The sun., 1900-12-20
The STUFFED shoulder ~ Man.

Tho saddcst sight Of civilization TO tho
ar'i'tic eye Il tho mamma H. shoulder.
" We may borrow an adjective from Col
BRY,Ns storehouse II l. specially notice
able on good tingllng day In winter. when
all the ovcrcoats are out. the observer ~
panied to see that the men inside OF them
are not wearing their own shoulders eS-
chi-ively, but mon-trous. Impossible. wide.
stlfr padded structures Of the tailors art.
Little spindle-shanked men who end IN
nothing are ~ broad a. IiERCuLEs at the
shoulders and trip along like a pyramid
shufIlng on its apex Youths or comely
shines and gracility are weighed down
with these palpable false miracles OF stuiling'
Even The lusty lords OF the football Held
and the oar are not ashamed TO add TO
their sufficient breadth OF shoulder by
these unhoy pretences.
Once in n while some man with genius
for simplicity or Of force OF character ana
language enough TO offer an enectual re-
sstanCe to this pet convention OF the
tailor's. wears a coat which mas not
been sophisticated. Strong is the contrast
between his appearance and the rigid
Assyrian enormty Of the victims OF tailor
ism The natural slope OF the shoulders
is easy. pleasing and graceful. The man
looks like a gentleman wearing coat
that Ats him instead of ridiculous padded
cuira.s. a shoulder-stretching fraud that
deccives nobody. takes away all beauty
OF proportion and looks uncomfortable,
awkward and preposterous.
II Is the fashion of men TO smile with
benignant superiority at all feminine arti-
fetal ways and means OF loveliness 1t Is
for the women 70 laugh at the self-betray-
ing effort of the men. or Of the tailors who
make the men, TO wear another shape
and an appearance of greater strength
than Nature has given. And the women
do laugh at these tailor-made Atlantean
shoulders: and they do well TO laugh. 4
stuffed goose will never pass for an eagle.
The villainous habit Of dyeing the hair
and beard, a habit that never produced
a moments illusion in even a myopic eye,
has pretty we'll died out Occasionally
some beated worshipper OF the devil OF
deceit may be seen. the seemly gray or
white smeared with horrible purple-no
appetining spectacle Does the man who
extends his shoulders artiflcialy stand
on any higher plane OF aesthetic probity?
But that is scarcely the question. Is it
really the tailor in his blindness or the
vain glorious customer who must bear the
blame of these square-rigged. clumsy
protrusive. illogical. loud. famboyant,
vulgar tailor-made shoulders? 1t Is no.
torious that men are meek TO their tailors.
and those sublime artists are sometimes
inclined TO be dictatorial. You don't ask
for padding. but fashion forces it on you.
This is true of many cases. although there
are plenty Of vain and strutting sumphs
who wish to seem the thing they are not.
But we will leave II to any man with any
spark Of the sense Of beauty in his bosom
to look here upon this picture and on this
and say II the natural shoulder doesn't
beat the stuffed. These illustrations are
taken from the fashion plate of an esteemed
tailor-made contemporary. the Sortoridl
Art Journal. The first shows us the COM
mon. broad. unnatural and unlovely built
up shoulder as it appears in overcoats: