THE CORSET AND THE CRINOLINE.
THE CORSET
AND
THE CRINOLINE.
A BOOK OF
MODES AND COSTUMES
FROM REMOTE PERIODS TO THE PRESENT TIME.
BY W. B. L.
WITH 54 FULL-PAGE AND OTHER ENGRAVINGS.
"O wha will shoe my fair foot,
And wha will glove my han'?
And wha will lace my middle jimp
Wi' a new-made London ban'?"
_Fair Annie of Lochroyan._
LONDON:
WARD, LOCK, AND TYLER.
WARWICK HOUSE, PATERNOSTER ROW.
LONDON
PRINTED BY JAS. WADE,
TAVISTOCK STREET, COVENT GARDEN
PREFACE.
The subject which we have here treated is a sort of figurative
battle-field, where fierce contests have for ages been from time
to time waged; and, notwithstanding the determined assaults of the
attacking hosts, the contention and its cause remain pretty much as
they were at the commencement of the war. We in the matter remain
strictly neutral, merely performing the part of the public's "own
correspondent," making it our duty to gather together such extracts
from despatches, both ancient and modern, as may prove interesting or
important, to take note of the vicissitudes of war, mark its various
phases, and, in fine, to do our best to lay clearly before our readers
the historical facts--experiences and arguments--relating to the
much-discussed "_Corset question_."
As most of our readers are aware, the leading journals especially
intended for the perusal of ladies have been for many years the media
for the exchange of a vast number of letters and papers touching the
use of the Corset. The questions relating to the history of this
apparently indispensable article of ladies' attire, its construction,
application, and influence on the figure have become so numerous of
late that we have thought, by embodying all that we can glean and
garner relating to Corsets, their wearers, and the various costumes
worn by ladies at different periods, arranging the subject-matter in
its due order as to dates, and at the same time availing ourselves of
careful illustration when needed, that an interesting volume would
result.
No one, we apprehend, would be likely to deny that, to enable the
fairer portion of the civilised human race to follow the time-honoured
custom of presenting to the eye the waist in its most slender
proportions, the Corset in some form must be had recourse to. Our
information will show how ancient and almost universal its use has
been, and there is no reason to anticipate that its aid will ever
be dispensed with so long as an elegant and attractive figure is an
object worth achieving.
Such being the case, it becomes a matter of considerable importance
to discover by what means the desirable end can be acquired without
injury to the health of those whose forms are being restrained and
moulded into proportions generally accepted as graceful, by the
use and influence of the Corset. It will be our duty to lay before
the reader the strictures of authors, ancient and modern, on this
article of dress, and it will be seen that the animadversions of
former writers greatly exceed modern censures, both in number and
fierceness of condemnation. This difference probably arises from
the fact of Corsets of the most unyielding and stubborn character
being universally made use of at the time the severest attacks were
made upon them; and there can be no reasonable doubt that much which
was written in their condemnation had some truth in it, although
accompanied by a vast deal of fanciful exaggeration. It would also
be not stating the whole of the case if we omitted here to note that
modern authors, who launch sweeping anathemas on the very stays by
the aid of which their wives and daughters are made presentable in
society, almost invariably quote largely from scribes of ancient date,
and say little or nothing, of their own knowledge. On the other hand,
it will be seen that those writing in praise of the moderate use of
Corsets take their facts, experiences, and grounds of argument from
the everyday life and general custom of the present period.
The Crinoline is too closely associated with the Corset and with the
mutable modes affected by ladies, from season to season, to be omitted
from any volume which treats of Fashion. The same facts, indeed, may
be stated of both the Crinoline and the Corset. Both appear to be
equally indispensable to the woman of the present period. To make
them serve the purposes of increased cleanliness, comfort, and grace,
not only without injury to the health, but with positive and admitted
advantage to the _physique_--these are the problems to be solved by
those whose business it is to minister to the ever-changing taste and
fashion of the day.
[Illustration]
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE CORSET:--Origin. Use amongst Savage Tribes and Ancient
People. Slenderness of Waist esteemed in the East, Ceylon,
Circassia, Crim Tartary, Hindustan, Persia, China, Egypt, Palestine
Pages 9 to 29
CHAPTER II.
The Corset according to Homer, Terentius. The Strophium of Rome,
and the Mitra of Greece. The Peplus. A Roman Toilet, Bath, and
Promenade. General Luxury. Cleopatra's Jewels. Tight-lacing on the
Tiber Pages 30 to 38
CHAPTER III.
Frankish Fashions. The Monks and the Corset. Corsets worn by
Gentlemen as well as Ladies in the Thirteenth Century. The Kirtle.
Small Waists in Scotland. Chaucer on Small Bodies. The Surcoat.
Long Trains. Skirts. Snake-toed Shoes. High-heeled Slippers
Pages 41 to 59
CHAPTER IV.
Bonnets. Headdresses. Costumes in the time of Francis I. Pins in
France and England. Masks in France. Puffed Sleeves. Bernaise
Dress. Marie Stuart. Long Slender Waists. Henry III. of France
"tight-laces." Austrian Joseph prohibits Stays. Catherine de Medici
and Elizabeth of England. Severe form of Corset. Lawn Ruffs.
Starching. Stuffed Hose. Venice Fashions. Elizabeth's False Hair.
Stubs on the Ladies. James I. affects Fashion. Garters and
Shoe-roses. Dagger and Rapier Pages 60 to 91
CHAPTER V.
Louise de Lorraine. Marie de Medici. Distended Skirts. Hair Powder.
Hair _à l'enfant_. Low Dresses. Louis XIV. High Heels. Slender
Waists. Siamese Dress. Charles I. Patches. Elaborate Costumes.
Puritan Modes. Tight-lacing and Strait-lacing under Cromwell.
Augsburg Ladies Pages 92 to 104
CHAPTER VI.
Louis XV. À la Watteau. Barbers. Fashions under Queen Anne.
Diminutive Waists and Enormous Hoop. The Farthingale. The
_Guardian_. Fashions in 1713. Low Dresses. Tight Stays. Short
Skirts. A Lady's Maid's Accomplishments. Gay and Ben Jonson on the
Bodice and Stays Pages 109 to 123
CHAPTER VII.
Stays or Corset. Louis XVI. Dress in 1776. Severe Lacing. Hogarth.
French Revolution. Short Waists. Long Trains. Buchan. Jumpers and
Garibaldis. Figure-training. Backboards and Stocks. Doctors on
Stays. George III. Gentlemen's Stays. The Changes of Fashion. The
term CRINOLINE not new. South Sea Islanders. Madame la
Sante on Crinoline. Starving and Lacing. Anecdote. Wearing the
Corset during sleep. American Belles. Illusion Waists. Medicus
favours moderate tight-lacing. Ladies' Letters on tight-lacing
Pages 124 to 164
CHAPTER VIII.
The Austrian Empress. Viennese Waists. London small-sized Corsets.
Correspondence of _The Queen_ and the _Englishwoman's
Domestic Magazine_. Lady Morton. Figure-training. Corsets for
Young Girls. Early use of well-constructed Corsets. The
Boarding-School and the Corset. Letters in praise of tight-lacing.
Defence of the Crinoline and the Corset. The Venus de Medici.
Fashionably-dressed Statue. Clumsy Figures. Letter from a
Tight-lacer. A Young Baronet. A Family Man Pages 165 to 186
CHAPTER IX.
No elegance without the Corset. Fashion of 1865. Short Waist and
Train of 1867. Tight Corset and Short Waist. A form of French
Corset. Proportions of Figure and Waist. The Point of the Waist.
Older Writers on Stays. Denunciations against Small Waists and High
Heels. Alarming Diseases through High Heels. Female Mortality.
Corset Statistics. Modern and Ancient Corset Pages 189 to 201
CHAPTER X.
Front-fastening Stays. Thomson's Corset. Stability of
front-fastening Corset. De La Garde's Corset. Self-measurement.
Viennese _Redresseur_ Corset. Flimsy Corsets. Proper
Materials. "Minet Back" Corset. Elastic Corsets. Narrow Bands
Injurious. The Corset properly applied produces a graceful figure.
The Farthingale Reviewed. Thomson's Zephyrina Crinoline. Costume
of the Present Season. The claims of Nature. Similitude between the
Tahitian Girl and Venetian Lady Pages 202 to 224
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
1. THE DAWN OF THE CORSET 11
2. CIRCASSIAN LADY 15
3. EGYPTIAN LADY IN FULL SKIRT 18
4. PERSIAN DANCING GIRL 21
5. EGYPTIAN LADY IN NARROW SKIRT 24
6. LADY OF ANCIENT GREECE 32
7. ROMAN LADY OF RANK (REIGN OF HELIOGABALUS) 39
8. THE FIEND OF FASHION, FROM AN ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT 43
9. THE PRINCESS BLANCHE, DAUGHTER OF EDWARD III. 48
10. LADY OF RANK OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY 51
11. LADY OF THE COURT OF QUEEN CATHERINE DE MEDICI 55
12. FULL COURT DRESS AS WORN IN FRANCE, 1515 58
13. LADIES OF FASHION IN THE COSTUME OF 1380 61
14. NORMAN HEADDRESS OF THE PRESENT DAY 64
15. LADY OF THE COURT OF CHARLES VIII., 1500 67
16. LADY OF THE COURT OF MAXIMILIAN OF GERMANY AND FRANCIS OF
FRANCE 70
17. CORSET-COVER OF STEEL WORN IN THE TIME OF CATHERINE DE
MEDICI 71
18. CORSET-COVER OF STEEL WORN IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN
ELIZABETH (OPEN) 72
19. THE BERNAISE HEADDRESS, AND COSTUME OF MARIE
STUART 74
20. CORSET-COVER OF STEEL WORN IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN
ELIZABETH (CLOSED) 76
21. HENRY III. OF FRANCE AND THE PRINCESS MARGARET OF
LORRAINE 77
22. LADY OF THE COURT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 80
23. A VENETIAN LADY OF FASHION, 1560 83
24. QUEEN ELIZABETH 86
25. COURT DRESS DURING THE BOYHOOD OF LOUIS XIII. 93
26. MARIE DE MEDICI 96
27. FANCY COSTUMES OF THE TIME OF LOUIS XIV. 99
28. SIAMESE DRESS WORN AT THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV. 102
29. YOUNG ENGLISH LADY OF FASHION, 1653 105
30. FANCY DRESS WORN IN THE REIGN OF LOUIS XV. 108
31. COSTUMES AFTER WATTEAU 111
32. CRINOLINE IN 1713 114
33. LOW BODIES AND CURTAILED CRINOLINE 117
34. COURT DRESS OF THE REIGN OF LOUIS XVI. 125
35. CLASSIC COSTUME OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 128
36. LADY OF FASHION, 1806 131
37. FASHIONABLE DRESS IN 1824 139
38. LADY OF FASHION, 1827 142
39. LADY OF FASHION, 1830 145
40. LADY OF FASHION, 1837 148
41. THE CRINOLINE OF A SOUTH SEA ISLANDER 151
42. THE FASHION OF 1865 188
43. THE FASHION OF 1867 191
44. CORSET, FORMING BOTH CORSET AND STOMACHER (FRONT) 197
45. CORSET, FORMING BOTH CORSET AND STOMACHER (BACK) 200
46. COMMON CHEAP STAY, FASTENED 202
47. COMMON CHEAP STAY, OPEN 203
48. THE GLOVE-FITTING CORSET (THOMSON AND CO.) 204
49. CORSET OF MESSRS. DE LA GARDE, PARIS (FRONT) 205
50. CORSET OF MESSRS. DE LA GARDE, PARIS (BACK) 208
51. THE REDRESSEUR CORSET OF VIENNA (WEISS) 211
52. THE FASHION OF 1868 222
53. THE ZEPHYRINA JUPON (THOMSON AND CO.) 223
54. TAHITIAN DANCING GIRL AND VENETIAN LADY 224
THE CORSET AND THE CRINOLINE.
CHAPTER I.
The origin of the Corset--The Indian hunting-belt--Reduction of
the figure by the ancient inhabitants of Polenqui--Use of the
Corset by the natives of the Eastern Archipelago--Improvements
in construction brought about by the advance of
civilisation--Slenderness of waist esteemed a great beauty in
the East--Earth-eating in Java--Figure-training in Ceylon--The
beauties of Circassia, their slender waists and Corsets--Elegant
princesses of Crim Tartary--Hindoo belles--Hindoo ideas
of beauty--Elegance of figure highly esteemed by the
Persians--Letter from a Chinese gentleman (Woo-tan-zhin)
on slender waists--Researches amongst the antiquities of
Egypt--Fashions of the Egyptian ladies--The Corset in use among
the Israelitish ladies--The elegance of their costume, bridal
dress, &c.--Scriptural references.
For the origin of the corset we must travel back into far antiquity.
How far it would be difficult to determine. The unreclaimed savage
who, bow in hand, threads the mazes of the primeval forests in
pursuit of the game he subsists on, fashions for himself, from the
skin of some animal which good fortune may have cast in his way,
a belt or girdle from which to suspend his rude knife, quiver, or
other hunting gear; and experience teaches him that, to answer the
purpose efficiently, it should be moderately broad and sufficiently
stiff to prevent creasing when secured round the waist. A sharpened
bone, or fire-hardened stick, serves to make a row of small holes at
each end; a strip of tendon, or a thong of hide, forms a lace with
which the extremities are drawn together, thereby giving support to
the figure during the fatigues of the chase. The porcupine's quill,
the sea-shell, the wild beast's tooth, and the cunningly-dyed root,
all help to decorate and ornament the hunting-belt. The well-formed
youths and graceful belles of the tribe were not slow in discovering
that, when arrayed in all the panoply of forest finery, a belt well
drawn in, as shown in the annexed illustration, served to display
the figure to much greater advantage than one carelessly or loosely
adjusted. Here, then, we find the first indication of the use of the
corset as an article of becoming attire. At the very first dawn of
civilisation there are distinct evidences of the use of contrivances
for the reduction and formation of the female figure. Researches among
the ruins of Polenqui, one of the mysterious forest cities of South
America, whose history is lost in remote antiquity, have brought to
light most singular evidences of the existence of a now forgotten
race. Amongst the works of art discovered there is a bas-relief
representing a female figure, which, in addition to a profusion of
massive ornaments, wears a complicated and elaborate waist-bandage,
which, by a system of circular and transverse folding and looping,
confines the waist from just below the ribs to the hips as firmly and
compactly as the most unyielding corset of the present day.
At the period of the discovery of some of the islands of the Eastern
Archipelago, it was found customary for all young females to wear a
peculiar kind of corset, formed of spirally-arranged rattan cane, and
this, when once put on, was not removed until the celebration of the
marriage ceremony. Such races as were slowly advancing in the march
of civilisation, after discovery by the early navigators, became more
and more accustomed to the use of clothing, to adjust and retain
which, waistbands would become essentially requisite. These, when made
sufficiently broad to fit without undue friction, and stiff enough to
prevent folding together in the act of stooping, sitting, or moving
about, at once became in effect corsets, and suggested to the minds of
the ingenious a system of cutting and fitting so as more perfectly to
adapt them to the figure of the wearer. The modes of fastening, as we
shall see, have been various, from the simple sewing together with the
lace to the costly buckle and jewelled loop and stud.
[Illustration: THE DAWN OF THE CORSET.]
Investigation proves to us that the taste for slender waists prevailed
even more in the Eastern nations than in those of Europe, and we find
that other means besides that of compression have been extensively
taken advantage of. Humboldt, in his personal narrative, describes the
women of Java, and informs us that the reddish clay called "_ampo_" is
eaten by them in order that they may become slim, want of plumpness
being a kind of beauty in that country. Though the use of this earth
is fatal to health, those desirous of profiting by its reducing
qualities persevere in its consumption. Loss of appetite and inability
to partake of more than most minute portions of food are not slow in
bringing the wished-for consummation about. The inhabitants of Ceylon
make a perfect study of the training of the figure to the most slender
proportions. Books on the subject are common in that country, and
no young lady is considered the perfection of fashionable elegance
unless a great number of qualities and graces are possessed; not the
least of these is a waist which can be quite or nearly clasped with
the two hands; and, as we proceed with our work, it will be seen that
this standard for the perfection of waist-measurement has been almost
world-wide. From the coral-fringed and palm-decked islands of the
Pacific and Indian Ocean we have but to travel to the grass-clad Yaila
of Crim Tartary and the rock-crowned fastnesses of Circassia, to see
the same tastes prevailing, and even more potent means in force for
the obtainment of a taper form. Any remarks from us as to the beauty
of the ladies of Circassia would be needless, their claim to that
enviable endowment being too well established to call for confirmation
at our hands, and that no pains are spared in the formation of their
figures will be best seen by a quotation from a recent traveller who
writes on the subject:--
"What would" (he says) "our ladies think of this fashion on the part
of the far-famed beauties of Circassia? The women wear a corset made
of 'morocco,' and furnished with two plates of wood placed on the
chest, which, by their strong pressure, prevent the expansion of the
chest; this corset also confines the bust from the collar-bones to the
waist by means of a cord which passes through leather rings. They even
wear it during the night, and only take it off when worn out, to put
on another quite as small." He then speaks of the daughters of Osman
Oglow, and says, "Their figures were tightened in an extraordinary
degree, and their _anteries_ were clasped from the throat downwards by
silver plates."
These plates are not only ornamental, but being firmly sewn to the
two busks in front of the corset, and being longest at the top and
narrowest at the waist, when clasped, as shown in the accompanying
illustration, any change in fit or adjustment is rendered impossible.
It will be seen on examination that at each side of the bottom of the
corsage is a large round plate or boss of ornamental silver. These
serve as clasps for the handsomely-mounted silver waist-belt, and by
their size and position serve to contrast with the waist, and make
it appear extremely small. That the elegancies of female attire have
been deeply studied even among the Tartars of the Crimea will be seen
by the following account, written by Madame de Hell, of her visit to
Princess Adel Beg, a celebrated Tartar beauty:--
"Admitted into a fairy apartment looking out on a terraced garden, a
curtain was suddenly raised at the end of the room, and a woman of
striking beauty entered, dressed in rich costume. She advanced to me
with an air of remarkable dignity, took both my hands, kissed me on
the two cheeks, and sat down beside me, making many demonstrations
of friendship. She wore a great deal of rouge; her eyelids were
painted black, and met over the nose, giving her countenance a certain
sternness, which, nevertheless, did not destroy its pleasing effect.
A furred velvet vest fitted tight to her still elegant figure, and
altogether her appearance surpassed what I had conceived of her
beauty. After some time, when I offered to go, she checked me with
a very graceful gesture, and said eagerly, 'Pastoi, pastoi,' which
is Russian for 'Stay, stay,' and clapped her hands several times. A
young girl entered at the signal, and by her mistress's orders threw
open a folding-door, and immediately I was struck dumb with surprise
and admiration by a most brilliant apparition. Imagine, reader, the
most exquisite sultanas of whom poetry and painting have ever tried to
convey an idea, and still your conception will fall far short of the
enchanting models I had then before me. There were three of them, all
equally graceful and beautiful. They were clad in tunics of crimson
brocade, adorned in front with broad gold lace. The tunics were open,
and disclosed beneath them cashmere robes with very tight sleeves,
terminating in gold fringes. The youngest wore a tunic of azure-blue
brocade, with silver ornaments; this was the only difference between
her dress and that of her sisters. All three had magnificent black
hair escaping in countless tresses from a fez of silver filigree, set
like a diadem over their ivory foreheads. They wore gold-embroidered
slippers and wide trousers drawn close at the ankle. I had never
beheld skins so dazzlingly fair, eyelashes so long, or so delicate a
bloom of youth."
[Illustration: CIRCASSIAN LADY.]
[Illustration: EGYPTIAN LADY IN FULL SKIRT.]
The Hindoos subject the figures of their dancing-girls and future
belles to a system of very careful training; in all their statues,
from those of remote antiquity, to be seen in the great cave temples
of Carlee Elanra, and Elephanta, to those of comparatively modern
date, the long and slender waist is invariably associated with other
attributes of their standard of beauty. "Thurida," the daughter of
Brahama, is thus described by a Hindoo writer:--
"This girl" (he informs us) "was of a yellow colour, and had a nose
like the flower of resamum; her legs were taper, like the plantain
tree; her eyes large, like the principal leaf of the lotus; her
eyebrows extended to her ears; her lips were red, and like the young
leaves of the mango tree; her face was like the full moon; her voice
like the sound of the cuckoo; her arms reached to her knees; her
throat was like that of a pigeon; her loins narrow, like those of a
lion; her hair hung in curls down to her feet; her teeth were like
the seeds of the pomegranate; and walk like that of a drunken elephant
or a goose."
The Persians entertain much the same notions with regard to the
necessity for slenderness of form in the belles of their nation, but
differ in other matters from the Hindoos. The following illustration
represents a dancing-girl of Persia, and it will be seen that her
figure bears no indication of neglect of cultivation. It is somewhat
curious that the Chinese, with all their extraordinary ingenuity,
have confined their restrictive efforts to the feet of the ladies,
leaving their waists unconfined. That their doing so is more the
result of long-established custom than absence of admiration for
elegantly-proportioned figures will be clearly proved by the following
extract from a letter published in _Chambers' Journal_, written by a
genuine inhabitant of the Celestial Empire, named Woo-tan-zhin, who
paid a visit to England in 1844-45. Thus he describes the ladies of
England:--
"Their eyes, having the blue tint of the waters of autumn, are
charming beyond description, and their waists are laced as tight and
thin as a willow branch. What, perhaps, caught my fancy most was the
sight of elegantly-dressed young ladies, with pearl-like necks and
tight-laced waists; nothing can possibly be so enchanting as to see
ladies that compress themselves into taper forms of the most exquisite
shape, the like of which I have never seen before."
By many writers it has been urged that the admiration so generally
felt for slenderly-proportioned and taper waists results from an
artificial taste set up by long custom; but in Woo-tan-zhin's case it
was clearly not so, as the small-waisted young ladies of the "outer
barbarians" were to him much as some new and undescribed flowers or
birds would be to the wondering naturalist who first beheld them.
Although researches among the antiquities of Egypt and Thebes fail
to bring to our notice an article of dress corresponding with the
waist-bandage of Polenqui or the strophium of later times, we find
elaborately-ornamented waist-belts in general use, and by their
arrangement it will be seen that they were so worn as to show the
waist off to the best advantage. The accompanying illustrations
represent Egyptian ladies of distinction. The dress in the first, it
will be observed, is worn long. A sort of transparent mantle covers
and gives an appearance of width to the shoulders, whilst a coloured
sash, after binding the waist, is knotted in front, and the ends
allowed to fall freely over the front of the dress, much as we have
seen it worn in our own time; and it is most remarkable that, although
there is no evidence to show the use of crinoline by the ladies of
old Egypt, the lower border of the skirt, in some instances, appears
distended as in the prior illustration; whilst in others, as shown in
the second engraving, the dress is made to fit the lower portion of
the figure closely, barely affording scope for the movement of the
legs in walking. How often these arrangements of dress have been in
turn adopted and discarded will be seen as our work proceeds.
[Illustration: PERSIAN DANCING GIRL.]
[Illustration: EGYPTIAN LADY IN NARROW SKIRT.]
The following extract from Fullam will show that Fashion within
the shadow of the Pyramids, in the days of the Pharaohs, reigned
with power as potent and supreme as that which she exercises in the
imperial palaces of Paris and Vienna at the present day:--
"The women of Egypt early paid considerable attention to their toilet.
Their dress, according to Herodotus, consisted usually of but one
garment, though a second was often added. Among the upper orders the
favourite attire was a petticoat tied round the waist with a gay sash,
and worn under a robe of fine linen or a sort of chintz variously
coloured, and made large and loose, with wide sleeves, the band being
fastened in front just under the bust. Their feet were incased in
sandals, the rudiment of the present Eastern slipper, which they
resembled also in their embroidery and design. Their persons and
apparel, in conformity with Oriental taste in all ages, were profusely
decked with ornaments, 'jewels of silver and jewels of gold,' with
precious gems of extraordinary size, of which imitations, hardly
distinguishable from the real stones, were within the reach of the
humblest classes, whose passion for finery could not be surpassed
by their superiors. The richly carved and embroidered sandals, tied
over the instep with tassels of gold, were surmounted by gold anklets
or bangles, which, as well as the bracelets encircling the wrist,
sparkled with rare gems; and necklaces of gold or of beautiful beads,
with a pendant of amethysts or pearls, hung from the neck. Almost
every finger was jewelled, and the ring finger in particular was
usually allotted several rings, while massive earrings shaped like
hoops, or sometimes taking the form of a jewelled asp or of a dragon,
adorned the ears. Gloves were used at a very early date, and among the
other imperishable relics of that olden time the tombs of Egypt have
rendered up to us a pair of striped linen mittens, which once covered
the hands of a Theban lady.
"Women of quality inclosed their hair with a band of gold, from which
a flower drooped over the forehead, while the hair fell in long plaits
to the bosom, and behind streamed down the back to the waist. The side
hair was secured by combs made of polished wood or by a gold pin, and
perhaps was sometimes adorned, like the brow, with a favourite flower.
The toilet was furnished with a brazen mirror, polished to such a
degree as to reflect every lineament of the face, and the belles
of Egypt, as ladies of the present day may imagine, spent no small
portion of their time with this faithful counsellor. The boudoirs were
not devoid of an air of luxury and refinement particularly congenial
to a modern imagination. A stand near the unglazed window supported
vases of flowers, which filled the room with delicious odours; a soft
carpet overspread the floor; two or three richly-carved chairs and an
embroidered fauteuil afforded easy and inviting seats; and the lotus
and papyrus were frescoed on the walls. Besides the brazen mirror,
other accessories of the toilet were arranged on the ebony table, and
boxes and caskets grotesquely carved, some containing jewels, others
furnished with oils and ointments, took their place with quaintly-cut
smelling bottles, wooden combs, silver or bronze bodkins, and lastly,
pins and needles.
"Seated at this shrine, the Egyptian beauty, with her dark glance
fixed on the brazen mirror, sought to heighten those charms which are
always most potent in their native simplicity. A touch of collyrium
gave illusive magnitude to her voluptuous eyes; another cosmetic
stained their lids; a delicate brush pencilled her brows--sometimes,
alas! imparted a deceitful bloom to her cheeks; and her taper fingers
were coloured with the juice of henna. Precious ointments were poured
on her hair, and enveloped her in an atmosphere of perfume, while the
jeweller's and milliner's arts combined to decorate her person."
In Sir Gardner Wilkinson's admirable work on ancient Egypt, to
which I am indebted for some valuable information, there is a plate
representing a lady in a bath with her attendants, drawn from a
sculpture in a tomb at Thebes, whence we may derive some faint idea of
the elaborate character of an Egyptian toilet.
The lady is seated in a sort of pan, with her long hair streaming over
her shoulders, and is supported by the arm of an attendant, who, with
her other hand, holds a flower to her nose, while another damsel pours
water over her head, and a third washes and rubs down her delicate
arms. A fourth maiden receives her jewels, and deposits them on a
stand, where she awaits the moment when they will be again required.
There appears little doubt that the ancient Israelitish ladies,
amongst their almost endless and most complex articles of adornment,
numbered the corset in a tolerably efficient form, and of attractive
and rich material, for we read in the twenty-fourth verse of the third
chapter of Isaiah, referring to Divine displeasure manifested against
the people of Jerusalem and Judah, and the taking away of matters of
personal adornment from the women, that "instead of a girdle there
should be a rent, and instead of well-set hair baldness, and instead
of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth, and burning instead of beauty."
Here we have the coarse, repulsive, unattractive sackcloth held up in
marked contrast to the stomacher, which was without question a garment
on which much attention was bestowed; and the following extract from
Fullam's _History of Woman_ shows how costly and magnificent was the
costume of the period:--
"The bridal dress of a princess or Jewish lady of rank, whose parents
possessed sufficient means, was of the most sumptuous description,
as may be seen from the account given of that worn by the bride of
Solomon in the Canticles, and the various articles enumerated show
the additions which feminine taste had already made to the toilet.
The body was now clothed in a bodice ascending to the network which
inclosed, rather than concealed, the swelling bust; and jewelled
clasps and earrings, with strings of pearls and chains of gold, gave
a dazzling effect to Oriental beauty. In Solomon's reign silk is said
to have been added to the resources of the toilet, and the sex owe
to a sister, Pamphyla, the daughter of Patous, the discovery of this
exquisite material, in which woman wrested from Nature a dress worthy
of her charms.
"The ordinary attire of Jewish women was made of linen, usually white,
without any intermixture of colours, though, in accordance with the
injunction in Numbers xv. 38, they made 'fringes in the borders of
their garments,' and 'put upon the fringe of the borders a riband
of blue.' Judith, when she sought to captivate Holofernes, 'put on
her garments of gladness, wherewith she was clad during the life of
Manasses her husband; and she took sandals upon her feet, and put
about her bracelets, and her chains, and her rings, and her earrings,
and all her ornaments, and decked herself bravely to allure the eyes
of all men that should see her.' Gemmed bangles encircled her ankles,
attracting the glance to her delicate white feet; and Holofernes, by
an Oriental figure of speech, is said to have been 'ravished by the
beauty of her sandals.' Like the belles of Egypt she did not disdain,
in setting off her charms, to have recourse to perfumes and cosmetics,
and previously to setting out she 'anointed herself with precious
ointment.' In another place Jezebel is said to 'paint her eyelids;'
and Solomon, in the Proverbs, in describing the deceitful woman,
adjures his son not to be 'taken with her eyelids,' evidently alluding
to the use of collyrium. The Jewish beauty owed no slight obligation
to her luxuriant tresses, which were decorated with waving plumes and
strings of pearls; and in allusion to this custom, followed among the
tribes from time immemorial, St. Paul affirms that 'a woman's ornament
is her hair.' Judith 'braided the hair of her head and put a tire upon
it;' and the headdress of Pharaoh's daughter, in the Canticles, is
compared by Solomon to Carmel. No mention is made of Judith's mirror,
but it was undoubtedly made of brass, like those described in Exodus
xxxviii. 8 as 'the looking-glasses of the women which assembled at the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"
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