National costume, wisely adopted and consistently worn, is not only desirable but necessary in right national organization. Obeying fashion is a great folly, and a greater crime; but gradual changes in dress properly accompany a healthful national development.
The Scriptural authority for dress is centralized by Proverbs xxxi. 21, 22; and by 1 Samuel i. 24; the latter especially indicating the duty of the king or governor of the state; as the former the duty of the housewife. It is necessary for the complete understanding of those passages, that the reader should know that "scarlet" means intense central radiance of pure color; it is the type of purest color—between pale and dark—between sad and gay. It was therefore used with hyssop as a type of purification. There are many stronger passages, such as Psalm xlv. 13, 14; but as some people read them under the impression of their being figurative, I need not refer to them. The passages in the Prophecies and Epistles against dress apply only to its abuses. Dress worn for the sake of vanity, or coveted in jealousy, is as evil as anything else similarly so abused. A woman should earnestly desire to be beautiful, as she should desire to be intelligent; her dress should be as studied as her words; but if the one is worn or the other spoken in vanity or insolence, both are equally criminal.
I have not time, and there is no need, to refer you to the scattered notices of dress in my books: the most important is rather near the beginning of my Political Economy of Art;[146] but I have not the book by me: if you make any use of this letter (you may make any you please), I should like you to add that passage to it, as it refers to the more immediate need of economy in dress, when the modes of its manufacture are irregular, and cause distress to the operative.
Believe me, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours,
J. Ruskin.
FOOTNOTES:
[144] The preceding numbers of the Monthly Packet had contained various letters upon dress, and the present one was then sent to the Editor by the person to whom it was originally addressed.
[145] In June and September, 1863. See the first two chapters of "Munera Pulveris."
[146] See pp. 67-75 of the original, and 50-55 of the new edition ("A Joy for Ever").