The Washington times., 1901-09-22
@LE HIGH LIFE, COSTUMES.
Result of Frenchmen's At
tempts to Initiate the Britons.

tt"DtS tne bFttOnu
20 lalala. my mother. how it makes
hotr' exclaimed a Frenchman of enor-
nous size. dropping onto two chairs out
side the cafe at which ] was slipping a
grenadine au iSirsch, and mopping his big
round face with yellow silk handker-
chief bordered with Scotch plaid pat-
tern ic green and red
His 1iat was OF black and white straw,
and carr Che had placed 1t bottom up
ward on the table,, from lie Modern
House. which is. as every Frenchman
knows. one IF the many firms in Paris
which supply Perisians with the articles
of attire worn by the high-life English.
This ''high-life English is, together
with the "bouledogue." and the five
o'clocque' one of the many popular er-
rors of the would-be fashionable Partisan
with regard to British habits. and Paris
ian tradesmen have conspired to make
the Frenchman tnink that he is dressing
as we do upon the pavements of the Rue
de Peekadeelee,' whereas, as a matter of
fact, the things that they sell him and
which he wears with pride conspire to
make him thing of joy and ridicuie in
the eyes of every Britisher who visits
the gay city.
Look. for instance, at this splendid
specimen of jacques Bonhomme at the
cafe beside me. From the top of his head
to the square toes of his bright, yellow.
low-cut shoes he is dressed "a PAngiai-
Sc" His hat and handkerchief you know
already. His shirt is mauve. Mauve with
thin superimposed pattern of yellow
checks, and its soft front is pleated into
many pleats across his burly chest. He
bought 1t with five of It's brethren at LIE
Fashiouables Tailor" where an employe
assured him. in the jargon of Anglo
French, which he is specially engaged to
speak, that they were fresh from lie
Laissetere Square de London"
His trousers are of white flannel. and
down each side of them runs a neat strip
half an inch in breadth, of black braid.
He wears them turned up. of course, in
wet weather or in fine. for this lie high
life English always does, his tailor tells
him.
His coat is normal, made of light grey
alpaca and Tapping loosely and his waist
coat is of white pique. cut low. It Is. in
fact, a dress waistcoat such as might be
seen at Kensington Town Hall on the oc-
casion of a half-crown dance. If our An
gliciZed Frenchmen be great dandy he
WI. wear a red silk handkerchief tucked
into it. His shoes, of course, are yellow,
and square toes are de rigeur. Do you
like the picture?
1t is curious thing that while many of
the Paris papers cry "a bas' US, and
make a point Of holiing all things Eng
lish up to detestation. the very gentle
men who write these infiammatory arui-
cles against the "Angliches" dress as they
think the English dress, and drag what
they believe to be English words and
forms of speech into their conversation
and their articles at every possible oppor-
tunity. The fashionable Frenchman takes
his morning tube (he pronounces 1t
this way. although he spells it tub. -
just as we do at homo, and then goes in
for an hour of ia boxe'' with his nrofes-
sor ,'y way of exercise. If he De tru-
"sportman"-"one of our sportmen les
plus sympathiques," the papers call him
he will dress himself in the costume of
"un clubman Anglais du highlife.' and go
out riding. His costume for this ultra
British sport is black morning coat with
tails, brown baggy riding breeches. gait
ers with sham putties "a la Lor Keetch-
enare,' white kid gloves. and Jockey
cap with an enormous peak II he be very
British he will smoke pipe on horseback.
After a very elaborate and expensive
luncheon he dresses himself in 'le boat
ing'-white flannel trousers with broad
black ribbon down the sides, no waistcoat.
& grey jacket. straw hat, and leveEder
grey kid gioves-and strolls out to the
Boulevards. Here he will absorb
.'cheri- goblare" through a straw, or. if he
be socially inclined, will meet another
sympathetic cIubman and go off with him
to a 5 o'clocque at about p m. where he
Iii, .l,s
in light conversation and small sand
wichs.' 1t is great mistake, almost
crime, to insert an ''e" after the "ch'' in
The word is then no longer
truly English. he will tell you. After the
5 o'clocque the clubman dines-in evening
dress of course. but he wears a soft shirt
front to his fine lawn shirt. which makes
him look as though he had been going to
bed and was suddenly called to dinner;
and he spends his evening at ''un musi-
cale''-which would be music hall in Eng
lish II his were known on this side of the
Channel. Then he goes to Maxim's. and
with other friends and ardent members of
lie high life, he imbibes more "cheri-gob-
lare,' chin goktel. ''peleilIe" and other
British drinks summons his ''grum." tells
him to call his buggy or his ''dokkar.' as
the case may be. and drives home to bed.
l know one Partisan who has achieved
fashionable notoriety in the gay city
merely on account of his truly English
way of Struggling up his shoulders and
demanding w nat II Is NnGn ne IdiiS
to catch an observation which has been
addressed to him. You should frequent.
ce cher X" 1 am frequently told by
sympa thetic sportsmen who are not
friends of his. Not only rides he to raw
ish In the stipplechase. but he is almost
an English There, Do you hear him
What 1t is% he says-lfke all. your high
life, my dear, in Peekadeelee Street. Is not
SOP" Ii is among the middle classes of
the Paris bourgeois that the taste for
English modes of dress runs riot. To be
truly English. a costume made in Paris
must be Scotch. At almost every corner
along the grands boulevards, and in all
the streets adjacent to them, are Eng
lish" shops. (kept, of course. by French
menl where the notice ''Englisch spo-
KEN may be seen, and here the would
he fashionable Of the middle classes may
buy tartans which would make Mac
gregor or a Campbell pale with envy.
j have been admiring some delicious
shirts in one of these shop windows re-
Gently. They are made of white flannel.
and are called LIE lontenniS Shirtings.
Everybody In the Hyde Parque is wear
ing them, 1t would appear The white
flannel of which the body and sleeves of
the shirt are made is supplemented with
a collar and cuffs of variously colored
tartans Some are mauve and green. or
mauve, yellow, green. and red. others are
blue and pink. or pink and black, and
some are brilliant orange. mingled with
a touch OF rich deep purple.
7 once was bold enough to tell a Paris
tradesman that his English high-life cos
fumes were a trifle French | sugared the
pill as best | could and added that Whlie
fbe Convention was of course quite Eng
Iish. the carrying out of the idea had be-
come a trife Frenchified. The man look
ed pityingly at me. Monsieur is himself
an English" he enquired. Most as
suredly'i' .'Ahi then monsieur has per-
haps BEEN long in Paris and has not min
sled with the fashionables of the high-iife
English for some years. They always
now dress themselves like this. The cos
tune monsieur indicates" lit was a green
taiI-coat, with bicycle breeches of the
same color. and a black straw hat with
a white band around it. and was labeled,
polo habit, very fashionable. was
to US in every detail by
Sir Smith. who is. without doubt, mon