Roxey Ann Caplin

“ Now, in our conception, there should be a science rather than an art of dressing, and that, too, founded upon certain principles of adaptation by which the external clothing shall dis­play the full beauty of the naturally well-formed figure; and, in cases where nature has not bestowed a perfect form, the defect should be repaired by supporting the weak organs, and restoring the figure according to our idea of what it was intended that that particular body should be. ”

“ As the incarnation of all that is beautiful in woman, the Venus de Medicis is universally acknowledged the most per­fect specimen of female loveliness and grace, and we have accordingly taken it as our model. We have already spoken of this chef-d'œuvre of art, and fur­ther remarks would be superfluous, as the figure itself is to be found among the decorations of the palace and the cottage; and this fact alone is sufficient to prove its approximation to the ideal of beauty which is inherent in the human mind, and which pervades all classes of society. ”

“ The main object of this chapter, however, is to call attention to the principles which lie as it were at the foundation of all proper ideas respecting clothing, in any attempt to adjust the dress to the body so as to develop its beauty and proportions; and it must be borne in mind, too, that it is that beauty and those proportions which all our efforts must be directed to display. In making this asser­tion we take everything into account which can be said to belong to the well-being of the body; more particularly health and comfort—for without health there can be no beauty. ”

“ And, of all the customs that we have alluded to, there is none perhaps more injurious than that of compressing the chest and waist; and yet, from the absurd idea that fashion is displayed or beauty augmented, this unnatural course is persisted in, and corsets are still worn that have as little relation to the human form as the stiff, boned, boarded, and leather stays which were worn three centuries ago. ”

“ Nature has taken care to suit the external envelope to the internal organs of the frame; has made even the bones of the chest so yielding that the soft and delicate organs which are encased in them may have a free develop­ment: but the designers of dress have ever been interfering with her method; and for this simple reason—because dressing has been an art in which the fashion and cost of the clothing have been the objects of display. ”

“ What should be required in the inventors and manufacturers of clothing is in the first place a good knowledge of the body which they intend to envelop in their productions, and skill, art, and taste to display the natural beauties of the human frame. Other matters will be treated of in future chapters: we conclude this with the following axioms, which are worthy of being emblazoned in gold and diamonds on the most conspicuous pillar of the Temple of Fashion, from the Gentlemen's Magazine for 1738:—
"Everything which alters or disguises Nature proceeds from a false taste. ”

“ Ben Jonson has put the matter admirably; he says, "Rich apparel has strange virtues; it makes him that hath it without means esteemed for an excellent wit; he that enjoys it with means puts the world in remembrance of his means; it helps the deformities of Nature, gives lustre to her beauties, and makes continual holiday where it shines." ”

“ Now, grant that, for a momentary attitude, the slight bend of the body is exquisitely beautiful; but if we could suppose the Venus unable to alter that posture, and to be thus rigidly fixed in life, surely we should be justified in calling this a deformity. ”

“ The first English poet whose works have come down to us, has abused the ladies soundly for their extravagance in dress, fasting and bleed­ing to make themselves look pale, and tightening their waists and breasts, and dyeing their hair yellow. ”

“ Young ladies sometimes imagine that there is something interesting in illness; but they forget that it is the melancholy interest which is bestowed upon the withered rose, and not the joyful pride which always accompanies cheerfulness and success. ”

“ In all uncivilized countries mankind mutilate the body under the absurd impression that they are adding to its beauty. The flat-headed Indian com­presses the forehead, the Chinese ladies the foot, and the European ladies the waist ”

“ Everyone who has paid the least attention to the matter will perceive at once that the first requirement is a basis of support upon which the petticoats that are to be worn may be suspended, and also that this article, whatever name it may bear, should form an artificial muscular coating fitted with the greatest exactitude, and at the same time having that elasticity which, whilst giving no undue pressure upon any part, shall yield to every motion of the body, and allow it to assume any posture which it may be desirable to take. ”

“ Taking, then, the perfect female figure as the groundwork of all our adaptations, our exertions are always directed to the preservation of its specific beauties; or, in the event of any deviation, to its restoration, by gentle and gradual means, to the true ideal form which nature originally stamped upon it; or at least to the attainment of as near an approximation to it as possible. Were we to relate the numerous instances in which success, little short of miraculous, has attended our efforts, we should be accused of egotism, and perhaps even of exagge­ration ”

“ By detestable vanity ladies of rank now cause their robes to be made so low in the breast, and so open on the shoulders, that we may see nearly the whole bosom, and much of their shoulders and necks, and much below down their backs, and so tight in the waist that they can scarcely respire in them, and often suffer great pain by it. ”

“ Go on, then, adorable creatures, to cherish and improve an ornament every way praiseworthy; suffer not yourselves to be persuaded to your down­fall by those who would undermine your main sup­port. Suspect the artifices of such as would narrow your foundation, and resolve to maintain the establishment of your charms upon a wide-spreading bot­tom to the last. ”

“ In the second place the compliment allowed at all times of comparing a lady to a star, will now quadrate in every respect, when it may properly be said of every fair female that she moves in her orb and shines in her sphere in proportion to a star of the first mag­nitude. ”

“ EVER since the cultivation of literature in Europe, and long perhaps before that time—for there were talkers before there were writers in the world—the absurdities of fashion have formed a constant theme of declamation ”

“ When I survey the structure of this silken dome, and contemplate the convex or concave of the building, I am struck with admiration at the in­genuity of mankind; a fabric so ample, and withal so portable, is stupendous ”

“ The principal of which is, that it helps to support the weight of the under clothing, gives freedom and ease in walk­ing, and in windy weather prevents the petticoats from being blown against their wearer, and entang­ling her feet at every step she takes. ”