THE ABUSE OF FASHION.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2033, 10 July 1875, Page 3

THE ABUSE OF FASHION.

Fashions are . becoming supremely ridiculous, and are simply "new fashion," nnd"nothing-m0ra.....H0w- many ankles have been put' out, and how many accidentsf bavePoccurred, through the ahsurdity'df small-heeled high-heeled ladies' boots it is not necessary to suggest. Anyhow many have suffered agonies of "tic,-' through bonnets that are^onnettesj leave gufferers themselves to discuss. But the great question is—Have yre none of us pluck enough to stand out against any absurd fashion P Are these influences as inevitable as the measles ? Must we "have them," at any cost whatever, simply because they are fashions. I can quite imagine some " grim ogre," at the head of the fashion-world, deciding to put his followers through agonies worse than oakum-picking or treadmill-grinding, and I positively believe that, the victims would follow on. What ridiculosities the world has seen! " Let plaster appear," says the goddess Fashion, and forthwith • our great-great-grandLoothers dotted their faces all over with/ bits :of black plaster, as though th sey had .all cut themselves in .shaving. "Let us limp!" says the goddess, and forthwith young ladies set themselves to walk genteelly lame ! "Let us twist," says the goddess, and forthwith, the. Grecian bend appears What next may come one knows not; but if the goddess takei to walking on her hands : and. knees,- fashionable; knee-caps will surely make their appearance..- We are all commanded by the goddess to write on long day-book letter-paper now, and forthwith we do it! ,It is becauie human beings have so little in themselves to command attention that they fly .to these resources, to proclaim their existence ? Surely the quiet dignity of self-respect should lead us all to be masters of fashion, -^.■^wEL are mas^ers °f ourselves! If decided that it was right to lose our tempers, probably we should think fashion a fool. But are we not to bo masters of the tabernacle as well as the tenant ? Why should fashion dictate How lam to build my house ? Neither ought fashion; to be allowfid to dictate how I am. to plan my garden. Much more then, ought tho vestiture of the body tojbe decided by taste and judgment! For my own part, Ido not hesitate to say I think variety would be charming in ibis as in all else. lam not an admirer of sheep when they all run through a gap in the hedge. And humanity is never presented to me in so " sheepy" a way as when ladies and gentlemen press each others' heels to run through the gap of some new fashion. Men are as foolish in this as women. ' 'Let there be heavy watchguards !" says Fashion, and forthwith men load themselves with golden anchor-chains. We can all do much to preserve a dignity of personal taste and selfrespebt; but that woman deserves a monument who would; venture to a morning concert or a morning call in a bonnet that really kept the rain off, and kept the head warm. Fashion is often a kind of death-warrant in the winter; and if the newspaper's told the plain truth, they would contain many notices of "Died of ribbon-bonnets, or of thin boots."—The Quiver.