Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1901-11-05
FOLLIES OF FASHION
sARToRlsL vAoARIEs or rrE CEN
rURIEs THAT ARE GONE


the Time of chsaeer = Raimese
That nivaIea the nsinbow and
Men whs starehsd Their Bsard.-
II lisa little gratifying to reflect that.
however the man OF today may CON-
pare with his ancestors Of bygone CEN
turtles In physique and morals. his
dress Is much more moderate and In
expressive. even IL IL Is less plctur-
esque. than theirs.
II Is true that here and there one
may nnd some foolish young man
whose taste ln dress IL a. extravagane
A. that OF any buck" OF the days Of
the Georges. There u. for Instance. q
son " a well known peer who has the
reputation Of never wearing a suit
twice. lie has a wardrobe Of waist
coats Of all the colors Of the rainbow.
ranging from n light blue spangled
with silver stars 10 deep green satin
with buttons Of eighteen carat gold.
each OF which IL adorned with the
painted face Of beautiful woman.
Another wealthy aristocrai Is credit
ed with having as many suits and uni-
forms A. there are days in the year
and with spending on his tali0rs bin
a sum which would pay the yearly
salary Of n minor cabinet minister.
But such men are modestly arrayed
compared with the handles Of many q
past century. The earl OF Northum-
beriand who lived In the latter part OF
the fourteenth century boosted no few
er than sixty suits Of cloth Of gold
alone. and the bishop OF Ely OF that
time had change Of raIment for ev-
cry day OF the year.
Much later. in Queen Mary's time.
the wardrobe OF 4 bishop might have
been the envy OF Solomon for the va
riety and costlIness OF It's contents. and
even a simple village priest. according
10 Fuller, wore "a vestment OF crimson
satin. vestment Of crimson velvet. q
stole and fanon set with pearl. gowns
faced with tanfetas. etc"
In the days OF Chaucer fashionable
men wore clothes as many colored a.
Joseph's coat. 30 that while one leo
would be a blaze Of crimson the other
would be tricked out Ia green or blue
or yellow. without any regard to har-
mony or contrast"
Even as late as the middle OF thu
eighteenth century a dandy would deck
himself in "a vivid green coat waist
coat Of scarlet. yellow breeShes and
blue stockings" and the gentleman Of
few years later wore. among slmi-
lar sartorini vagaries. "A coat Of Light
green, with sleeves too small for the
arms and buttons too big for the
sleeves: a pair OF Manchester hne stuR
breeches. without money in their pock-
cts: clouded silk stockings. q club %
hair behind larger than the head that
carries II. a hat Of the size Of slx-
pence on a block not worth q far
thing"
At one fashionable epoch our ances-
tors. 10 quote the words Of a quaInt
chronicler, would weare clothes 50
tighte 10 ye skin that II might well be
conceived they wore no clothes at aIl.~
and at another they would wear them
80 yolumInous that a single suite
might well have afforded Payment for
whole famIlie. and so stuffed out
with feathers that. Of q verify. their
wearers resembled nOthil so ouch as
walking sackes."
At another period Il was ne gro
tesque fashion 10 combine on one per-
son the dress OF all the countries OF
Europe-the hat would be Spanish. the
coat French. the trousers Turkish. and
so on-so that the wearer was walk
ing epltome Of the dress Of 4 CONT
nent"
At one time shoes would be worn
with square toes Of such width that a
royal proclamation was issued limiting
the width TO six inches, and these
shoes were succeeded by others which
came 20 the finest Of points at the toek.
In Henry Ills time shoes with points
two feet long were worn by the fash
lonables. and In the reign Of Henry
". these points bad grown to such an
lnordinate length that In order 10 be
able TO walk at all IL was necessary to
attach the tips 20 the knees by chains
which were Of gold or silver, while the
tops OF the shoes were carved with all
kinds Of fantastic designs.
In the early part OF the eighteenth
century II was a common thing for a
nan Of fashion TO spend several hours
| day with his valet. among the many
quaint operations being ''the starchIng
u the beard and the proper pertaining
4 garments, the painting OF the face
md amounting with oils. tlnctures. gum
essences and pomatums." Il Is even
aid that some OF the handles OF the
line bathed In wine and milk "for the
reservation Of their compilations and
he rejuvenation Of their energles"-
,ondon Tit-Bits.