideals. This
is not easy to believe when we look through
our wardrobe, but our wardrobe is not the
place to look We shall have to cast our
eve over all the sleeves made since the be-
ginning OF time to find standard for judg-
ment. If we do this we shall find that all
sleeves can be resolved into two classes.
The ideal type of one of them is to be seen
in the Greek sculpture. If you will look
at the noble maidens in the train in the
Parthenon frieze yon will see on the shoul-
der of each q short drapery fastened, which
falls down thence and mingies with the rest
of the garment, but on the last maiden of all
this drapery is caught up round the upper
arm and fastened in four places, whence it
draws away in little puckers' as if impa-
tient of being held and desirouS of mingling
again with its parent folds.
This drapery has become sleeve. Now,
one Of the most important things to notice
about this sleeve is the ease with which the
imagination unclasps it and sees it fall back
again into the garment. Fancy sees the
process of creation, and sees it resolve itself
back into the garment when it is not in use
Its appeal to the Imagination is the charac-
teristic of this sleeve.
THE USEFUL SLEEVE
The other class of sleeves has a different
source. 1t is devised directly for an arm
covering, and is cut and sewed with this in
tent, and carries no hint that it ever was or
could become an incorporate part of the
rest of the garment. This is the close
sleeve. When not on duty it is a helpless,
demoralized cylinder, merely an arm cover
ing out Of use, and its past and future make
no appeal to the Imagination.
1t has the right of existence, however, be-
cause it is useful sleeve. For the best
type OF 1t which has yet appeared we must
20 back to primitive times, when use oniY
was considered and fashion had not marked
II for prey. We shall find it Oh old An
glc-SaGon tunics. Modorn artists love to
paint 1t on the arm of Elaine, but it must
not be thought that it was sleeve of this
sort which Elaine gave to Launcelot. In
the DAYS of knights and tournaments there
was fashion Of wearing two sleeves, a close
and flowing one. The last could be de-
lached from the waist and was the one the
1alr dansel bestowed on her favorite knight,
who, riding into the lists with it displayed
on his helmet, by its aid became invincible.
WHERE ITS BEAUTY LIES.
The ideal of this coat sleeve is loose
enough to permit free play of muscles and
articulation, and close enough to mold it.
self to the arm like an outer skin. Its
beauty is not in itself, but consists in it's
ability to display the beauty of the arm be-
meath 1t. To this end it must be made of
substantial but yielding material, without
lining. 1t VIII wrinkle along the forearm
like mousquctaire glove, and in order to
provide for this wrinkling, which time will
bring into IL, it should be made extra long
ana be rolled over into cuff at the bottom,
ready TO be let down, or turned further up,
as occasion needs.
Under one or other of these two types
every sleeve ever made can be ranged, and |
every sleeve approaches beauty in ratio |
as II sets forth purely the idea underlying /
It's own type. One of them, answering per- |
1ectly the sHghter demands of the arm on |
clothing, is highly ornamental; the other is |
the sleeve for hard usage-the working 1
is not ornamental. is iniured |
rather by any attempt to make it orna- |
mental, but is in taste if it serves use.
beautiful II through it is revealed the /
beauty of the arm. If we have these ideas
clear in our mind we have a standard by |
which to judge of all sleeves whatsoever.
A DECIDEDLY UGLY FORM.
Wait moment. There is besides these a
sort Of bastard sleeve, which is not worth
classifying, but must be mentioned in order
TO be disposed of. The Orientals are. per-
haps. responsible for it, as it is found most
ly on their garments. 1t is bell shaped. 1t
takes the body for an apex and widens out
from the shoulder, and utterly ignoring
and concealing the hand and arm, carries
the eye outward, like the sides of para
oola, leading nowhere. What is this fancy
which the Easterns have for effacing the
arm? A proper sleeve may not grow wider
rs it leaves the shoulder, but must be
widest here, for it is here that the arm is
largest. 1t may perhaps be as wide at the
elbow, where joint room is needed, but from
he elbow down the lines must tend toward
the hand.
This ugly form appears occasionally on
our fur cloaks, and is one OF the features
which caused the supreme hideousness of
hat order of cloaks called wraps" 1t was
IN many of the spring jackets in "a modified
orm: 1t seems wonderful that any one
should fail to observe how much more agree
able sleeve is when it narrows, or is gath
'red toward the hand than when it shoots
It tangent over it.
NOTIFICATIONS OF THE FIRST.