Year: 1875

Within the last few years there ha


been great revival in many branche


OF decorative art. The school of needle


work at South Kensington is rich i;


designs for costly and beautiful hang


1ngs. There are large number of eff


cient workers employed there, and som,


of the embroidery produced by til,


ladies is extremely good. In many shol


windows are to be seen fine plaques O


china and admirable tiles, while ever


the convicts at Wokipg turn out very


cred1table mosaic. Wall papers have


reach the point of being really decora


tive, and the most fastidious person car


hardly fail to find something to please


hlm amongst the many patterns brought


out by competent people who have


studied the subject. It is now possible


to get both men and women so we'll edu


Gated IN art and archaeology that they


are able to design appropriate furn1tu e


to suit any given style of architecture


1t is surely time to try art dressmaking.
| So long as we were contented to follow


French fashions with regard TO the
| furnishing of our houses it was perhaps


natural that our wives and daughters


should get their dresses from Paris.
Now that we have ceased to look across
the channel for the patterns of our


carpets and clocks there is no reason
| why dress should not also be provided
| at home IN harmony with other decora


tions. Ladies with delicate perception


and sufficient skill to know how to


furnish their rooms often express wish


that they could order their dresses from


the same artist who paints their rooms,


but as that is impossible, they go to


Mr.. Worth instead, and try to conform


their taste to the last new Paris whim,


no matter how ugly or indecorous it


may be. The fashions which have been


worn for the last six or seven years are


certainly much more picturesque than


those of the days of crinOline. More


care has been taken by the milliners


that colors shall be few and harmonious.


The wearing of black even by those not
in mourning has been very generally
adopted, and, as it suits almost every
one, and looks well out of doors, it is at
least unobjectionable. Still there is an
immense amount of bad dressing to be
seen everywhere which is quite needless,
and which would be simply impossible
if the art was at all understood by either
dressmakers or dress wearers.


Dressmakers, as a class, are vulgar
and uneducated, with little appreciation
of the artistic subtleties of their art, or
even its more obvious proprieties. They
have learned to load their work with ugly
and senseless frills which do not end
anything, with bows which do not tie
anything, and with buttons which are
of no use, until their eyes are incapable
of seeing or their minds of understand
ing the grace of simplicity and the
charm of suitability. OF what consti-
tutes true beauty in the female form
they are entirely ignorant, and they
adore a waist that can be spanned.
They think that dress is perfect fit
in which lady can neither raise her
arms nor use her legs. Artificial flowers
and glass beads are the highest ideal of
decoration and costly trimmings of art.
A novelty, however ugly, if stamped
with the approval of Paris, is accepted
without thought, but the suggestion
of some pretty design which has not
emanated from that centre of frivolIty
is at once rejected with scorn because it
has no "style." It is not uncommon to
see vigorous efforts made on the part of
some ladies to emancipate themselves
from the thraldom of fashion and to
strike ~ut q line for themselves. Too
often these efforts are signal failures
from want of sufficient knowledge of
the subject. There are very few people
who have a genius for dressing them
selves or even the perception to know
what style suits them best. A good
design is spoilt when badly carried out,
or when the workmanship is not highly /
finished. Laces of different periods and
countries are often ignorantly mixed up
together and sleeves of one century
worn with bodies of another. It is un- |
9asant to see a Stuart costume sur
mounted by Victorian chignon or an
head dress finished with a |
mob cap. Some ladies, too, will appear
in medieval dress one day and in a
robe the next, giving one |
the impression that they are using up
their fancy ball costumes. Every
woman has a certain style of appear
ance, and her dress should correspond
with it. In French fashions there is
generally a great want of dignity-the
dignity of simplicity. To a country
gentleman accustomed to see his women
folk in fresh musliHs and clean prints it
is not little surprising to be taken to
y
semi artistic families living in and near
London. An atmosphere of mouldy
decay pervades the house, which is
painted in dark green blues. The walls
are hung with every conceivable absur-
where no candles are ever
lighted, go' gs which are not to sound,
curtains which have no purpose and give
the air of an old clothes shop. Whole
dinner services of china are strung on
the staircase, and everything is covered
thick with black, oily dust made by
smoke, smuts, and fog, The poor girls
try to dress in way which they fondly
believe to be artistic, end end in looking
like rag dolls. They tie the refuse OF
Cairo round their waists, and wisps OF
strange fabrics round their necks. Pea
cocks feathers eye us from unaecounta-
bic situations, and frills of old lace, so
dirty as to be almost nasty, garnish
threats which would look much better
in clean linen collars. But clean linen
collars and cuffs have unfortunately no
tone they are incompatible with artistic
dressing. Then, too, tidy hair is mad
missible. There is another style of
artistic dressing which when badly done
is almost as offensive as the wlthered
5Gyl6s we may call IL, AOb MdnO VI
better name, Free Clas sic. 1t is gener-
ally adopted by short fat people with
nigh shoulders. It consists for the
most part Of shapeless cream colored
cotton or woollen robe with gold
yirdle. On stout figures the effect is
Oy no means attractive. A model atfired :
n night-gown which has been properly
lamped and draped no doubt looks very
veil, but night-gown over a reasona-
Die amount of under garments is merely
and shapeless. Dresses of
his pattern must be either ugly or in.
delicate. Good artistic and good fash
enable dressing both involve expense,
md neither of them can be well carried
,ut without thought, knowledge, and
money. We are very unfortunate in
having no national costume. 1t would
ave us from much that is unbearably
lideous in the dress of She lower orders,
md perhaps enable them to have clean,
erviceable clothing, instead of trum-
oery second hand finery. If our middle
lass young ladies are to do cooking and
work they, too, should
lave picturesque costume.