HOW PLUMP AND THIN BACKS SHOULD BE CLOTHED.
She was from the middle-West, and despite the fact that she was married,
and that twenty-one half-blown blush roses had enwreathed her last
birthday cake, she had the alert, quizzical brightness of a child who
challenges everybody and everything that passes with the
countersign--"Why?" She investigated New York with unabashed interest,
and, like many another superior provincial, she freely expressed her
likes and dislikes for its traditions, show-places, and people with a
commanding and amusing audacity.
Her objections were numerous. The chief one that made a deep impression
upon her metropolitan friends was her disapproval of Sarah Bernhardt's
acting. The middle-Westerner, instead of becoming ecstatic in her
admiration, and at a loss for adjectives at the appearance of the divine
Sarah, merely perked at the great French artist for some time and then
demanded, querulously: "What's the matter with her? Why does she play
so much with her back to the audience? I don't like it."
It was a shock to the adorers of Sarah Bernhardt to hear her so
irreverently criticised. They loyally united in her defence, and sought
to squelch the revolter by loftily explaining that the actress turned
her back so often to the audience because she had such a noble, generous
nature and desired to give the other actors a chance. "She lets them
take the centre of the stage, as they say in the profession," remarked
one of the party, who prided herself upon being versed in the _argot_ of
the theatre.
"But she plays with her back to the audience when she is speaking and
acting, and everybody else on the stage is still but herself,"
petulantly insisted the Western Philistine, showing no signs of defeat.
The situation was not wholly agreeable. The worshippers of Sarah could
say nothing more in justification of her turning her back on them, but,
with true feminine logic, concluded, "If Sarah Bernhardt turns her back
on the audience it is right, and that is all there is to say."
Just at this dramatic moment a voice from the adjoining row
providentially interposed. The voice belonged to a well-known exponent
of physical culture, who was never so happy as when instructing the
intellectually needy. She said: "I will tell you why she plays with her
back towards the audience more than any other actress upon the stage
to-day." The middle-Westerner, no less impressed than her metropolitan
friends, listened eagerly.
The exponent of straight backs and high chests explained didactically:
"The back is wonderfully expressive; indeed it is full of vital
expression. Bernhardt knows this better than any other actress because
she has studied statuary with the passion of a sculptor, and because she
understands that, not only the face, but the entire physical structure,
is capable of expressing dramatic emotions. Strong feeling and action
may be strikingly revealed by the back. Imprecations, denunciations,
even prayers, seem to be charged with more force when an actress
delivers them with her back turned, or half-turned to the audience.
"Bernhardt's back expresses a storm of fury when she imprecates
vengeance," said the voice of authority. "Not only on the stage is the
expression of the back discernible, and a knowledge of its character
valuable, but in every-day life in drawing-room and street. How many
women consider their backs when they dress? Look at the backs here
deformed by laces and fallals," she went on contemptuously. "The
majority of women never look below their chins and I believe not one in
ten ever looks thoughtfully at her back," she said emphatically.
The dramatic value of a well-poised, expressive back may only concern
the thousands of young women who are aspiring to be a Sarah Bernhardt or
a Rachel; but a knowledge of what constitutes a properly and
artistically clothed back should be of interest to all women in
civilized countries.
That there is much truth in the assertion that "the majority of women
never look below their chins, and not one in ten ever looks
thoughtfully at her back," every observer of womankind might testify.
[Illustration: NO. 45]
The open placket-hole and sagging waist-band, sketched in No. 45, is an
all too familiar sight that advertises the fact that too few women take
even a cursory look at their backs. Fathers and brothers who wish to
protect their womankind from adverse criticism frequently give impromptu
lectures upon this very subject, as this slovenly arrangement of skirt
and basque is not only seen in Grand Street, Second Avenue, and equally
unfashionable quarters, but in Fifth Avenue where the modish set are _en
évidence_. If the dainty safety-pin displayed in No. 46, goes out of
vogue, the time-honored custom of sewing hooks to the waist-band of the
dress, is always in fashion. Indeed, many women prefer this way of
connecting separate skirt and waist to using a conspicuous pin. This is
almost too trivial a detail to discourse upon, but it is as true that
details make dress as it is that "trifles make life"--and neither life
nor dress is a trifle.
[Illustration: NO. 46]
The offence in No. 45 is more the result of untidiness than of a lack of
artistic discrimination. Nos. 46-1/2 and 47, on the contrary, outrage
the laws of art, and display ignorance of the value and beauty of lines.
No. 46-1/2 might serve to conceal a deformity of the shoulders. That
really seems its only excuse for being. The full, ugly, straight pleat
that falls to just below the waist-line lends neither grace nor style to
the figure. It is too short to give the distinction and dignity that
handsome wraps with long lines almost invariably do, although they seem
to add age to the form. There is a hint of youth in this ungraceful
jacket to be sure, but it is not especially attractive in its suggestion
of youthfulness.
[Illustration: NO. 46-1/2]
[Illustration: NO. 47]
No. 47, with a line at the neck-band, crossed bands in the centre of the
shoulders, and lines across the back, is obviously inartistic. The back
of a Venus, even, would be detracted from by such criss-crossed effects.
Happy the woman who has so shapely a back she can afford to allow her
waist to fit smoothly and plainly, unbroken by any conspicuous lines. If
bands must be used to remedy the deficiencies of ungenerous Nature, let
them be at the neck and waist; and if the back is unconscionably long, a
band, or fold, or ruffle across the shoulders is to be commended.
[Illustration: NO. 48]
No. 48 reveals a glaring error frequently made by the thin sisterhood. A
tall, slender woman with a long waist, should not emphasize her length
of lines by wearing pointed or V-shaped effects. The V-shaped
arrangement, either in cut or trimmings, apparently increases her
"longness and leanness." She should aim to shorten her waist instead of
lengthening it as the basque finished with a point obviously does. The
drooping sleeves elongate her shoulder-lines, and bring into clearer
relief her meagre proportions. She can easily improve her appearance by
adopting either style of gown portrayed by Nos. 49, or 50. The broad
belt at the waist-line in No. 49, and the flamboyant lace or braided
piece that adorns the shoulders, perceptibly adds to her breadth and
decreases her length.
[Illustration: NO. 49]
[Illustration: NO. 50]
No. 50 is a felicitous cut for a street dress for a slim sister. The
jaunty bloused waist smartly conceals deficiencies in fine points.
The tall, thin sisterhood should eschew pointed effects and study to
attain apparent breadth by using trimmings arranged horizontally. Bands
of velvet, braid in waved lines, ruffles, and not too deeply cut
scallops, may be used effectively by the very slender, who sometimes
appear as if they are "without form and void," as the earth was "in the
beginning."
[Illustration: NO. 51]
No. 51 is an exposition of the mistake made by the sturdy sisterhood of
stout and pendulous proportions. It is plain to be seen that the fluffy
ruche at the throat-band, and the ruffle at the shoulder, and the
spreading bow at the waist, and the trimmed sleeves, add bulkiness to a
form already too generously endowed with flabby rotundity. Corpulent
women must forego the swagger little basques or any sort of short,
flounced effects below the waist-line.
[Illustration: NO. 52]
[Illustration: NO. 53]
Nos. 52 and 53 are eminently adapted to the matron of ample dimensions.
One observer of beauty-giving effects has not unadvisedly called the
waist-line "the danger-line." A stout sister, above all others, should
not accentuate the waist-line. She should conceal it as much as
possible. The coat back of No. 52 apparently lengthens the waist.
The same effect is produced by the arrangement of ribbons in No. 53, and
by the long-pointed basque. V-shaped effects and long-pointed basques
are as becoming to those burdened with flesh as they are unbecoming to
tall, thin women.
Long, graceful folds and draperies are admirable for the stout
sisterhood, who should avoid short sacques and tight-fitting garments
that give the on-looker an uncomfortable impression; there is too much
in a small space. Very light colors and thin textures that billow and
float should be eschewed by the large, fleshy woman who wishes to give
the impression that she possesses the lines of a finely modelled statue.
She should avoid puffs and any suggestion of the pulpy and clumsy, and
be careful not to sub-divide the body of her dress by plaits or braids
laid on horizontally across or above the bust, or below the hips.
Horizontal lines invariably decrease the height; for that reason stout
women should not wear dresses cut square in the neck, but should adhere
to the graceful V-or heart-shaped cut which has a tendency to give
length.
The rotund woman with a short waist, sketched in No. 54, may improve her
figure, as shown in No. 55, by choosing belts and collars the exact
shade of her shirt-waists in summer, and by not cutting off her height
by any sort of outside belt on winter gowns.
[Illustration: NO. 54]
[Illustration: NO. 55]
Tall, stout women should forego high heels on their shoes, high hats,
and striped dresses. Although stripes increase the effect of height,
they also add to that of breadth. A plain cloth basque and skirt of
striped material make a happy compromise and can be worn with becoming
effect by a stout woman.
[Illustration: NO. 56]
A basque cut high behind and on the shoulders apparently gives height.
A very stout woman should never wear double skirts or tunics or dresses
with large sprawling patterns, such as depicted by cut No. 56, which
suggests furniture stuffs. A large woman who had a fancy for wearing
rich brocades figured with immense floral designs was familiarly called
by her kind friends "the escaped sofa."
White, or very light colors, should never be worn by the stout; they
greatly increase the apparent size. Large plaids should also be
eschewed. Small checks and plaids may sometimes be becoming.
Neither the too thin nor the too stout should adopt a style of gown
that caricatures the form as does the voluminous wrapper, finished with
a box-pleat, as shown in No. 57. There is no grace in straight lines.
[Illustration: NOS. 57 AND 58]
No. 58, which accentuates the height of the over-tall, thin woman, is
better adapted to enhance the charms of a woman of finer proportions.
The bony and scrawny, of the type of No. 58, seem to have a perverse
desire to wear what makes their poverty in physical charms only more
conspicuous. A woman of distinction in Boston, who is exceedingly thin
and tall, wore Watteau pleats so frequently, even on reception and
evening gowns that she was dubbed by a wag "the fire-escape," a title
which so strikingly characterized her style, that the term was adopted
by all her friends when they exchanged confidences concerning her.
The garment with the Watteau pleat is not unlike the princesse gown
which is a very trying style except to handsomely proportioned women. A
tall, well-developed woman, such as shown in sketch No. 59, adorns the
princesse gown and attains in it a statuesque beauty. In suggesting
statuary it fulfils the true ideal of dress, which should hint of
poetry, art, sculpture, painting. The massing of colors; the arrangement
of lines, the quality of textures, the grace and poise of the wearer--do
not these hint of picture, statue, music?