New-York tribune., 1900-09-02
THE GERMAN AND HIS DRESS.
MADE UP TIES. DETACHABLE CUFFS
AND CONGRESS CATERS ARE
ALMOST UNIVERSAL
From Fashion

ties dummy cuffs and elastic side boots Yet
so to speak would convey perhaps rather false
impression The German is not a dreSsy per-
son, but it would be mistake to conclude that
he pays no attention to the subject of his outer
at all His ways may not be ways,
but within mis- limits the average TeUton gives
quite much regard to the matter are
wont to. In fact taking the male population
all round, and including high and low, l think
the average standard of dress in certain inn
portant matters is even higher among the happy
Fatherlanders than il is among ourselves, who
proudly claim to lead the world. The German
is seldom well dressed in the higher sense OF
the term, but he is almost invariably neat. tidy
and well groomed- Humble virtues these, you
say, and rightly. Yet they are not possessed by
all
MILITARY UNIFORMS
Similarly. one must agree that the military
uniforms about the streets in Germany supply a
picturesque factor for which we possess no sort
Of substitute. And if trfmness and general
smartness of appearance are noticeable in the
case Of the German railway servants, postmen,
tram conductors and the rest, il needs telling
that like qualities are even more apparent when
the gallant soldiers of the country are in ques-
ton. One shudders, indeed, 10 reflect upon the
probable fate Of that member of His Majesty's
forces who should so far forget his duty TO the
sacred cloth he wears as to appear in public
with a button misplaced a shoulder strap
awry. And how beautifully their clothes are
made. too No doubt the military tailor has
an easy task in some respects There is a
square cut uncompromising rigidity and uni
| forTnity about his methods which must simplify
/ his labOrs- 1t is enough for the mill
! tary tailor TO make his uniforms snug and
smart, and the soldiers business IS 10 wear
| them. But the German military uniforms are
admirably turned out, all the same The trOu-
sers are naturally the weakest feature of the
whole costume, aud frequently contrast in any
| thing but happy fashion with the smart tUnicS
and well cut overcCats worn with them. But
this is inevitably So The tailor who can turn
| out trousers for the million, which won't go
wrong quicker than any other part Of the SOL
dier's uniform has yet 70 be born
The elastic side boot is almost universal in
Germany, and the effect, l agree, is painful
enough to the average Britisher- Yet, even
here, if you come tO go into the philosophy OF
the matter, must you not agree that our dislike
of this particular variety Of foot wear is In truth
largely matter of prejudice? In proof where
of. instance the simple fact that within the
memory of living man-that is, in the earlier
| part OF the present centUry-this very kind OF
boot then first invented, was considered the
snartest possible alike for and women,
any old mum Der of Punch will show you. Per-
hapS. indeed could hardly find better in
stance of the mutability of fashion than the
fact that white stockings and elastic side boots
were once the only wear for women of high de-
gree. To-day The horror of it.
Ninety-nine Germans out Of a hundred
wearing elastic side boots to-day, ard it is ten
/ TO the hundredth man wearing them
also. The soldiers wear them, the railway
bodies-and what lot of them there are in
Germanyi-wear them, and so do all the other
males of every sort and kind The German
Empire is broad based upon the elastic sided
boot The elastic side boot is the foundation
Of the German Empire. Sorrowfuly the fact
must be admitted by the sartoriaI purist-for,
While may be partly pre1udiced on the point,
lt be clearly demonstrated that this variety
of boot retains its shape less readily than any
other. and hence must rank in point of excel
lence at the bottom of the scale but the fact
/ remains, and in considering the subject Of Ger
male attire must accept this article
OF costume for a beginning universal pOStu-
late. Secondly. dummy cuffs and bogus shirt
fronts. Here one is on surer grounds and nj
voice assUredly will be raised in FASHIONS"
pages other than in reprObation Of such aboni-
nations. The flannel shirt, with white dickey
and bogus cuffs, is offence alike to gods and
men, and personally find it impossible to un-
deTstand how any sef-respectinS man feel
comfortable, either physically, mentally or
morally, in such contrivances.
THE CUFF QUESTION.
Yet let US face the solemn fact that in Ger
nany-sober, moral pOetical. philosophical GerI
many-the land of Goethe and Schiller and
Beethoven and Wagner and LebnitZ-the thing
Is done without shame OF even consciousness OF
guilt And be il confessed with bated breath
the effect is really not always so bad as might
be supposed Only in this way at all events
could you hope 10 see those clean and shining
cuffs which add so considerably 10 the smart
al pearance OF the railway servants and like
officials, and similarly With other classes. That
trimness of appearance in the matter of theit
linen which, contrary TO popular belief, is an
agreeable Characteristic Of male attire in Ger
many is undoubtedly due in no little degree TO
deSpise. Who shall say after all that clean
ferred dirty cuffs which are not? The Ger