New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1891-12-02
GRAMMAR IN DRESS.
its Rules Violated Every Day by All
Kinds of People,


its Rules Violated Every Day by All
Kinds of People.
II do hate a man who is ungram-
NAUTICAL in his dress,'' said a gentle
man at one OF the clubs not long
since, and the remark was received
with approval by his hearers. "Isit
worse for man to be ungrammatical
than woman?'' one OF the company
asked after there had been a little
comment on the proposition. s.Per-
:h1aps not" was the answer; Though
OF course the grammar OF feminine
attire is a thousand times more COM
plicated than that OF. male habil-
in1ents, and there is more freedom al
lowed. "But on the other hand"
another put in,' women are better
adapted to master the subject, and
the fact that there is more freedom
given them makes it the more inexcus-
able when they do make a real
blunder.
What real blunder is WAS then dis
cussed, and one of the speakers said
that he had that day met a woman in
deep mourning wearing russell shoes.
This was universally allowed as a
gross and perfectly inexcusable gram
NAUTICAL blunder. Another related
how a Chicago lady had this summer
appeared at a picnic in the mountains
in gown of blue satin trimmed with
real lace-"at the start, that is" ne
added. "Before we got home it was
also trimmed with pine-spills and dry
leaves and bugs and all sorts Of trash,
caught in the Lace 1t was, the
opinion Of the company that this also
was grammatical blunder. Black
trousers with light coat, or dark
waistcoat with an otherwise light suit
were pronounced ungrammatical; and
the same was said ola stiff hat on the
tennis courts, although it was alleged
that on the club grounds at Nahant
this summer this thing had been seen.
The drift of the talk might have
been formulated in a way not unlike
that in which le would have formu-
lated similar talk upon the use of
language. It was implied or stated
that in dress one must consult pro-
priety, use and elegance: The former
would forbid the wearing Of a satin
frock lace trimmed, to a picnic be-
cause the circumstances OF a picnic
make such p garment entirely inap-
propriate; just as in another way the
wearing of a. robe de chambre in
parlor or a tennis suit TO reception
would be wholly inappropriate. The
fact that these different garments
have their Individual appropriateness
must be recognized and respected.
The lady who appear ed in the drawing
room in a bathing suit would prob
ably be guilty of SO gross a breach of
the grammar OF dress that it would
probably be regarded as running into
positive improperly. Thesame prin-
ciple applies to the wearing OF
dress suits in the day time, and yet
here the principle OF use comes in so
that for a waiter or a Harvard stu
dents on class day it is not ungram-
NAUTICAL to appear in evening garb in
the blaze of day.
Use is hardly more than another
name for fashion. 1t is the mode of
the day that determines this. To
wear the small clothes and full button
ed wigs of our grandfathers today
would be most ungrammatical, and
yet in the old time it. would have been
equally an error to appear without
them. This is a constantly huctuat-
ing rule Of which it is true the princi-
pie remains the same, but of which the
application varies constantly. Every
body recognizes it, and everybody is
more or less influenced by it. It is
needless to point out that to be too
lar behind or too much in advance OF
the changing fashion is to bedeplored,
out it is just here, it may beremarked,
chat this principle passes into the
next, that of elegance, -
Elegance is indeinable, as it is the
highest branch OF the art of dress. To
De lacking in elegance may be classed
rs a blunder, but it is only thosegross
violations of elegance which it is fair
to put in the category of grammatical
plumbers. Vulgar and over-extrava-
CANT displays ofjewelry, for instance,
may be taken as an example of this
sort Of blunder. On the whole the
takers at the club gave themselves
credit for disposing pretty effectually
OF the whole subject, but they had not
therefore the right to suppose that
the number Of grammatical errors in
the dress Of their generation would be