The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1902-03-22
FOLLIES OF FASHION
sARToRlAL vAoARles or The CEN
TUNES THAT ARE GONE.

NE0NGMUMe
the Time of ChRucer = Raiment
That Rivaled the Rainbow and
Men who starched Their Beards.
It is little gratifying to reflect that
however the man OF today may com.
pare with his ancestors OF bygone cen
turtles in physique and morals, his
dress is much more moderate and In
expensive, even II II is less pictur
es1ue, than theirs.
It Is true that here and there one
may find some foolish young man
whose taste in dress is as extravagani
as that of any buck" of the days Of
the Georges. There Is, for instance o
son Of q well known peer who has the
reputation Of never wearing n suit
twice. He has a wardrobe Of waist.
coats Of all the cOlors Of the rainbow.
ranging from a light blue spangled
with silver stars to n deep green satin
with buttons OF eighteen carat gold,
each Of which Is adorned with the
painted face OF a beautiful woman.
Another wealthy aristocrat is credit
ed with having as many suits aud uni
forms as there are days In the yeai
and with spending on his tailor's Dill
a 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'
berIand who lived in the latter part OF
the fourteenth century boasted no few
er than sixty suits Of cloth Of gold
alone, and the bishop Of Ely OF that
time had a change Of ralment for ey'
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 va.
rlety and costlIness OF Its contents, and
even a simple village priest, according
TO Fuller. wore "a vestment OF crimson
satin, a yestment Of crimson velvet,
stole and fanon set with pearl. gowns
faced with taffetas, etc"
In the days Of Chaucer fashionable
men wore clothes as many colored m
Josephs coat, 80 that while one leg
would be blaze OF crimson the other
would be tricked ont in green or blue
or yellow, without any regard to har.
mOny or contrast"
Even as late as the middle OF tht
eighteenth century a dandy would deck
himself In "a vivid green coat, n waist
coat Of scarlet, yellow breeches and
blue stockings" and the gentleman OF
few years later wore, among simi
lar sartorial vagaries, "a coat OF light
green, with sleeves too small for the
arms and buttons too big for the
sleeves; a pair Of Manchester fine stun
| breeches, without money In their pock'
cts; clouded silk stockings, a club Of
hair behind larger than the head that
carries It, a hat Of the size Of six
pence on a block not worth far
thing"
At one fashionable epoch our ances'
tors, to quote the words OF a quaint
chronlcler, would weare clothes 80
tighte TO ye skin that II might well be
conceived they wore no clothes at al" )"
and at another they would wear them
$50 volumlnous that a single suite
might well have afforded rayment for
a whole famllle, and so stuffed out
with feathers that, OF a verify, their
wearers resembled nothing so much as
walking sackes"
AT another period Il was the 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
80 on-so that the wearer was walk
ing epitome OF the dress Of cont
nent"
At one time shoes would be worn
with square toes OF such width that
royal proclamation was issued limiting
the width TO six inches, and these
shoes were succeeded by others which
came TO the finest OF points at the toes,
In Henry II.'s time shoes with points
two feet long were worn by the fash'
ionables, and In the reign OF Henry
Nv. these points had grown 10 such an
lnordnate length that In order TO be
able 20 walk at all II 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 II was common thing for a
man OF fashion TO spend several hours
day with his valet. among the mnny
quaint operations being "the starcllne
OF the beard and the proper periumlng
OF garments. the painting Of the face
and amounting with oils, tlnctnres. quin
tessences aud pomatums." IL Is even
said that some Of the dandies of thr
time bathed In wine aud milk FOR the
preservation OF their compleXions and
the reJuvenation OF their energies"-
l L usls nftg