Wear

“ What of fine dress your people insist upon your wearing, take—and wear proudly and prettily, for their sakes; but, so far as in you lies, be sure that every day you are labouring to clothe some poorer creatures. ”

“ And there’s a mighty wardrobe that would hold more dresses than any one woman, I should have thought, could wear in a long lifetime, and it has a glass from top to bottom, in which you can see yourself from head to foot. ”

“ It is a very small matter what kind of costume I wear in my study, and my friends will, I trust, respect me equally whether I wear a vest or a shift. I never appear out of doors in men's clothes without taking a stick with me ”

“ As you will see, I have devoted myself entirely to civil costume—that is, the clothes a man or a woman would wear from choice, and not by reason of an appointment to some ecclesiastical post, or to a military calling, or to the Bar, or the Bench. ”

“ Your dress (as insignificant a thing as dress is in itself) is now become an object worthy of some attention; for, I confess, I cannot help forming some opinion of a man’s sense and character from his dress; and I believe most people do as well as myself. Any affectation whatsoever in dress implies, in my mind, a flaw in the understanding. Most of our young fellows here display some character or other by their dress; some affect the tremendous, and wear a great and fiercely cocked hat, an enormous sword, a short waistcoat and a black cravat ”

“ DRESS
Clothes are to us what fur and feathers are to beasts and birds; they not only add to our appearance, but they are our appearance. How we look to others entirely depends upon what we wear and how we wear it ”

“ The tailors who sit stitching at our doors, make our bonnets; and we, who are not above China silks, find them a very easy article of dress to get; in fact, they will soon be the only articles we have to wear, for while this rainy season lasts, the milliners would rather die and be buried in their own tin boxes, than open one to give us out a gown. ”

“ And so we say to the young and the old man alike, dress well. Dress, not as a fashion-plate, but with a regard for appropriate style—and with an especially keen regard for fine materials and excellent workmanship. Do not be content with an ordinary suit, but be sure that each one you wear imparts that poise and dignity which is so essential to the true gentleman. Your wardrobe need not be filled with suits for every day and every occasion ; but a few carefully selected garments, well-tailored and smartly styled will earn for you the enviable distinction of "a well-dressed man." ”

“ She may safely wear elegant garments, who in character and bearing is elegant without their aid. If honour be your clothing, the suit will last a life-time, but if clothing be your honour, it will soon be worn threadbare.—Arnot. ”

“ These are but the remains of a time long ago when every one dressed according to his calling, whether at work or not. It was easy then to tell by the cut and texture of his clothes to what rank in life a man belonged, for each dressed accordingly, and only the great might wear silk and velvet and golden ornaments. ”

“ He dressed very simply, with a long cloak and round cape ‘like a townsman.’ Regardless of the long pointed shoes of fashion, he constantly wore ‘round shoes like a rustic.’ On great days he would wear a hair shirt underneath his gorgeous robes. ”

“ Dress is confined to the rag worn about the loins, except that the women wear in addition a small cloth over their shoulders. The children wear nothing whatever, but we saw none that were not ornamented by cheap jewelry in the most extraordinary manner. ”

“ Dress-making.—Substantial dress, of standard material and kind, strong shoes, and stout bedding, to be manufactured for the poor, so as to render it unnecessary for them, unless by extremity of improvidence, to wear cast clothes, or be without sufficiency of clothing. ”

“ MEN—DRESS. A man should wear either a black frock coat or a black cutaway, with the necktie, gloves, and other parts of the dress as subdued as possible. Under no conditions should light ties or light-colored linen be worn. ”

“ You want fine black cloth, polished shoes, to scent your head with fragrant oil, to please bad women, and be a pretty fellow; you will have your hair close shaven, and wear a red jacket and wooden shoes. You want a ring on your finger; and will wear a collar on your neck, and if you look at a woman you will be beaten. ”

“ After the attainment of full growth, girls may wear the ordinary dress in fashion with very much less risk of injury than they could have done in earlier years; and the reason of this is obvious, for their constitutions have become settled, the bony structure of their frames has grown firm and hard, and their organs have attained their full and natural development. ”

“ The fact is that I wear the national dress because it is the most natural and the most becoming for an Indian. ”

“ "But in the course of my wanderings I had the good fortune to save the ninth life of a tailor—tailors having, like cats, nine lives, as you probably know. The fellow was exceedingly grateful, for had he lost that ninth life it would have been the end of him; so he begged permission to furnish me with the stylish costume I now wear. It fits very nicely, does it not?" ”

“ Every day our garments become more assimilated to ourselves, receiving the impress of the wearer’s character, until we hesitate to lay them aside, without such delay and medical appliances and some such solemnity even as our bodies. ”

“ for experience shows us, that such emotions are often seen under rude and slovenly clothes, and that a hair shirt does not always render those chaste who wear it. ”

“ A waist of voile or batiste trimmed with fine Valenciennes lace and narrow tucks and perhaps a touch of hand drawn work is chosen by many women in preference to the tailored waist for street wear, shopping and such occasions. ”

“ Young things like you don't need any ornaments but those you wear to-night, youth, health, intelligence, and modesty.” ”

“ —He can’t wear them, Buck Mulligan told his face in the mirror. Etiquette is etiquette. He kills his mother but he can’t wear grey trousers. ”

“ We grant, although he had much wit, 45
H' was very shy of using it;
As being loth to wear it out,
And therefore bore it not about,
Unless on holy-days, or so,
As men their best apparel do. ”

“ "I don't believe fine young ladies enjoy themselves a bit more than we do, in spite of our burned hair, old gowns, one glove apiece and tight slippers that sprain our ankles when we are silly enough to wear them." ”

“ There is also a manner of dressing and of wearing, a certain elegance that distinguishes people of taste from the vulgar, which gives each portion of the dress its due importance, and imparts a harmony to the whole, as in the composition of a picture, which weaves every detail into one design and impresses the beholder as a masterpiece. ”

“ "If men were equal to-morrow and all wore the same coats, they would wear different coats the next day." ”

“ How well each in its way is calculated to serve the purpose for which it is designed, the simple cloth, tweed, or serge costume moulded to the lines of the figure, adapted to our changeful climate, and giving a cachet to the wearer, not always found in much more costly apparel, a rational costume in the best sense of the word, and one which women of all ages may assume with satisfaction to themselves and to those with whom [Pg 11] they come in contact. ”

“ There have been also great changes of fashion and dress,—the wearing of mustaches and beards,—the discarding of wigs and ruffles,—the sacrifice of a somewhat fantastic elegance to a rather monotonous comfort in the ordinary costume of men. ”

“ Anyway, you know full well I never wear boutonnières. The decoration has fallen into disrepute. The only remaining devotees of the practice are roués and saxophone players. ”

“ Robes.—The outer garment of woman is, and has been for centuries, the robe or gown, and upon the proper choice, make, and disposition of this, and its concomitants, depends the elegance or inelegance of the wearer. ”

“ The question of clothes is a simple one and easily solved. The father wears a pair of blue cotton trousers in the summer, while the mother wears the same style garment with the addition of an apron effect which covers the bust. ”

“ The construction of the clothing, however, always a matter of the highest importance in every period of life, is more especially so during the time of its growth, and just before the body reaches maturity. Economy dictates the wearing of the clothes so long as they look well, and if they should become too small for the elder, that they should be passed on to the second and third, if need be, until they are worn out. ”

“ About this time, ladies, particularly in their riding costumes, imitated the costumes of the men, wearing a cocked beaver hat and feathers, hair curled and powdered and tied like a man’s, coat and waistcoat like a man, with a petticoat below the waist. ”

“ The remnants of articles of clothing with graceful patterns, interwoven with threads of gold and silver, which have fortunately escaped entire destruction, show the existence of great skill in weaving. Entire suits of wearing apparel remain to tell us how some of the people dressed in the beginning of our era. ”

“ New Clothes at Easter and Whitsuntide—Wearing of Clothes—The Clothes of the Dead—The Apron, Stockings, Garters, &c.—The Shoe—The Glove—The Ring—Pins.
One would scarcely expect to find a host of odd fancies attached to such matter-of-fact necessities as articles of dress, but yet they hold a prominent place in our domestic folk-lore. ”

“ As the garment purports to prolong the life of its owner, he often wears it, especially on festive occasions, in order to allow the influence of longevity, created by the many golden letters with which it is bespangled, to work their full effect upon his person. ”

“ At no time was history told in dress, and at no period was dress influenced by historical events more than during the seventeenth century and in the dress of English-speaking folk. The writer on dress should know the temperament and character of the dress wearer ”

“ These wandering people had other reasons for preferring the short and close-fitting garments to those which were long and full, and these were their innate pugnacity, which forced them ever to be under arms, their habit of dwelling in forests and thickets, their love of the chase, and their custom of wearing armour. ”

“ With fingers weary and worn,
With eyelids heavy and red,
A woman sat, in unwomanly rags,
Plying her needle and thread—
Stitch! stitch! stitch!
In poverty, hunger, and dirt,
And still with a voice of dolorous pitch
She sang the "Song of the Shirt." ”

“ Before me and beside me sat a row of the comeliest young men, clad in black gowns and wearing on their shoulders 112 long hoods trimmed with white fur. Who and what they were I know not, for I preferred not to learn, lest by chance they should not be so mediæval as they looked. ”

“ If you looked beyond that pile of knitted wear which seemed to envelop you, your eyes rested upon a group of young girls who belonged to no unit, but who spent their spare moments making and filling comfort bags, sewing on labels, etc.; and then your gaze was drawn irresistibly over the intervening space, filled with desks for the clerical part of the movement, to a platform where the knitting machines were running to full capacity, and socks, those “Christian Science socks,” as the boys called them, because they were “so soft,” and “didn't shrink,” were issuing in hundreds. ”

“ Probably every new and eagerly expected garment ever put on since clothes came in, fell a trifle short of the wearer's expectation. ”

“ You can't know how I dreaded appearing in school in those miserable poor-box dresses. I was perfectly sure to be put down in class next to the girl who first owned my dress, and she would whisper and giggle and point it out to the others. The bitterness of wearing your enemies' cast-off clothes eats into your soul. If I wore silk stockings for the rest of my life, I don't believe I could obliterate the scar. ”

“ I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. ”

“ Now let us stand for a moment on a comer of Fifth Avenue, New York's famous avenue of fashion. We see a modern young woman on her way to the theater. From the tips of her French-heeled slippers to the jaunty little hat on her head, she is—perfect. Her gown seems to express in every line the story of her own personality. The color-scheme might well have been invented by Mother Nature herself. The wrap she wears is of sable furs—but how different from the furs of her sister of ancient days! Each skin is exquisitely glossed and dressed, and the whole matched to perfection. ”

“ All this I see, and I see that the fashion wears out more apparel than the man. ”