Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-18
MAN AND HIS CLOTHES
ENGLISH SOCIETY TO PROMOTE
WEARING OF COURT DRESS.
Arguments for and Against the Con-
tentions of the Dress Reformers
Lost Individuality.

are periodically informed, large number OF
Englishmen regard the prevailing fashion
In mems clothes has at last found an outlet.
Attracted. 1t would seem. by the appearance
and demeanor of a prominent actor VINO
plays nightly IN court dress at London
theater, fifty young men-so the newspaper
paragraphs say have banded themselves
together into society. They are shortly
to dine at a well-known London hotel. ev-
cry man of the fifty attired in court dress.
whether or not the society has been found
ed as a means of providing occasions when
its members may, SO to speak, throw leg
at each other, to the admiration OF all; or
whether it is designed to protest on every
opportunity against the grinding tyranny
of a fashion which actually approves so un-
becoming a garment as plain pair OF
trousers, we are not aware. We are mere
ly informed that court dress will be worn.
Prepared for Ridicule.
However all this may be, one thing. 1t
will be readily admitted. such societies
as this do possess, and that is certain
kind of courage. Their members must be
prepared for ridicule; some of them. posi-
bly,. court it, Whether the object Of the
society Is to promote the wearing of orange
kits at pan-Celtic gatherings. or the sub
stitution of knee breeches for trousers at
functions taking place in the evening. the
reformers know what to expect Is II
are going to dress up tomorrow nght?-
it is not difficult to imagine the question.
To which the reformer answers, with some
dignity possibly, that he is going to wear,
not to dress up in" a kilt, or knee
breeches, or whatever the proposed costume
may be. HIN. What do you do it for?"
says the questioner. Il can't think. You
surely don't expect me- (observe the per-
sonal note which invariably dominates such
discussions) ito look like an ass in knee
breeches at dinner party?' The reformer
may or may not take advantage OF the
obvious opening for an effectual retort but
he can, at least, justly argue that in as
Stunning that he will look like an ass In
knee brooches his interlocutor Is begging
the entire question. Why should a man be
supposed to look ridiculous in a costume
which is the regulation dress for persons
attending royal functions and costume,
moreover, which is universally admitted to
be more picturesque than the conventional
Swa1lOw-tail coat and trouSerSI why,
again. he might argue. should you object to
a costume which is essentially English:
which was universal in the days of the
Georges, and long before that; and which
was only superseded when your forefathers
copied the French in borrowing Jacobin
garments? And, he might ask In triumph
ant conclusion, Supposedly suppose there
one may imagine an incredulous snort from
the anti-reformer)-that 1t actually were
the fashion today to wear knee breaches
in the evening. what kind of figure would
you cut, arriving as the solitary guest in
| tTOuSeTS! lie lTndSiHeu SitudllOH surely Is
suggestive of that peculiarly uncomfortable
kind of nightmare in which the dreamer
sees himself entering a drawing room full
of well-dressed people, and suddenly dis
covers that he is wrapped in nothing much
more respectable than bath towel There
is only one logical answer to the question;
but We'll, catch me dressing up!' is prob
ably the reply that the reformer Is most
likely to get.
Idea of Dressing Up"
And on the whole. We think that it is the
idea of dressing up which chiefly accounts
for the repugnance of modern Englishmen
to any kind of drastic change in the fash
ions. The tendency SO far as mems dress
is concerned throughout the last fifty years
has been steadily unitarian. The object
which has been aimed at-perhaps almost
uncorisciously-has been to arrive a forms
of dress which, without being absolutely
hideous, are yet serviceable, inexpensive,
and above all, trouble-saving. The man
paying a weekend visit. for instance, is
plagued with nc such heart-searching ques-
tons may be supposed on occasions to
beset his wife. Il can't wear that dress;
wore it last time I went there,"-he never
has to deal with difficulties of that kind.
He more lucky, merely gives orders for his
bag to be packed usual If he is asked
to shoot on the Saturday, he takes with
him any ordinary knickerbocker suit; he
has to dine In the evenings. and packs the
same suit in which he has dined every day
Lounge suit" to wear on the Sunday. and
he need trouble no more. Such questions
as propounded themselves to Pepys or Ev-
elyn. studying little, but dancing and
fOOling more'-QueStionS whether 1t should
be the plum-colored suit or the puce-simply
do not occur to him He wears the same
kind and the same cut of clothes as his
fellowmen wear. just naturally and with
out forethought as he speaks the same
language.
There. possibly. the dress reformer brings
forward an objection All this may be true.
he comedies but why should the customs
which you follow be necessarily the right
customs? Why should it be a good thing
to cut every mans clothes on the same
procrustean pattern; why not allow man
to give rein to his individuality. and to wear
such clothes please him? The answer is
to be found we should say, in the fact
that in the twentieth century there exists
far more compelling necessity for able
bodied men, even If born into noble or
wealthy position, to work-to do something
if they are to obtain and retain the re-
spect of their fellow men, than existed a
hundred and fifty years ago. Today an
idIer is distrusted to whatever rank of life
he may belong. He may work. perhaps
merely at improving his estate. or the con-
ditions of his tenants-work which may not
be at once obvious to the world; but he
must work at something. and show himself
worthy of his fellowmens respect-the vast
majority of them being workers-or else he
will never be voted into any position of
trust responsibility That was not the
case a hundred and fifty, even fifty,
years ago, when 1t was much easier for the
son of rich man to get into parliament
than it is today. But today a certain
amount of solid work is expected from any
man desiring a public position and the no
ton that excessive attention to matters
such as dress Is incompatible with devotion
to business has spread upwards from the
working classes into almost every rank in
society. More than that, for dandyism.
which was no bar to any mans advance
ment in the days of the regent. or for that
matter, in the time of Queen Elizabeth
Raleigh. for instance, was almost first and
foremost a dandy-today is taken to be the
sure sign. not merely of incapacity, but of
kind OF effeminacy which men dislike
much more than mere laziness. They do
not wish a man to dress badly slovenly.
for that, in a measure, involves dsrespect
to themselves. or at least carelessness of
their opinion but they dislike man who
obviously thinks a great deal about his
dress, and they get angry with or despise,
a man who wears hashy clothes, or an
abundance of jewelry. anything, in short
that is not businessike and workmanlike.
Individuality Necessary.
AS for the dress reformer's contention.
that to cut all mems clothes to the same
pattern is to some extent to destroy or
obscure, the individuality of the man, the
plea will not stand examination. Just as 1t