The Russellville Democrat., 1892-02-18
FASHIONS CHANGES.
Its Periodicity the Only Thing Certain About It--Attitude of the Sexes.

It's Periodicity the Only Thing Certain
 About It--Attitude of the Sexes.
 What queer thing fashion is, and how few people have really judgment of tbeir own, independent of the precept and practice of their fellows Who would ever dream (except from the law of contradic- tion) that the same ladies who, as girls, sewed every locket of every size and shape that they possessed on to a band of velvet, and, thus arrayed set forth to a ball, would in later life complacently contemplate their own necks, innocent of single ornament9 For the last ten years the pendulum was swung in the other direction. No one has worn anything but diamonds, and the question must sometimes occur to the feeblest mind, "Where do they all come from7" Come from, that is, not mineralogically, but finan- cially. Our friends are no richer than they were nay, is it not noto- rious that we are all poorerG They do not run into debt; they are not (like the virtuous young man in "Beggars All'') housebreakers first and journalists after; they are not recklessly improvident in other di- rections, but their wives, and even their daughters, would not think of dining out without wearing at least one diamond brooch.
 In wedding presents it is just the same. Thirty years ago the uncles and aunts of the middle classes thought they had done their duty handsomely by their relations if they presented them with a bracelet an inch wide, having the legend "Marah," or "Mizpah," or some other Hebrew word chased on 1t in blue enamel. Now, nothing under pair of silver muffineers is allowed to pass, and they are considered mean for any one nearer than a second cousin. If the incautious male relative thinks he will save himself trouble by inquiring what the bridal pair would like, he is lost. A check toward furnishing is hinted at in delicate terms, and the most courageous of mortals would hardly dare to make one out for anything under twenty pounds, knowing as he does full well that a slip of paper with his name and the amount will be duly exposed among the wedding presents.
 As to dress, in this as in other directions, the periodicity of fashion is the only thing certain about it.. The civilized world has lately been suffering from heavy Valois reac- ton, and such has been the craze for tightness and stiffness that ladies have not hesitated to adopt fashions which the court of Henri III. or Charles K. only reserved for men. High stiff collars (fatal to people with short necks or defective respir- ation) have reigned side by side with huge open ruffs, charming when seen from the front, frightful when looked at from behind. For year past it has been impossible to ind, ee any dressmaker to leave the swee p. ing line of the neck and arm as ma ture made it. Husbands may scold aesthetic friends may scoff, but til the fiat goes forth from the law givers of Paris women will have to wear humps on their shoulders, in some wise after the fashion of the Reine Margot.
 Nothing is more strange and worthy of notice than the attitude of the male sex toward the attire of their womankind. In theory they may (and do) loudly object to special articles of clothing as being "uglyo and "absurd." 7" Yet, if the natural gentleness of her sex induces the lady to listen to these observations, and to try to conform to their spirit, she will reap the inyariable reward of such Patient Griseldas by her husband or brother informing her, as they return from the next fash ionable party, that "he 1oes not know why it is, but there is some thing rather odd about her dress, and he did not see any one else with it." In theory, men always desire women to dress sensibly. In prac- tiee, they detest singularity and any thing that calls for remark. A mans ideal dress for his female belongings is either "black silk' or "white muslin. "-Spectator.