. The days of the Directoire . ds that refuse to follow the shape, disguise ratherthan reveal the contours, and cheat the eye like dis-torting glasses. They demand soft, yielding interdict is laid on starch. A little more, andwomen would have consented to the wetted garmentsof the ancient sculptors, so much did these Phrynesdread to be transformed into Chinese pagodas, theseVenuses of Praxiteles to be changed into Egyptiancaryatides. Muslin only is tolerated, and lawn, andtheir indiscreet compliances. Whatever follows theshape and moulds the form is preferred. Bertincannot execute t
. The days of the Directoire . ds that refuse to follow the shape, disguise ratherthan reveal the contours, and cheat the eye like dis-torting glasses. They demand soft, yielding interdict is laid on starch. A little more, andwomen would have consented to the wetted garmentsof the ancient sculptors, so much did these Phrynesdread to be transformed into Chinese pagodas, theseVenuses of Praxiteles to be changed into Egyptiancaryatides. Muslin only is tolerated, and lawn, andtheir indiscreet compliances. Whatever follows theshape and moulds the form is preferred. Bertincannot execute the orders he is overwhelmed with ;and in this realm of muslin, lawn and gauze, thiskingdom of white raiment, light as a woven cloud,moves, virgin arbitress of taste, Madame Recamier,ever clad in white. Good sense and modesty cry outupon wives and mothers, whose virtue finds itselfadequately lodged in an ell of cotton : Grace a la modeUn chemise chemise suffitAh ! que cest commode !Un chemise suffit,Cest tout profit !. FRENCH COS! UME, 1792 Louis XVI— Revolution) COSTUME 193 A journalist can sum up a feminine wardrobe asfollows: A Parisienne must have three hundredand sixty-five coiffures, as many pairs of shoes, sixhundred gowns, and a dozen shifts. One fine daythis last article is suppressed, and the salons of Parislearn that between yesterday and to-day the chemisehas been declared out of fashion. That garment, itseems, disfigured the shape and was awkward toarrange ; a close-fitting robe, however well cut, lostits gracefulness and accurate fit through the wavy,ugly folds of this old-fashioned garment. This lastand innermost article of clothing thrown aside, noadvantage is missed of a well-turned figure, and thelines of the body thus displayed to all eyes, theelegantes win victories, like the Scythians, as theyfly. The phrase of the day runs : Heres more thantwo thousand years women have worn shifts ; trulyan appalling piece of old-world pedantry! . .Even in this
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Keywords: ., bookauthorallinson, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1910
