“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.