The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-17
mn. BERNARD sHAW on DREm.
Sensation Produced In Him by woA,n
wearing . Dlrd 70 the Opera.
From The London Timcs.

| From tie London Timcs.
To the editor OF the TimFs-Sr: The orcra
MANAGEMENT at Covent Garden re9ula,cs
the dress Of Its male patrons. When is /,
going TO do the same 20 the women
On Saturday night l went to tho opera. |
| wore the cogtume imposed on me by ,,o
| regulations OF the house. fully Recognize
the advantage Of those regulations. Even.
| Ing dress In cheap. simple, durable, prevents,
rivalry and extravagance on the pnrt Of
male leaders OF fashion. annihilatcs elias,
| distinctions. and gives men who are poor
and doubtful of their social position uhat +,
the great majority OF men a sense Of security
| and satisfaction that no clothes of their own
choosing could confer. besides sa wing whola
sex tho trouble Of considering what they
| should wear on state occasions. The oh.
! Jections to II are asydust in the balance in
the eyes Of the ordinary Brton. These oh.
jections are that II Ia ooloress and character.
less; that II involves a whitening process,
which makes the shirt troublesome, slightly
uncom Portable, and seriously unclcan. that
II acts as q passport for undesirable persons.
that 10 fails to guarantee sobriety, cleanlines,
and order on the part OF the wearer, and
that II reduces to a formula very vital human
habit which should be the subject OF con.
slant experiment and active private enter.
prise. All such objections are thoroughly
un-EnslIsh. They appeal only to an eccen.
trio few. and may be left out of account with
the fantastic objections Of men like Ruskln
Tennyson. Carlyle and Morris to tall hats.
But | submit that what Is sauce for tho
gander Is sauce for the goose. Every argu.
ment that applies to the regulation OF the
mans dress applies equally to the rerula.
ton OF the woman's. Now let me describe
what actually happened to me at the opera
Not only was In evening dress by compul.
sion, but | voluntarily added many graces
of conduct as to which the management
made no stipulation whatever. / was In
my seat In time for the first chord of the
overture. / did not chatter during the music
nor raise my voice when the opera was too
loud for normal conversation. | did not
get up and go out when the statue music
began. My language was fairly moderate
considering the number and nature of the
improvements on Mozart volunteered by
Signor Caruso. and the respectful ignorance
OF the dramatic points of the score exhibited
by the conductor and the stage manager
II there is such functionsry at Covent G erden.
In short. my behavior was exemplary.
At 0 clock 1.-THE opera began at ~ a lady
came In and sat down very conspicuously
In my line Of sight. She remained there
until the beginning Of the last act. do
not complain OF her coming late and going
early: on the contrary. l wish she had come
later and gone earlier. For this lady. who
had very black hair had stuck over her right
ear the pitia bic corpse OF large white bird,
which looked exactly as II some one had
killed 1t by stamping on its breast. and then
nailed II to the lady's temple. which was
presumably OF sufficient solidty to bear
the operation. / am not hope. a morbdly
saueamish person: but the spectacle sckened
me. ! presume that IL had presented my
self at the doors with dead snake round
my neck, q collection Of black beetles pinned
to my shirt front and grouse in my hair.
should have been refused admission. Why.
such a public outrage? Had the lady been
refused admission. as she should have been.
she would have soundy rated the tradesman
who imposed the disgusting headdress on
her under the false pretense that the best
people" wear such things. and withdrawn
her custom from him. and thus the root OF
the evil would be struck at. for your fashion,
able woman generally allows herself TO ba
dressed according to the taste of q person
whom she would not let sit down in her
presence. ! once. In Drury Lane TheatAr.
sat behind matinee hat decorated with the
two wings of a seagull. artificially Redeemed
at the Joints SO as to produce an Illusion Of
being freshly plucked from live bird. But
even that lady stopped short of the whols
seagull. Both ladies were evidently re- ,
garded by their neighbors as ridiculous and
vulgar: but that is hardly enough when the
offence is one which produces a sensation
Of physical sickness in persons OF normal
humane sensibility.
suggest to the Covent Garden authorities
that II they feel bound 60 protect their sub
scrbers against the dan ger of my shocking
them with blue tie. they are at least equally
bound to protect me against the danger OF
"o"'"" ''o""" '"' q. BsRSARp SHAW.