Evening star., 1898-09-17
THE SCIENCE OF DRESS.
How One Loses Power by Wearing
Old Clothes

How One Loses Power by wearing
Old Clothes.
From the New York Tribune.
since fair Americans have decided to
| give up Paris gowns and millinery thew
| nave turned to science to aid them in their
efforts to be captivated-for scientists have
been considering the subject of dress. 1t
has now claimed that. no matter how
charming the gown, if worn in certain
mood of mind it fails in its effect
Science is daily showing us the wonders
OF electricity. and proving the powers of
telepathy. Prentice Mulford assures us
| thoughts are things" and our clothing
absorbs our thoughts; therefore, dressing
mas become in part science and some
| llnes more than mere donning Of gar
fAehts. Your thought is an invisible
eniahauon ever going from you" Null
ford declares, and if such clothing be
| worn long it becomes saturated with this
| sentiment. Every thought of ours is a
part OF our real selves; our last thought
a part OF our latest, newest SELF
| therefore, If one wears old clothes one
absorbs into cne's newest self of today
| the old thought one has previously cast
| off and with which those clothes are sat
Irated. One may then absorb into ones
| newer self of today something of every
| mood of anger. irritation or anxiety sent
| nom one while wearing those garments
| 1t Is possible to be each day a newer man
| or woman than one was yesterday, and
| one wants as much as possible to keep
| that newness and freshness unmixed with
! oldness. 1t is this sense that makes the
old coat or gown feel SO uncomfortable.
| 1t is the same sense that makes new cloth
| ing feel quite grateful and refreshing
| 1t is claimed that there is no economy
| only loss of power, in wearing old clothes.
| Not even a snake, for the sake of econ
omy, will crawl into its old skin after
casting it. Nature never eccromizes after
| the fashion Of man by putting old plumage
| on bird. If she did the face of nature
would be as that of old coats and trousers
! or secondhand clothing store. 1t is
| healthful to live amid plenty of color.
what so pleases eye and rests the mind?
| What rests the mind rests the body In
| dress and the furnishings of homes there
are ten new shades where there was one
| twenty years ago. What an Improvement
| Is the attire today, with its coloring, on
| the somberness of that of our ancestors,
| All the colors worn by the women of to-
| day were wcrn by nature long ago, but
| their usefulness and beauty had not vet
been perceived.
| One should always put on fresh apparel
| for dinner or the theater or any social
| gathering. If the business suit is worn
| to dinner, opera or party ones business
self is then brought to place where all
| business should be laid aside and forgot
| ten In order that business should be better
attended TO the next day. One should
| always be tastefully ard neatly dressed,
as much SO in the privacy of ones own
home in public, for she who feels her
| self tastefully attired will carry on her
face the Impress and result Of such dress
ing. So the expression of the face i'm
proves through persistent, tasteful dress
| ing; the whole body molds itself according
| to the moods or mental state of the spirit
| If slovenly habit of attire predominates
the same expression in some form will
mold Itself upon the face, because the
face Will shane its eXDreSSiOn in accord
ance with the prevailing mood of mind.
! In dressing one generally chooses the
| color or combination of colors most ex-
pressive of the mental condition. If a
mans life is entirely without aim or pur-
| pose he will wear anything which comes
haDdy-parts of different suits thrown on
without regard to becomingness, and even
| ii he buys new clothing he will allow the
| dealer to fit him out in patchwork. If he
| is verging on what is called the down
| grade of life and feels its joyousness is
past he will probably wear black-possibly
rusty black-the color SO much affected by
| men and women who have turned their
| faces toward the Respondent and soured
| views of life. to whom gayety and love
| of color are folly
| The lusterless black is the color of stag
| nation and decay, scientists declare; hence
| we who believe In death the sundering
| of all ties between us and the departed
| put on black the badge Of mourning
| and hopelessness, while the Chinese who
| believe death to be only the loss of body
| to a spirit, wear white, indicative of a
| temporary sadness, feeling that such
| friends. though not seen with the physical
eye. near them as ever.
Even millionaire cannot afford to wear
! a rusty hat if looked at from the right
| standpoint, for careless dressing means
| lack of love for the necessary effort in
choosing the color and fashion of ones
| dress. A seedy coat, a soiled gown, tell
| no falsehood about the mental condition
| of the wearer.
| A well-known New York clothier has
| said: THE science of dress is well under
| stood by each OF my statesmen, and he
knows the moment he glances at a Gus
| toner just what he can sell him. There is
millionaire who comes in and orders
| most expensive garments, then grumbles
| because ne never has the appearance of
| being well dressed. while the clerk who
| waits upon him looks like a prince in
| s15 suit. We can not tell him 1t Is be-
cause he does not know how to wear his
| clothes. and the difference Iii their appear
ance is the thought put into them"
| One should always wear suitable ap
| parel for every occupation. An actor feels
| more his part when he wears the costume
adapted to that part, especially when he
| has played in it many times, for 1t then
becomes permeated with the thought pecu-
| of the beggar you will for the same reason
! feel the cringing mental condition of the
| beggar.
New York swell" who donned the
coarse garb of a workingman with the
| intention of taking up the life for the ex-
| perience Of 1t, said: 81 was surprised at
| the difference in my feelings almost i'm
| mediately after stepping into the street in
| this garb."
| How often one says, why. that hat or
| gown looks like So-and-So!' Showing that
the phrase wearing the mantle Of an
other'' has more truth in it than cne
| would suppose. for the garment once worn
| by another has absorbed a certain part
| Of that persons thought or self, and such
| thought can be reabsorbed by the person
| to whom 1t is given. Our clothes can be
rested as our bodies are If a garment is
| hung out in the sunshine and Wind for a
| time, when again brought into use 1t has
a feeling of rest about II,