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True Taste in Dress
The highest art in dress is that which, while conforming in a measure to the prevailing fashion, exercises taste in the natural adornment of the body. It is a sad sight to see suddenly rich people in city and country in gaudy and vulgar finery; they deserve only the ridicule they meet in their attempts to ape the aristocrats abroad. The real gentleman or lady is never so dressed as to attract special attention. Hence the real art of dress, whatever the station, or however rich, may be summed up in two words: Unobtrusive simplicity. Almost equally few are the words describing the manners of the gentleman or lady. They are simply: Modesty, unassuming dignity, and self-possession.
II. The Real Purposes of Dress.
THE real purposes of dress, beyond that of satisfying the natural instinct of modesty and gratifying the universal passion for personal adornment, are to properly prevent the loss of animal heat in winter, to facilitate the escape of the animal heat in summer, and to protect the person from the extremes of the weather. The reason why it is necessary to comply measurably with the demands of fashion, is, that any one who departs too far from the general custom in dress, becomes so conspicuous as to attract that attention which every right-minded person seeks to avoid. That lady [370] was perfectly dressed of whom this story is told: Having visited a friend, the next day the friend was asked by a visitor (not perfect in dress or manners) what she "Indeed," was the reply, "I did not notice her dress; only the charm of her manner and conversation." A delicate hint to the other, that if asked how she was dressed, it would not have been hard to remember. wore.
No Warmth in Clothes. The notion that the body receives warmth from the dress is altogether wrong. There is no actual warmth in clothing. It is simply its power of conserving or preventing the escape of the natural heat of the body that makes it seem warm. With the thermometer at seventy or eighty degrees, but little clothing is required. With the thermometer at one hundred degrees, the real science of dress is to facilitate the escape of heat by every possible means, as, for instance, a free circulation of air. The heat of the body comes from the food we eat. Hence, in the summer, heating food should be avoided. Perspiration is the principal natural means of reducing excessive heat of the body; and thus the person who works in a great heat perspires continuously and violently. If this were not so, the system would quickly give way and death ensue.
III. Clothe According to Circumstances.
It is not our purpose to write a dissertation on fashionable dress. We only propose to show something of the philosophy and economy of clothing. The good sense of every lady and gentleman will easily suggest what kind of clothes they shall wear. The pocket as well as the taste must here be consulted. But yet, it is not so much the material, as the manner in which it is made up and worn, that marks the person of refinement and sensibility-the true gentleman and lady. A person may be soiled with work that brings one in contact with dirt and grime, and yet not be offensive. Yet it is a fact, dirt does not stick so easily to some people as to others-probably for the reason that the same impulse towards cleanliness, that prompts bathing and a change of dress, immediately the work is done, prevents also undue contact with that which is offensive.
IV. Mending Clothes.
MANY persons have a horror of patched clothes. If patching becomes necessary, there should be no sensitiveness upon the subject. We must clothe according to our condition in life. The opinion of the butterflies and fops who largely make up certain phases of fashionable life, is not worth a thought. It is a false presumption, that because a person has wealth, he or she looks down on those who are poor. The gentleman and lady never do. It is only "cads" and "snobs" who fear contact with those who keep the world moving. The world moves by the force of the labor that is done. It is those who mix mortar, lay brick and stone, build and finish houses, make machinery and utensils, set type and run the printing press, raise the provisions that feed the multitude-in short, the thinkers and workers of this worldwho are the moving power. The mechanic and the manual laborer, as well as the merchant, the manufacturer and the financier, are the machinery which keeps the world in motion. The merely wealthy, who spend their lives in idleness, are as moths flitting about a candle-necessary perhaps, because the money they spend helps to make a market for the products of the workers. But the soiled laborer, with patched clothes, if temperate, industrious and honest, performs a more important part in this workaday world of ours.
Some must wear mended clothes. In fact, there are few sensible persons, however rich, but do so in some degree. In making up a dress or suit, reserve some of the stuff for the mending that must surely come. If this cannot be done, then select the nearest match you can. It is no disgrace to wear a coat of as many colors as that of Joseph. It may have been the height of fashion in Jacob's time; it is not so now. But if the gentleman or lady of wealth desire not to attract attention to their dress, certainly the gentleman or lady less wealthy should not seek to attract attention by the singularity of their patching and darning. "
A stitch in time" should be the motto. How easy it is in sorting the clothes for the wash to make a memorandum of such as require mending, if you cannot remember-a button off a garment, a frayed edge or button-hole, a rent, a missing string or band, towel to be cut in half and the edges resewed. The clothes being rough dried, mend them before starching and ironing.
V. Altering Clothes.
In these days of cheap sewing machines the work of making, mending and altering clothing is much simplified. Children's clothing requires constant care. Tailoring requires considerable strength. Men's clothing is more cheaply bought ready-made than it can be made at home. The mending is not difficult.