Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-11-26

Cnaucer In the Parsons Tale,
Alas! May not man see as in our
daies, the sinneful costleye array of
clothing, and namely in to moch su-
perfuitiee, or elles in to disordinate
scantn' SEP" Among the superhuities
was the "length of the foresaide
gounes, trailing in the dong and in the
myre, on hors and exc on foot, as we'll
of man as of woman, that all thilke
trailing is veraily wasted, consumed,
threadbare, and rotten with dong,
rather than it is geven to the poure. :.
. To speke of the horrible disor-
dinate scantnesse of clothing. :.
. Alas! some of them showed the
bosse and the shape of the horrible
swollen membres, that semed like to
the maladie of hernia, in the wrapping
of the hosen, and exc the buttokkes of
hem behinde, that faren as it were the
hinder part of she ape in the full OF
the mone." The disgusting fashion of
short and tight breeches (which rather
exposed the wearer's nakedness than
hid it," was banished from France by
an edict of Charles V. The beaux of
Elizabeth's reign, however, differed
from those of Chaucer's and Charles
times. They stuffed their breeches
with feathers, rags and other light ma
terials, until they were swollen to
huge circumference, and at the same
time the ladies wore large-hooped
farthingales, something like modern
crinolines, so that "two lovers aside
could surely never have taken one an
other by the hand" In a print by
Vertue, Lady Hunsden, a leader of
fashion, heads Elizabeth's procession
to Lord Hunsdon's. Her standing
up wire ruff" rises above her head, her
stays reach to her knees, and her
farthingale encloses her, as in a ca
pacious tub" Disraeli says: "The
amorous Sir Walter Raleigh must
have found some OF the Maids of Hon
our the most impregnable fortifcation
his gallant spirit ever assailed: coup
de main was impossible" Old Stowe
says of this reign, in that time he was
held the greatest gallant that had the
deepest ruff and longest rapier."
We have seen an old French print
of Adam and Eve in elaborate Eastern
costumes, robed, jewelled and tur-
banned, although we are told our Bib
lical ancestors commenced with fig
leaves and did not advance beyond
" coats of skins" The graceful and
Greek-like dresses of Anglo-Saxon
times continued to linger long after
the Conqueror. The conquest of
France by the English introduced
French fashions, and these and other
refnements continued to come to us
at intervals from Italy anG Holland
also. The English dress OF the thir-
teenth and fourteenth centuries was
the most varied, the most bizarre, and
the most ridiculous. In the reign OF
Charles II. the Puritans kept watch
full and bilious eye upon every change
of fashion. "When courtiers wore
monstrous wigs, they cut their hair
short; when they adopted hats with
broad plumes they clapped on round
black caps, and screwed up their pale
religious faces; and when shoe buckles
were revived, they wore strings" So
cantankerous is soured human nature,
We must not suppose that we have
arrived at the ultima thule of dress
yet. Possibly, judging from the trend
of fashion, in course of time, things
will veer round and each sex adopt
the costume of the other, the men
wearing petticoats or kilts-which
would be far more becoming than the
present scanty jackets and tight trous-
ers-and the women wearing long
coats or blouses, and breeches or Turk
ish trousers. A rational dress must
be one which gives the largest freedom
to the body, is healthiest, lightest,
most comfortable, and best adapted to
climate and season. For picturesque
ness, perhaps the modern native Greek
dress surpasses all others. For pur-
poses of coquetry, it would seem that
is most effective. Taci-
tus tells us that the beautiful Poppea
only part of her face {" to ir-
ritate curiosity" and to heighten by
the perfection of the re-
mainder. But whatever we wear, or
however we dress, that must be most
rational which best suits our comfort
and our circumstances, and whether
knickerbockers or skirts, is of no law
full concern to any of the Peeping
Toms, Paul Prys, and lip-pursed
Prudes who howl at any change or re-
creation in which they do not partici-
pate. They who make the loudest
outcry are probably those whose un.
unshapely ankles and legs will not
bear inspection, but as the race i'm
proves in symmetry, and well-formed
limbs become general, it is likely that
very short dresses for the women, and
knee breeches, as in the graceful olden
times, for the men, will be the univer-
sal fashion.
The average expense of passenger
steamship, New York to Liverpool and
return, is about $4,000.