The
Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
And Why
t A
A "New" French Fashion of To day That
Is Compounded of Oriental Modes
Hundreds of Years Old.
By Pierre Creget,
Director of the High School of
Comtrrerce, Lyon, France
FASHION ia a social custom, trans
mitted by Imitation or by tradi
tion. It is a form of luxury, lux
ury In ornamentation.
Many writers have sounded the ca
price of fashion, its frequent coming,
Its suddenness. It is changeable, unre
liable, frivolous ; most careful calculations
are often brushed aside for the most
trifling causes. "One fashion has hardly
brushed aside another when it is abol
ished by a new one. And this in turn
gives way to one which follows, but
this one will not be the last," wrote
La Bruyere back Jn the sixteenth
century. "The new style of dressing
makes the older fashion out of date,
bo forcefully and with such general
agreement that it might be called a
kind of mania which turns the senses
round," writes Montaigne in the
eighteenth century.
An English arrheologiat. Mr. Evans
found in the Mycenaean palace of Knos
sos in Crete some frescoes painted 1.400
years before our era. showing ladles of
the court clothed in resplendent gar
ments, with enormous leg-of-mutton
sleeves held to the neck by a narrow
ribbon; their flounced skirts, ornamented
with embroidered bands, are expanded
behind by enormous bustles.
Writings and monuments tell us tnat
under the Empire changes of fashion
and peculiarity In costumes were cus
tomary at Rome. During the Middle
Ages, an author of the twelfth century
wrote: "Prance, whose humor varies
continuously, ought to have some gar
ments which would proclaim her insta
bility." In the fifteenth century Robert
Gaguin reproached Parisians "for al
ways being eager for, novelties and un
able to retain the same style of clothing
for ten successive years."
Fashion sleeps only for perpetual re
awakening, making evolutions in irregu
lar cycles at the will of its creators. Un
der Henry HI. we find the pointed waist,
held In place by a stiff corset, the puffed
sleeves; the dress already had the hoop
petticoat which fashion revived again in
1830.
Tlie reign of Henry IV. brought us the
great hell skirt, built on springs, which
we And , later with the crinoline. This
tendency toward fulness in the skirt kept
increasing until 1605, bringing some
dresses to enormous proportions, with
ruffles adding to their aize. Then, to
ward the end of the seventeenth century
the fulness diminished, giving way to
padded dresses, concealed uuder man
tle wraps, and in 1880 they reappeared
again.
Reduction in the size of the skirt con
tinued until about 1700. when fulness
again came into fashion, and by 178S
the skirls were ridiculously full, expand
ed with great hoops. There was another
reaction, and the hoop-skirt gave way
irst to the bustle; then in 1793 came the
ne-piece dress, with a running string
ind without ornamentation. Greek robes
were seen at fetes and on the stage. The
lirectoire dress, very close-fitting, ex
iggerated the plaited style and resem
:lpd the trousers skirt of recent date.
The Empire costume, with the waist
high under the bosom, was only another
ran:formation of the Directolre dress,
showing at that time a tendency to ful
ness lu the form.
After 1S05 the cycles began to shorten,
the wheel turned faster, and without
(tupping, until e find a general style
used by all classes of society. Skirts
were worn very full again toward 1810
and, passing through all sorts of grada
lons. with a partial return to fulness in
'the back, ended in I860 and 1865 in the
culminating point of the crinoline. This
marks the departure from Orientalism
and brings us toward the epoch when
very simple and straight robes were
worn until we reach the other extreme,
!he clinging gown, not forgetting the
larem skirt, an exaggerated revised edi
tion of the eccentricities of the period
from 1805 to 1S15. We must pause to
resume slowly but surely the march to
ward the puffed or padded styles.
The fashion created, there is haste
to make it known, to launch it. Under
the monarchical regimes and under the
"trt and Second Lmplres, the court ful
filled that duty and gave fashion some
distinction. To-day the style Is made
public by mannequins at the race course,
on the street, at the theatre, by actors
on the stage, and by such social func
tions as a wedding or a ball.
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WS'NJ r 1 . xi I i nsl l ill V ? -
A Lady of Fashion of Ancient Mycenae
3,000 Yeara Ago Mentioned by Pro
fessor Creget and Reproduced from a
Wall Painting In One af the Ruined
Palaces. Note the Corseted Waist, the
Fillet, the Bustle and Flounces. Be
side Her la One of the Most Modern
Dresses, In Which These Same Fash
Ion Ideas Still Appear. With a Very
Few Changes, the Old Mycenaean
Mode Could Be Worn Now on Broad
way Without Exciting Comment.
When "La Walkyrle" was first pre
sented at the opera, white wings like
those attached to Brunehilde's helmet
were worn on hats, and the armor of the
warlike maiden gave to dressmakers the
Idea of spangled robes, much resem
bling the breastplate.
The use of pheasant plumage became
more general after the presentation of
"Cbantecler." We already had the
"Dame Blanche" fichus, and the Luth
eran bonnet waa popular after "I.es Hu
guenots" was played.
Artificial flowers, originating in China,
now UBed more for hats and similar pur
poses than la decorating rooms, give em
ployment in Tarla alone to 10,o00 women
and 3,000 men, receiving $2,200,000 tn
wages, for a production valued at $6.
700,000. And it is to fashion that is due
the present prosperity in false hair and
perfume-y trades. Each year 130,000
kilograms of hair are utilized in France,
and the Importation from China and
The Firat Panel Shows a Wall Painting In a Prehistoric Spanish Cavern Known as
the Cave of the Women. The Second Is a Restoration of the Figures as they
Probably Appeared When Made Quite 16,000 Years Ago. Here Are Seen the Wasp
Waists, the Exaggerated Headdresses and theGirdle Just ae In the Fashions of
Yesterday and To-day.
Japan vary from year to year with
t Mange of style, from 8.000 to 16.000 kilo
grams. What are the economical results of
fashion? In the industrial world, first of
all. it seems to he a stimulant to produc
tion; but it is solely in objects to which
it offers itself, for the estimates are not
Covvi'iwM. hv th Pir Comnanv.
WHY There Can Never Be Any
Really NEW Fashions
WHY the Adoption of Trousers Was
the Greatest Change in History-
WHY Fashion Marks Humanity9 s
All Gravely Explained by a
Solemn French Scientist
Kb:
elastic an increase in one article lead
to retrenchment in another, and the de
mand is merely changed from one In
dustry to another. Thus enormous fluc
tuations are shown each year lu the silk
industries, on which the uncertainties of
fashion are most particularly centered.
Ribbon is most affected, being much used.
f;rat Rrltsin Rlt-htu Hrvr
Superiority
Over Other
Animals -
WHY Man Will
Never Be Able
to Regulate
Fashion-
both on hats and clothea. It loses first
one fashion, then another, and the evolu
tion Is tending rapidly toward the cheap
est grades used so much for ornaments
and lu the thousand little gewgaws of
women.
In the agricultural world fashion has
produced transformations no less serious,
some of thorn unfortunate.
In the animal world certain species of
fur animals are on the verge of extinc
tion, and there should be either attempts
at domestication, as In the case of the
blue fox and the opossum, or hunting
regulations by th creation of open dis
tricts with complete prohibition during
a certain period.
"To follow the fashion" becomes not
only a pastime, but even a duty; "intel
lects are madu frivolous thereby; those
who pride themselves in appearing ele
gant are obliged to make the clothing of
tliemselve i a veritable occupation and a
study, which assuredly does not tend to
elevate the mind, nor does it render them
capable of great things."
To this moral and social evil an eco
nomic difficulty is also added. Fashion
Is a waste; "it has the privilege of cast
ing things aside before they have lost
their freshness; ii multiplies consump
tion and condemns that which if Bill!
good, comfortable and pretty for ionic
tuing that is no better. Besides, It robs
a State of that which it consumes and
that which It does not consume." M.
1'lerre Mllle told recently of patrons who
kpent as much as $(10,000 each year,
others up to $16,000, and a still greater
number up to $5.uoo. Hut it is mostly
among the middle and laboring classes,
whose means are more limited, that un-
r
9
IP
How the Ladles of Queen eiltaeetn-s
Day Wore Stilts From an Old Print.
Ons of the Abuses Mentioned by
Professor Creget.
reasonable expenditure In following fash
ions is most harmful.
These abuses, this tyranny of uniform
ity in nearly all outer manifestations of
life, lead notably to the banishment of
provincial costumes, the representatives
of. climate, products of local art, so full
of interest from an historical standpoint,
picturesque, stable, durable, which ro
handed down from generation to genera
tion. Among these costumes of historic
Interest are the Caux cap recalling the
steeple headdress of ladles of the four
teenth century; the little Nlcaean bat
reproducing the coiffure called "Theses
Ionian" by the Greeks, and the antique
Phrygian hat, still worn by the Arle
slans. Although formerly there was va
riation according to place and uniform
ity as to the season, we now tend more
and more toward a uniformity as to
place and variation as to season
Human fancy thus asserts Its suprem
acy over animals, obliged always to wear
the same livery, Austere philosophers
have understood perfectly the aesthetic
and social significance of fashion. Re
nan, writing on Marcus Aurelius, admits
that "woman in dressing herself well ful
fills a duty; she practises an art, an ex
quisite art, in a sense the most charm
ing of arts. A woman's toilet,
with its refinements, is a great art in tta
way. Ages and countries which know
how to carry it out well are great ages,
great countries."
The appearance of a new style of gar
ment is the visible sign that a transfor
mation ia taking place In the intellect,
customs and business of a people. The
rise of the Chinese Republic, for In
stance, led to doing away with plaited
hair and to the adoption of the European
costume.
Talne wrote this profound sally. "My
decided oplnton is that the greatest
change in history was the advent of
trousers. It marked the pss
aage of Greek and Roman civilization to
the modern. Nothing is morn
difficult to alter than a universal and
dally custom. In order to take away
man's clothes and dress him up sgsin
you must demolish and remodel him.".
It is also an equally philosophical con
clusion which M. Louis Bourdeau gives
in his interesting "Hlstolre de 1'habllle
ment et de la parure": "There where the
same style of clothing is used for cen
turies, as among barbarous peoples, one
his the right to say that civilization re
mains stationary. There, on the other
hand, where, as in Europe, garments sre
subject to continual modifications, one
may see evidence of great comfort end
rapid progress. Far from be
ing a custom of Incurable frivolity, the
changes of fashions mark a high civiliza
tion, subject to change because it is
growing and because it has wide lati
tude to refine its ideal in proportion as
Its productions are varied." Again, it Is
necessary that that versatility and re
finement be not turned to extravagance
or to impropriety, compromising the
reputation for good taste, elegance and
distinction.
What can we do for or against iash
lon? tn we direct It or can we prevent
its abuse? Let us And out first the
power of the law, religious or civil. Very
early I'cpen and councils strove in vaiu
against the low-neck gown and the
dresses "terminating in the aerpent's
tail." Kings imitated them, t'harlemagn
setting the example, but sumptuary de
cree i have had no more effect than ordi
nances agnlnst duelling.
M. Victor du Bled reports that Philippe
le Bel was urged lo promulgate some
sumptuary laws by his wife, who. mak
ing her formal entrance at Bruges in
1-01, saw a crowd of common people so
richly clothed . that she cried out with
vexation. "J (iioupllt myself the queen,
f.nd 1 fee hundred of ttieni." Charles
IX. proscribed hip pan's of more than Ave
feet, gold chains, pieces of Jewelry with
or without enamel. In 1587 he regulated
Hie garment i of each class, permitting
silk only to prlncessi3 and duchesses,
foroldding velvet liliout any lastleg
success.
Fashion is, apparently, beyond regu
lation by wsr.