Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-03

TNHERE is nothing new under the
sun, and the cult that includes the
meanings of colors, the signifi-
canoe of lustres or dead surfaces,
straight lines or curves, is really older
than the pyramids.
The queen of Sheba in all probability
had more than an inkling of this when
she put on her glorious duds and went
10 call on King Solomon. Cleopatra, if
we are to believe the theatrical repre-
sentations, donned a very stacy boating
dress for her journey down the Cydnus
to meet Antony.
Since then even the least of us have
learned that white muslin and blue lib
bon stand for extreme innocence. black
alpaca for misfortune and spangleS for
a certain degree of racy impropriety--a
code that will not balk at any small
risks
Blue is sweet and good and true.
jBouguereau said that the color blue
was the most beautiful thing in all the
world. Nine men out of ten like II
woman in a blue gown, although they
may not be able to explain just why.
Brown is demure; gray is modest and
discreet: all the shades of purple from
mauve to deepest violet are disturbing,
languorous and luxurious, while the
different shades of scarlet, from pink to
crimson, go even deeper than purple
into the realms of the Ought Not.
1t is a fascinating study even in its
kindergarten stages, and when you can
have jewels to play with as school
books it is like handling the living
colors themselves. For the occult in
dress and in sheen and lacklustre and
tint has its beginning and end in gems
and their history.
silhouettes of men and women, have
changed within the century. From the
times of powdered hair and patches, the
dandy days when men sported rufiles
and brocade coats, high heeled shoes
with flashing buckles, silk stockings
and garters. to these of the billycock
hat and the cutaway-what Il stretch
there is in times and manners,
Observe how the clothes of the dressy
periods expressed the emotional ram
pantness of the age when every mans
hand was either in his snuff box or on
the hilt of his sword, when he inces-
sanity made love or fought duels with
only slight pauses for meals
The days We're beruffled as well as
the over-mannered heroes that go SO
we'll with De Koven music and Il Hope
libretto, but we latter day women who
have passed the stage of matinee actor
worship are sincerely grateful that our
men do not wear feathers in their hats
or lingerie ruffies ON their shirt bosoms.
Mans Real Place
1t is not that we object to feathers,
but we know that q modern man who
could wear one without feeling sew
eral kinds OF a fool must be of far
different calibre from the men we Wot
OF today, lacking upholstery, lingerie
and frills generally, but accomplishing
things and signing checks for us with
a graceful insoucience that impresses
us more deeply than the sweep of "A
sword. The stub pen is mightier by
far believe US.
Mems dress today has been object
ed to by artists who love to deck
themselves i'm loose, haggy velvet ef-
fects. murderous sombreros and flow
ing sillSen ties. But no one would care
to have the Latin Quarter fashions
transplanted to Broadway.
A little of that sort of thing goes a
great way with us, for although we are
yet in our primer stage Of dress mys-
tcism we could not associate manly
American manhood with the lace col
lar and knee breeches that Edmund
Russell and some others have sought
TO infect our civilization with.
1t is because we are beginning to
clothes to the times and the individual
that the plainness of the American
mans dress pleases us so much. We
are quite aware that the moment they
began to trim up their hats and wear
openworl1 shirts there would be COR
responding lack of simplicity in per-
sonality. manners and morals.
No real man can afford to go in for
beauty I'm his clothes to pin punches
of Violets at his horsee ears or on
his bulldogs collar Women were built
for the purpose Of hanging beautiful
laces and jewels upon, and when man
admires well dressed woman, as he
does almost childishly he is admlring
fneness, delicacy, color, richness-all
the gorgeousness that is denied him in
everything but his dressing gown and
pajamas.
The moment he dares to go i'm for a
frill or two himself he is lost, He can
have purple orchids on his mantelplace
but If he wears one In his coat il ar
CUES a desire to be conspicuous or a
strain of the feminine desire for friyos
and clothes that rustic.
In this automobile age we VIII not
for a moment admit the use OF the
beauty man. We want the male per-
son who builds bridges and nVents
lying machines and wireless cables, or
lacking that, then the man who can
crawl under the machine and jugsle