The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-02-18
FoLuEs OF EARLIER FASHIONS.
Men who Starched Their Beards and
Wore shoes u Yard Long.

Wore shoes u Yard Long.
II is n little gratifying to reflect that.
however the man OF to-day may COM
pare with his ancestors of bygonc cen
turtles i'm physique or morals. his dress
is much more moderate and inexpen-
sivc, even if il is less picturesque than
theirs.
1t is true that here and there one
may find some foolish young man
whose taste in dress Is as eXtravagant
as that of any "buck" of the days of
the Georges There is, for Instance.
n son of Il well known peer who has
the reputation of never wearing suit
twice. He has a wardrobe of waist
coats of all the colors of the rainbow.
ranging from n light blue spangled
with silver stars to deep green satin
with buttons Of eighteen karat gold.
each Of which is adorned with the
painted face of Il beautiful woman.
Another wealthy aristocrat is cred
tied with having as many suits and
uniforms as there are days in the year,
and with spending on his tailor'S bill
sum which would pay the yearly
salary of minor cabinet minister.
But such men are modestly arrayed,
compared with the handles of many
past century The Earl OF Northum-
berland, who lived in the latter part
of the fourteenth century, boosted no
fewer than sixty suits of cloth of gold
alone and the Bishop of Ely, of that
time, had n change of raiment for ev.
cry day of the year. Much later, in
Queen Mary's time. the wardrobe of
n bishop might have been the envy
of Solomon for the veriety and costli-
ness of its contents. and even a simple
village priest, according to Fuller wore
n veStment of crimson satin. 4 vest
ment of crimson velvet, a stole and
fanon set with pearl, gowns faced with
taffetas," etc.
In the days of Chaucer fashionable
men wore clothes as many-colOred
as Joseph's coat, so that while one leg
would be blaze of crimson the other
would be tricked out in green or blue
or yellow, without any regard TO har-
mOny or contrast"
Even as late as the middle of the
eighteenth century dandy would deck
himself in "A vivid green coat n waist
coat of scarlet, yellow breeches and
blue stockings" and the gentleman Of
Il few years later wore, among similar
sartorial vagaries a coat of light green,
with sleeves too small for the arms
and buttons too big for the sleeves;
pair of Manchester fine stuff breech-
es without money in their pockets,
clouded silk stockings; n club OF hair
behind, larger than the head that car
ries it, hat of the size of Il siXpence
on a block not worth n farthing."
At one fashionable epoch our an
cestorS. to quote the words of quaint
chronicler. would wearc clothes so
tighte to We skin that it might well be
conceived they wore no clothes at ALL"
and at another time they would wear
them $50 voluminous that a single
suite might well have afforded Payment
for a whole famillie; and so stuffed
out with feathers that. of a verify.
their wearers resembled nothing so
much as walking sackes."
At another period it was the gro
tesque fashion to 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
walking cpitome OF the dress of
continent"
Al one time shoes would be worn
with square toes of such width that
royal proclamation was issued limit
ing the width to six inches and these
shoes were succeeded by others that
came to the finest of points at the
toes
In Henry lis time shoes with points
two feet long were worn by the fash
ionable, and i'm the reign OF Henry ".
these points had grown to such an in
ordinate length that, in order to be
able To- walk at all, it was necessary
to attach the tips to 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 1t was common thing for
a man of fashion to spend several
hours day with his valet: among the
many quaint operations being "the
starching of the beard and the proper
perfuming of garments the painting
of the race and amounting with oils.
tincturcs, quintessences. and poma-
tums' Il is even said that some of
the handles of the time bathed i'm wine
and milk. FOR the preservation of their
comDlcxions and the rejuvenation OF
their ies."-Tit-Bits