Body decoration

“ Appropriateness.—The general proportions of a hat or a gown may be good, but the addition of the decoration may destroy all the good effect obtained by securing the right relation of line and mass. The aim of all decoration should be to harmonize and strengthen the whole. ”

“ In all ages man has sought to develop to their fullest extent the possibilities of splendour in the materials of his dress, and an important place in the wardrobes of our early ancestors was filled by skins shorn of hair, thus lending themselves easily to decoration in many different ways. ”

“ Before the 16th century we find the art of decoration in costume had been confined chiefly to applied ornamental bands at the neck, waist, and borders of skirt and cloak. They had up till this time utilised, with great artistry of design (no doubt partly due to the heraldic study) , the patterns of the finely decorated damasks and velvets. ”

“ All decoration should be planned to enrich—not to assert. All jewelry or ornament should form a note in the general harmony of color—a decorative touch to add beauty and to be subordinated to the object decorated. It should serve the purpose of seeming to strengthen the whole or to protect the parts receiving most wear. Ornament is everywhere attempted. We see ornament at every turn—good and bad alike—in our homes, on clothes, linen, and kitchen utensils. ”

“ The girdles appeared just below the armpits, and the sleeves were so long that they had to be turned back from the wrists, the scolloped border appearing on those which were wide and wing-shaped.
In France and England splendour followed upon splendour; even the prayer-books did not escape the general craze for elaboration and decoration, their covers being emblazoned with jewels and silken embroidery. Jewels glittered round every fair neck and on every fair head; and all heads were fair, assisted by art when nature denied such grace. ”

“ For there are tribes to whom climate and civilisation have not yet suggested the necessity of clothing the body, but who nevertheless possess ornaments of some degree of development. From the rudest of beginnings up to the last refinements of art, jewelled ornaments have ever the same purpose in view—to give prominence to individual parts of the body by means of glittering, beautiful objects which involuntarily draw the eye of the spectator in the desired direction. ”

“ What admirable judgement has been shown, too, in the structure and decoration of the roof! nothing wanting, yet nothing superfluous; the gilding is exactly what was required to achieve elegance without empty display; it is precisely that little touch of adornment with which a beautiful and modest woman sets off her loveliness; it is the slender necklace about her neck, the light ring upon her finger, the earrings, the brooch, the fillet that imprisons her luxuriant hair, and, like the purple stripe upon a robe, enhances its beauty. ”

“ In considering the dress of the person as related to home decoration one is not so far afield as one may seem to be at first thought. It is true that dress has a variety of functions to perform that have no connection with the subject of decoration ”

“ Now the chains of the neck are necklaces which are composed of various precious stones; and the souls which take care of the body, place around the outward neck of the flesh this visible ornament to deceive those who behold; but those who live chastely, on the other hand, adorn themselves within with ornaments truly composed of various precious stones, namely, of freedom, of magnanimity, of wisdom, and of love, caring little for those temporal decorations which, like leaves blossoming for an hour, dry up with the changes of the body. ”

“ Decorations.
A tenet of Delsartean art asserts that, “A decoration is to make something else beautiful and must not assert, but sacrifice itself. Ornament that has no use whatever is never, in any high sense, beautiful.” ”

“ We get something of the same kind of ornamentation nowadays, as already noticed, in the dress of jockeys and the colours of athletic clubs.
In studying decorative patterns, the way in which some natural object has often become conventionalized is very interesting to trace, and if this is so in the case of art of civilized people, it is still more true of savage decoration. Our object is not, however, to [314] deal with the evolution of ornamentation pure and simple, though we commend its study to our readers. ”

“ It is invidious to make comparisons—I have heard this for many years, and known it even longer—yet I would boldly declare that there are but few ladies upon the stage who understand the important fact that, by the dressing of the hair and the decoration of the head, they may make or mar the most gorgeous or most simple garment. ”

“ If her sun-room is done in yellows and orange and greens, nothing will look better than cream-white as a costume. If the walls, woodwork and furniture have been kept very light in tone, relying on the rugs and cushions and dark foliage of plants to give character, then a costume of sheer material in any one of the decided colours in the chintz cushions, will be a welcome contribution to the decoration of the sun-room. Additional effect can be given a costume by the clever choice of colour and line in a work-bag. ”

“ Meanwhile others have been busy making the new garments in which the body is to be dressed. Every part of the garments and the fittings of the casket must be new, the mattress, blanket, pillow, overcoat, coat, waistcoat, trousers, socks, wristlets, leggings, head-band and all. ”

“ As some evidence of the moral signification and use of dress among men, see how various are the garments of different people even in the same climate, country, city or village—various in color, form and material. This variety results from the variety of mental states—from a diversity of tastes which is its underlying and efficient cause; and it proves that garments are chosen to gratify an implanted want of the soul not less than an immanent need of the body. ”

“ Personal ornaments appear to have been among the very first objects on which the invention and ingenuity of man were exercised; and there is no record of any people so rude as not to employ some kind of personal decoration. Natural objects, such as small shells, dried berries, small perforated stones, feathers of variegated colours, were combined by stringing or tying together to ornament the head, neck, arms and legs, the fingers, and even the toes, whilst the cartilages of the nose and ears were frequently perforated for the more ready suspension of suitable ornaments. ”

“ Now, I will bestow on thee, from my own body, a garment that shall be invisible to men, but perceptible to thee, because it will preserve from cold both thy soul and thy body, until the day in which I will clothe thee with honor and glory before the saints and angels. "And immediately he drew from the wound of his adorable Heart a vestment tinged with the purple hue of his precious blood and beaming with light. ”

“ A long broken line of small human creatures, in brightest holiday dress, and each with its burning taper, following the great golden Cross as it passed solemnly, borne on men's shoulders, out of the gloomy aisles, out under the wreaths of spring blossom, and down the steps into the warm afternoon light. ”

“ Let it be remembered that the outline of a woman includes hair, combs, head-dress, earrings, treatment of neck, shoulders, arms, bust and hips; line to the ankles and shoes; also fan, handkerchief or any other article, which if a silhouette were made, would appear. The next step is to ascertain what materials were available at the time your costume was worn and what in vogue. ”

“ The humble early efforts at decoration, called by the French “primitif,” are the first we know and class, and are found in all savage attempts at ornament. This style consists mainly of straight lines, zigzags, wavy lines, dots, and little discs. ”

“ Ordinarily the hair is allowed to hang loosely beneath a head-dress fashioned from a length of snowy linen, folded in such a way as to form a narrow strip, which is pinned at the temples and flung back to hang down behind. All but the very poorest wear necklaces, pendent ear-rings, chains and crosses. ”

“ The taste of most women leads them to desire simple clothes; but through ignorance or inexperience many of these women fail to achieve that aim. A stout woman with a round back is sometimes seen wearing a dress with lapels or ruffles over the shoulders. This only serves to accentuate her defect.
Unity and Harmony.—In all forms of decoration harmony is essential—i. e., all the parts that are to be combined must agree with one another and with their surroundings. ”

“ The very daintiness of accessory, the delicate embroidered robes, the long fringed scarves, the embossed armour, light and pliable like silk, which cannot wound the tender young archangels, the carefully waved and curled hair—all this is the religious luxuriousness of nuns and novices, the one vent for all love of beauty and ease and costliness of the poor delicate creatures, worn and galled by their shapeless hair cloth, living and sleeping in the dreary whitewashed cell. ”

“ Give most careful attention to your extremities,—shoes, gloves and hats. The genius of fashion's greatest artist counts for naught if his costume may not include hat, gloves, shoes, and we would add, umbrella, parasol, stick, fan, jewels; in fact every detail.
If you have the good sense to go to one who deservedly ranks as an authority on line and colour in woman's costume, have also the wisdom to get from this man or woman not merely your raiment ”

“ When they assemble on the passeo, they dress in every respect as they do for public worship, clothed in fine robes of the richest black silk or velvet, trimmed with lace, their persons decorated with various brilliant ornaments, and the hair tastefully braided up with combs of costly workmanship. ”

“ The costume consists of a crimson coat richly trimmed with gold lace, and heavy decorations in silver on the left breast, gold epaulets, a richly ornamented sword and belt, buff vest trimmed with gold lace, buff breeches, top boots trimmed at the top with gold binding, a red sash, and black chapeau. The position must be so that a partial front view can be had of the body; eyes directed straight forward. The light should be of medium quantity, and come from the front of the stage. ”

“ Decoration.—I will first discuss the cases in which the males are ornamented either exclusively or in a much higher degree than the females, and in a succeeding chapter those in which both sexes are equally ornamented, and finally the rare cases in which the female is somewhat more brightly-coloured than the male. As with the artificial ornaments used by savage and civilised men, so with the natural ornaments of birds, the head is the chief seat of decoration. [61] The ornaments, as mentioned ”

“ Here, therefore, all the glitter of ornament, like that of jewels and diamonds, must be laid aside; nor must we apply even the crisping-iron to adjust the hair. There must be no colouring, no artful washes to heighten the complexion: but elegance and neatness must be our only aim. ”

“ The garments of the angels, like their habitations and their whole environment, are indissolubly bound to themselves as effects to their producing cause. The quality and appearance of their dress are in perfect correspondence with their states of life, and change with those states. Their understandings are stored with the beautiful and precious truths of heavenly wisdom. These clothe and adorn their minds, and create for themselves, by the unerring law of correspondence, garments of corresponding worth and beauty visible to the outward eye. ”

“ Woman's costumes, her jewels and all accessories complete her decorative effect, but even in the age of powder and patches, hair oil and wigs, no more time nor greater care was given to her grooming, and what we say applies to the average woman of affairs and not merely to the parasite type. ”

“ Similarly have been observed by us, and recognised, the garments and the veils, that she has on her head, which are the same that she wore when she was alive, and with them was the blessed body placed and arranged in the same coffin, where at present she is found, as by relation and continued ancient tradition of the nuns of this convent, which garments and veils have been found to be sound, entire, and not corrupted by moths, nor by time, these garments appearing, as the veils also, as if they were worn at the present time by a living person. ”

“ I said; "as a massive medallion, depending from a necklace. It certainly would light up the world more, on the bosom of a beautiful woman, than thrust away here, among your brushes and razors. But, to my sense, only a beauty of a certain type could properly wear it—a splendid, dusky beauty, with the brow of a Roman Empress, and the shoulders of an antique statue. ”

“ To wear jewels, necklaces of brilliants, precious stones and pearls, or ribbons with brilliants round the hair is a pleasing custom and a pretty sight. But to see a lady wearing a long gown trailing on the ground does not impress me as being elegant, though I understand the ladies in Europe and America think otherwise. ”

“ The costuming is superb, the old brocade and cloth-of-gold garments showing the court costumes of centuries ago, and the great families and monasteries hold their ancient No costumes as chiefest treasures. ”

“ The marble was not at all abashed nor degraded by being made to assume the guise of the mediaeval furred robe, or the close-fitting tunic with elaborate ruff, or the breastplate and gorget, or the flowing wig, or whatever the actual costume might be; and one is sensible of a rectitude and reality in the affair, and respects the dead people for not putting themselves into an eternal masquerade. The dress of the present day will look equally respectable in one or two hundred years. ”