things; the one is beneficial, the other destructive. And this I can
assure my readers, that I ever have remarked those married women who
have longest maintained their virgin forms were those who, in a state
of maternal increase, observed a proper medium between a too relaxed
and a too contracted boddice.
Nature in these concerns is our best guide; and when she dictates to us
to provide against the possible disagreeable consequences of any of her
operations, it is well to obey her; but when a fastidious, and, allow
me to say, an indelicate, regard to personal charms would excite you
to brace with ribs of whalebone the soft mould of your unborn infant;
or when it has, in spite of these arts, burst its prison-house alive,
you seek to deprive it of the nourishment your breast prepares--then
remember you perform not the duty of a mother, but show yourself
rather egregiously guilty of wantonness and unpardonable cruelty.
No person living can feel a more lively admiration than that which
animates me at the sight of a beautiful form,
--“rife
With all we can imagine of the sky.”
I behold in it the work of the most perfect being--the accomplishment
of one of his fairest designs. He seems to show in earthy mould the
lovely transcript of the angels of heaven: she looks, she breathes,
of innocence and sweet unconscious beauty. But when I cast my eyes on
women issuing from the house of a modern manufacturer of shapes; when
I see the functions of nature impeded by bands and ligatures; when I
behold the abode of virgin modesty thrust forward to the gaze of the
libertine; when I observe the pains taken to attract his eye,--I turn
away disgusted, and blush for my sex.
Vile as these meretricious arts are, they are not less dangerous to
health than to morals. The constant pressure of such hard substances as
whalebone, steel, &c. upon so susceptible a part as the bosom, is very
likely, in the course of a very short time, to produce all the horrid
consequences of abscesses, cancers, &c.: on their miseries I need not
to descant.
On the _long stay_ I shall now make a few remarks, arising from the
observations I have been enabled to make on the ladies of various ages
and figures whom I have known wear it. To the woman whose waning charms
set in an exuberance of flesh, perhaps the support of this adventitious
aid is an advantage. But in that case its stiffening should rather
be cord quilted in the lining, or very thin whalebone, than either
steel or iron. In all situations, the boddice should be flexible to
the motion of the body and the undulations in the shape; and it should
never be _felt_ to _press_ upon any part.
Thus far we may tolerate the adoption of this buckram suit for elderly,
or excessively _embonpoint_ ladies; but for the _growing_ girl (whom, I
am sorry to say, mothers not unfrequently imprison in these machines,)
it is both unrequired and mischievous.
Before nature has completed her work in the perfection of the youthful
figure, she is checked in her progress by the impediment which
the valves, bands, &c. of the _long stay_ throw in her way. Those
finely-rounded points which mark the distinction and the grace of the
female form, and which the artist, enamored of beauty, delights to
delineate with the nicest accuracy, are, by the constant pressure of
these _stays_, rendered indistinct, and in a short time are entirely
destroyed.
Let, then, the _long stay_ be restricted to the too abundant mass
of fattening matronhood; so may art restrain the excesses, not of
nature, but of disease. Unwieldly flesh was never yet seen in a
perfectly healthy person. It generally arises either from intemperance
overloading the functions of life, or dissipation decomposing them.
Let the _padded corset_ rectify the defects of the deformed; but where
nature has given the outline of a well-constructed form, forbear to
traverse her designs. Youth should be left to spring up, unconfined,
like the young cedar; and when the hand of man, or accident, does not
distort the pliant stem, it will grow erect and firm, spreading its
beautiful and cheerful shade over the heads of its planters.
OF THE DETAIL OF DRESS.
“We have run
Through every change, that fancy at the loom
Exhausted has had genius to supply;
And, studious of mutation still, discard
A real elegance a little used
For monstrous novelty and strange disguise.”
COWPER.
There are few things in which our sex can discover more taste than in
the choice of the apparel which may best accord with their several
styles of figures and features; but we frequently see the direct
opposite of good judgment in their selections, and behold between the
person and the attire a complete and laughable incongruity.
Some women will actually disguise and disfigure themselves, rather
than not appear in the prevailing fashion, which, though advantageous
to one character of face, may have the direct contrary effect with
another. I hinted at this in the earlier part of this dissertation; now
I come closer to my subject, intending to enter into a minute detail
of what ought or ought not to be worn by women of different moulds and
complexions.
If Daphne have the features of a Siddons, and Amaryllis those of a
Jordan, the style which agrees with the one must ill accord with the
other. The like harmony must be maintained between the complexion
and the colors we wear; for it is in these minutiæ which, like the
nice and almost imperceptible touches of the ingenious artist, produce
a complete and faultless whole. That a handsome woman may disfigure
herself by an injudicious choice or disposition of her attire; and a
plain one counteract the errors of nature, so as to render herself
at least agreeable, almost every experienced observer has witnessed.
We may therefore conclude, that beauty with a bad taste is far less
desirable than a good taste without beauty.
“What an awkward creature is that!” said a gentleman to me the other
evening at a supper, and pointing to a _slatternly_ beauty who sat
opposite, with her chin nearly reposing on her bosom, and her shoulders
drawn up almost to her ears. “Yonder is a very elegant woman!” observed
he, directing my attention to a lady who, critically considered, was
rather ordinary; but by her judicious style of dress, her unstudied
graces of deportment, claimed universal admiration.
To support my arguments with those of a lady whose taste is best
evinced by her own personal elegance, I shall give you a short extract
from a little tract of her’s, which, like the divine Psyché of Mrs.
Tighe, has been only permitted to meet the eyes of a favored few.
“Who is there among us that has not witnessed a beautiful woman so
apparelled as to render her rather an object of pity and ridicule than
of admiration? How often do we see simplicity and youthful loveliness
obscured by a redundancy of ornaments! How often do the robust and
healthy, the majestic and the gay, the pensive and the sportive,
follow the same mode; marring, mingling and mangling without mercy,
and without taste; regardless of discrimination, appropriation, or
judgment; to the total overthrow of the attractions which nature
liberally bestowed! Do not these ladies perceive that each style of
personal beauty has a distinct character to support? That a tasteful
adaptation will enforce the stamp which nature has impressed? Let
us then admonish the female whose beauty is of the fair, pale,
and interesting cast, not to render her appearance insipid by the
overpowering hues of robes, mantles, pelisses, &c. of amber, orange,
grass-green, crimson, or rose-color. This soft style of beauty makes
its appeal to our most delicate perceptions; all grossness of color
displeases them, and therefore should not be admitted in the articles
of her dress.
“Grass-green, though a color exceedingly pleasing and refreshing in
itself, jaundices the complexion of the pale woman to such a degree, as
to excite little other sensations in the beholder than compassion for
the poor invalid. Such females should, in general, choose their robes
of an _entire color_; and when they wear white garments, they should
animate them with draperies, mantles, scarfs, ribbons, &c. of pale
pink, blossom-color, celestial blue, lilac, dove-color, and primrose;
leaving full green, deep blue, and purple, to the florid; and amber,
scarlet, orange, flame-color, and deep rose, to the brunette.
“Thus much we offer in the suitable appropriations of colors. We
shall now proceed to say something on the prevailing fashions of the
day; and though we may fairly congratulate our countrywomen on their
taste and improvement in this particular, yet here also the regulating
hand of judgment, the nice and discriminating effects of genius, and
the directing influence of a delicate and just taste, become most
importantly necessary.
“The mantle, or cottage-cloak, should never be worn by females
exceeding a moderate _embonpoint_; and we should recommend their
winter garbs, such as Russian pelisses and Turkish wraps, to be formed
of double sarsnet, or fine Merino cloth, rather than velvets, which
(except black) give an appearance of increased size to the wearer. In
the adoption of furs, flat-ermine or fringe fur is better suited to
the full-formed woman that swan’s-down, fox, chinchilla, or sable;
these are graceful for the more slender. Women of a spare habit, and
of a tall and elegant height, will derive considerable advantage from
the full-flowing robe, mantle, and Roman tunic. The fur-trimming, too,
gives to them an appearance of roundness which nature has denied; and
to this description of person we can scarcely recommend an evening
dress more chaste, elegant, and advantageous, than robes of white
satin, trimmed with swan’s-down, with draperies of silver or gossamer
net. The antique head-dress, or queen Mary _coif_, is best adapted to
the Roman and Grecian line of feature. The Chinese hat and Highland
helmet are becoming to countenances of a rounder and more playful
contour.
“We have frequently, in our observations, found occasion to lament, in
the present style of female dress, a want of that proper distinction
which should ever be attended to in the several degrees of _costume_.
For instance, the short gown, so appropriate and convenient for
walking, and pursuing morning avocations or exercises, intrudes
beyond its sphere when seen in the evening or full dress. It is in
the splendid drawing-room that the train robe appears with all that
superiority which gives pre-eminence to grace, and dignity to beauty.
“Why should these pleasingly-varying distinctions be neglected? The
long sleeve, too, (now so universal in almost every order of dress,)
belongs with strict propriety only to the domestic habit. These are
inattentions or faults which a correct taste will quickly discover, and
easily rectify. It is dangerous to level distinctions in one case, and
disadvantageous in the other. There should be a just and reasonable
discipline in trifles, as well as in matters of higher import. There is
a vast deal more in things of seeming insignificance than is commonly
imagined. Subjects of importance, high achievements, and glorious
examples, strike every beholder; but there are few who reflect that
it is by perseverance, and attention to comparative trifles, that
mighty deeds are performed, and that great consequences are ultimately
produced.
“A correct taste is ever the concomitant of a chaste mind; for,
as a celebrated author has justly observed, _our taste commonly
declines with our merit_. A correct taste is the offspring of all
that is delicate in sentiment and just in conception; it softens
the inflexibility of truth, and decks reason in the most persuasive
garments.
“A walking-dress cannot be constructed too simply. All attractive and
fancy articles should be confined to the carriage-dress, or dinner
and evening apparel. We shall here particularly address the order of
females who may not have the luxury of a carriage, and yet be within
the rank of gentlewomen. This class composes treble the number of those
to whom fortune has bestowed the appendages of equipages and retinue.
We shall, in our observations, particularly aim at increasing their
respectability, by leading them to adopt a style of adornment, which,
while it combines fashion and elegance, shall be remarkable only for
its neatness and simplicity.
“It has been said that the love of dress is natural to the sex; and we
see no reason why any female should be offended with the assertion.
‘Dress,’ says an author on the subject, ‘is the natural finish of
beauty. Without dress a handsome person is a gem, but a gem that is not
set.’ Dress, however, must be subject to certain rules; be consistent
with the graces, and with nature. By attention to these particulars, is
produced that agreeable exterior which pleases, we know not why,--which
charms, even without that first and powerful attraction, beauty.
“Fashion, in her various flights, frequently soars beyond the reach of
propriety. Good sense, taste, and delicacy, then make their appeal in
vain. Her despotic and arbitrary sway levels and confounds. Where is
delicacy? where is policy? we mentally exclaim, when we see the fair
inconsiderate votary of fashion exposing, unseemly, that bosom which
good men delight to imagine the abode of innocence and truth. Can the
gaze of the voluptuous, the unlicensed admiration of the profligate,
compensate to the woman of sentiment and purity for what she loses in
the estimation of the moral and the just?
“But, delicacy apart, what shall we say to the blind conceit of the
robust, the coarse, the waning fair one, who thus obtrude the ravages
of time upon the public eye? Let us not offend. We wish to lead
to conviction, not to awaken resentment.--Fashion must, in these
instances, have borrowed the bondage of fortune, and so blinded her
votaries against the sober dictates of reason, the mild dignity of
self-respect.
“There is a mediocrity which bounds all things, and even fixes the
standard which divides virtue from bombast. Let us, therefore, in
every concern, endeavor to observe this happy temperature. Let the
youthful female exhibit, without shade, as much of her bust as shall
come within the limits of fashion, without infringing on the borders
of immodesty. Let the fair of riper years appear less exposed. To
sensible and tasteful women a hint is merely required. They need
not very close instructions; for at once they perceive, combine,
and adopt, with judgment and delicacy. The rules of propriety are
followed, as it were, instinctively by them; and their example is
so impressed on the generality of our lovely countrywomen, (who,
too often and inconsiderately, follow the vagaries of fashion with,
perhaps, ridiculous avidity,) that we must take upon us to correct
the irregularities of the many, in hopes that the judicious few will
embrace grace, and make it universal.
“Far be it from us to lead the female mind from its solemn engagements
to the pursuit of comparative nothings. But there is a time and place
for all things, and for every innocent purpose under heaven; and on
these grounds we do not see why a female should not blend the agreeable
with the estimable.
“There are persons who neglect their dress from pride, and a desire
to attract by a careless singularity; but wherever this is the case,
depend on it something is wrong in the mind. Lavater has observed,
that persons habitually attentive to their attire display the same
regularity in their domestic affairs. ‘Young women,’ he continues, ‘who
neglect their toilet, and manifest little concern about dress, indicate
a general disregard of order; a mind but ill adapted to the detail of
house-keeping; a deficiency of taste, and of the qualities that inspire
love:--they will be careless in everything. The girl of eighteen who
desires not to please, will be a slut, or a shrew, at twentyfive. Pay
attention, young men, to this sign; it never yet was known to deceive.’
“Hence we see that the desire of exhibiting an amiable exterior is
essentially requisite in woman. It is to be received as an unequivocal
symbol of those qualities which we seek in a wife; it indicates
cleanliness, sweetness, a love of order, and of universal propriety.
What, then, is there to censure in a moderate consideration of
dress?--Nothing. We may blame when we find extravagance, profusion,
misappropriation; the tyranny of fashion; slavery to vanity; in short,
bad taste!
“Let us then urge the British fair to that elegant simplicity, that
discriminating selection, which combines fashion, utility, and grace.
Thus shall the inventive faculty of genius be honored and encouraged,
and industry receive the reward of its ingenuity and labors.
“We shall now proceed to notice the present articles which claim
fashionable pre-eminence, and give some useful hints on their
application.
“As a walking habit, we know of none in summer which is more graceful
than the lightly flowing shade of lace or finest muslin. And in winter
no invention can exceed the Trans-Baltic coat or Lapland-wrap. These
comfortable shields from the cold are usually formed of cloth or
velvet, with deep collars and cuffs of sable, or other well-contrasted
fur. Ladies of the first nobility usually have them lined throughout
with the same costly skins. These garments wrap over the figure in
front; sometimes they have them without other ornament than their
bordering furs; and at others, fasten them with magnificent clasps and
buckles. We have seen one of these coats (or, as northern travellers
denominate them, _shoubs_,) on a female of high rank, composed of
crimson-velvet, with deep cuffs, cape and collar of spotted ermine, and
a deep border of the same down the sides. It had a superb effect; and,
with the imperial helmet-hat of the same material, exhibited one of the
most sumptuous carriage costumes that can be imagined.
“When this dress is adopted by the pedestrian fair, we recommend it to
be of a more sober hue, and that the bonnet should be of the provincial
poke or cottage form.
“Short women destroy the symmetry of their forms, and encumber their
charms, with redundancy of ornament, either in their morning or evening
attires. A little woman, befeathered and furbelowed, looks like a queen
of the Bantam tribe; and we dare not approach her for fear of ruffling
her plumes. Feathers are much in vogue; and though formerly a symbol of
full dress, are now often a mark of graceful negligence, and are seen
falling carelessly, and floating with ease; they kiss the rosy cheek
of youth and health; or, less courteous, steal the vermilion from the
painted face of fading maturity, as, fanned by the spiteful breeze,
they wave from her bonneted head in the gay promenade.
“We love to see our countrywomen remarkable for elegance and modesty,
as well as beauty. Englishmen, accustomed to objects of undisputed
loveliness, aim at something beyond the surface of external charms;
they require that all should be fair within.
“Hear what a male writer has observed on the fashion of exposing
the bosom! ‘A woman, proud of her beauty,’ says he, ‘may possibly
be nothing but a coquette; one who makes a public display of her
_bosom_, is something worse.’ This writer insinuates too much; for we
believe that so far from our females being actuated in this case by
any unbecoming motive, they too commonly act from no motive at all,
save that blind and mistaken one which we have so much condemned--_the
heedless adoption of an absurdity because it is the fashion_! But
let the inconsiderate beauty remember, that where two motives can be
assigned to an action, the world will generally adopt that which is
least favorable!”
Though I have made this extract, which enters so intimately into the
secrets of the toilet, and descants so engagingly on its attractive
subject, I must desire that it may not be supposed I would seek
to create an inordinate degree of care respecting that which is
comparatively of no account, when placed in competition with the
indispensable qualities and acquirements which ought to adorn the
Christian maid. I would have my fair friends be fully impressed with
the truth, that it is not she who spends the most time at her toilet
that is usually the best dressed; a too zealous care generally subverts
the effect it was meant to produce. It is very easy to “varnish till
the painting disappears.” A multiplicity of ornaments ever distracts
the attention, and detracts from feminine loveliness. They are regarded
as a sort of _make weights_ in a scale, where nature must have been a
niggard to render them necessary.
In the like manner, a diversity of colors bespeaks vulgarity of
taste, and a mind without innate elegance or acquired culture. Where
doubt may be about this or that hue being becoming or genteel (as it
is very possible it may neither be the one nor the other,) let the
puzzled beauty leave both, and securely array herself in simple white,
“pure as her mind.” That primeval hue never offends, and frequently
is the most graceful robe that youth and loveliness can wear. “It is
inconceivable,” says a writer on the subject, “how much the color of
a gown or a shawl may heighten or destroy the beauty of a complexion;
and how much the sex in general neglect these (to them) important
particulars.” Every consideration must yield to the prevailing mode;
and to this tyrant all advantages are sacrificed. Women no longer
consult their figures, but the whim of the moment; and it is sufficient
for them that the Duchess of D----, or the Marchioness of E----,
appeared in _murry_ color or _coquelicot_, to make all the _belles_ in
England, black, brown, or fair, array themselves in the same livery.
Nothing contributes more to the setting forth of the beauties of a
complexion than the choice of the colors opposed to it. Women should
not only be nice in this adaptation, but they must be careful that
the different shades or hues they admit in the various parts of their
garments should accord with each other.
Here it is that we distinguish the woman of taste from the hoyden,
ready to employ a pedlar’s pack upon her shoulders. To attempt to
contrast two shades of the same color, has in general a very harsh
effect; indeed I never saw it harmonize in the least, except in the
case of two greens as a trimming; or in the beautiful blending of
nature in the form and hues of flowers.
It is also not unworthy of remark, that colors which are to make a
part of evening apparel ought to be chosen by candle-light; for if
in the morning, forgetful of the influence of different lights on
these things, you purchase a robe of pale yellow, purple, lilac, or
rose-color, you will be greatly disappointed when at night it is
observed to you that your dress is either dingy, foxy, or black.
The harmonious assortment of well-chosen colors was once quite a
science amongst women; and even now it may not only be considered as
a specimen of delicate taste, but a proof of that genius which, if
cultivated, might distil the hues of Iris over the animated canvass
fraught with beauty and life.
This union of a thousand dyes, “by nature’s pure and cunning hand laid
on,” cannot be found in greater perfection than in the resplendent lap
of summer; then the earth teems with gay enchantment, and presents to
the fair wanderers through her fragrant bowers the loveliest raiment
for their beauties. This animating and native ornament, so interesting
and charming in itself, should ever find a place on the toilet of
youth. How can a beauteous young woman (the fairest production of
creation) be more suitably adorned than with this sweet apparel of the
fairest season? It is uniting “sweets to the sweet.” Flowers recall so
many pleasing images to the mind, that when a beholder sees them, he is
ever put in a temper to admire; and, when they are found blended with
the beauties of a lovely girl, the effect is irresistible.