The Sun. — 1864-08-09 (London, England)

MODERN COSTUME."—Such is the title given to a brochure recently issued by E. Moses & Son, of the Minories. The great object of its gratuitous publication will at once suggest itself to the mind, but the author has so ingeniously blended the literary element with his commendations of the firm and its manufactures, that if it may not be pronounced to rank among the "literary curtosities of the age, at all events it is an advertising curiosity," even in the year '64. One thing is also certain, that the information conveyed in its pages—which aro elegantly written, and well interspersed with lively anecdote—cannot be had at any shop gratis. The essay commences with a notice of the national costumes of the Greeks, Romans, of course, be seen in the Mincriee. Egyptians, &c., following brief extracts will convey an idea of the style and scope of verytime; ens of which may, the pamphlet:--" Our modern fashions always run into extremes. At the beginning of this century an amorous swain was delighted to see the and now the waist of a young on a level with her shoulders ; lady of 18 is as long as that The vast bonnet once projected so far in front that it Was like peeping down a lane wartihsterefghr his ladyt.gi.aili:vneltaal:loas,tB. if you tried to see the face. Then came the little bonnet, like a small cap, on the back of the head, threatening to fly away at the first puff of wind, Now the bonnet is brought more forward, loaded with ornaments, t and raised like a helmet with a sharp peak. The fashions changed just as before some trivial incident, sii: i obstinately a wi d ow: idnevpee nn tdeean independent the ef rapidly with our ancestors as they do with us." Again. o Kings "Sometimeschanges a n d ic 112 at ana Queens fashionmoment m gei nv aetsi itywnhhdaayeyt r s 0 me sudden impulse of disllow starched ruff; but as she had a hand in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, And Went to the gallows with a yellow' ruff round her neck, the fashion died with the inventress. )31ack satin was once in vogue; but, as Mrs yellow disgust. Mrs Turner, oManningt in woreec. it on the gallows, no lady of fashion has w ~ 4( On what apparent trifles the whole character of a costume—nay, the very character of the wearer —may depend, when good taste is wholly departed from ! Fashion is regarded as the sole test of propriety, If a coatcollar be the eighth of an inch too broad or too narrow for the latest mode, or the two waist buttons on the back of the coat be too neighbourly or too distant, or if the coat be too swallow-tailed, or have too broad a termination, we laugh incontinently at the wearer. That which to-day is heroproprietyistoemorrow purely ludicrous. becomes a pitiful' Guy,'—a figure for a pantomime,—if hie dress be out of fashion. How neceseery it is, then, to be careful in the choice of one's tailor I" Several apt anecdotes are given of Gentleman George IV. Thetheperfection greatest ao f eo o r the following and and Brummeli, g from Lady Morgan— vet, don't know which to admire the most, the cutting sarcasm of the lady or the use to which it has now been put:— Lord Anglemea was once ris great a toilet-model to the Princellegent (afterwards George IV,), as Beau Brummell. Lady Morgan records an amusing conversation with his lordship. "Lord A.ngleeett,' said her ladyship, " some admire you as Lord Lieutenant, some for .our heroism ; but Lord A.— I admire you for--" " For viehat, Lady Mor-. for the cut o gan ? ' Lady M. f pour coat. Who i.e your tailor I" In these days this question put to any remarkably well-dressed man is pretty sureto be met with Lett one answer-Ish y ich we leave to the sagacity of the reader, A Very pleasant half .hour, however, may be spent in the perusal of this brochure from the Mineries ,