Part 2 (1/2)

The Greek and Oriental costume has always been a favorite with painters: the ”Vernon Gallery” furnishes us with two ill.u.s.trations; and the excellent engravings of these subjects in the _Art Journal_ enable us to compare the costumes of the two figures while at a distance from the originals. The graceful figure of ”The Greek Girl,”

(engraved in the _Art Journal_ for 1850,) painted by Sir Charles Eastlake, is not compressed by stays, but is easy and natural. The white under-drapery is confined at the waist, which is short, by a broad girdle, which appears to encircle it more than once, and adds to the apparent length of the waist; the open jacket, without a collar, falls gracefully from the shoulders, and conceals the limits of the waist; every thing is easy, natural, and graceful. M. De Stackelberg's beautiful figure of the ”Archon's Wife” (Fig. 54) shows the district whence Sir C. Eastlake drew his model. There is the same flowing hair,--from which hang carnations, as in the picture in the ”Vernon Gallery,”--the same cap, the same necklace. But in the baron's figure, we find the waist encircled with a broad band, six or seven inches in width, while the lady rests her hand on the sash-like girdle, which falls round the hips.

Turn we now to Pickersgill's ”Syrian Maid,” (engraved in the _Art Journal_ for 1850:) here, we see, the artist has taken a painter's license, and represented the fair Oriental in stays, which, we believe, are happily unknown in the East. How stiff and constrained does this figure appear, after looking at Sir C. Eastlake's beautiful ”Greek Girl;” how unnatural the form of the chest! The limits of the waist are not visible, it is true, in the ”Syrian Maid,” but the shadow is so arranged, that the rounded form, to which we have before alluded, and which fas.h.i.+on deems necessary, is plainly perceptible; and an impression is made that the waist is small and pinched.

We could mention some cases in which the girdle is omitted altogether, without any detriment to the gracefulness of the figure. Such dresses, however, though ill.u.s.trative of the principle, are not adapted to the costume of real life. In sculpture, however, they frequently occur.

We may mention Gibson's statue of her majesty, the female figure in M'Dougall's ”Triumph of Love,” and ”Penelope,” by Wyatt, which are engraved in the _Art Journal_, (the first in the year 1846, the others in 1849.) But the drapery of statues can, however, scarcely be taken as a precedent for that of the living subject, and although we mention that the girdle is sometimes dispensed with, we are far from advocating this in practice; nay, we consider the sash or girdle is indispensable; all that we stipulate for is, that it should not be so tight as to compress the figure, or impede circulation.

In concluding our remarks on this subject, we would observe, that the best means of improving the figure are to secure freedom of motion by the use of light and roomy clothing, and to strengthen the muscles by exercise. We may also observe, that singing is not only beneficial to the lungs, but that it strengthens the muscles, and increases the size of the chest, and, consequently, makes the waist appear smaller.

Singing, and other suitable exercises in which both arms are used equally, will improve the figure more than all the backboards in the world.

CHAPTER III.

THE HEAD.

There is no part of the body which has been more exposed to the vicissitudes of fas.h.i.+on than the head, both as regards its natural covering of hair, and the artificial covering of caps and bonnets. At one time, we read of sprinkling the hair with gold dust; at another time, the bright brown hair, of the color of the horse-chestnut, so common in Italian pictures, was the fas.h.i.+on. This color, as well as that beautiful light golden tint sometimes seen in Italian pictures of the same period, was frequently the result of art, and receipts for producing both tints are still to be found in old books of ”_secreti_.” Both these were in their turn discarded, and after a time the real color of the hair was lost in powder and pomatum. The improving taste of the present generation is, perhaps, nowhere more conspicuous than in permitting us to preserve the natural color of the hair, and to wear our own, whether it be black, brown, or gray.

There is also a marked improvement in the more natural way in which the hair has been arranged during the last thirty years. We allude, particularly, to its being suffered to retain the direction intended by nature, instead of being combed upright, and turned over a cus.h.i.+on a foot or two in height.

These head-dresses, emphatically called, from their French origin, _tetes_, were built or plastered up only once a month: it is easy to imagine what a state they must have been in during the latter part of the time. Madame D'Oberkirch gives, in her Memoirs, an amusing description of a novel head-dress of this kind. We transcribe it for the amus.e.m.e.nt of our readers.

”This blessed 6th of June she awakened me at the earliest dawn. I was to get my hair dressed, and make a grand _toilette_, in order to go to Versailles, whither the queen had invited the Countess du Nord, for whose amus.e.m.e.nt a comedy was to be performed. These Court _toilettes_ are never-ending, and this road from Paris to Versailles very fatiguing, especially where one is in continual fear of rumpling her petticoats and flounces. I tried that day, for the first time, a new fas.h.i.+on--one, too, which was not a little _genante_. I wore in my hair little flat bottles, shaped to the curvature of the head; into these a little water was poured, for the purpose of preserving the freshness of the natural flowers worn in the hair, and of which the stems were immersed in the liquid. This did not always succeed, but when it did, the effect was charming. _Nothing could be more lovely than the floral wreath crowning the snowy pyramid of powdered hair!_”

Few of our readers, we reckon, are inclined to partic.i.p.ate in the admiration of the baroness, so fancifully expressed, for this singular head-dress.

We do not presume to enter into the question whether short curls are more becoming than long ones, or whether bands are preferable to curls of any kind; because, as the hair of some persons curls naturally, while that of others is quite straight, we consider that this is one of the points which must be decided accordingly as one style or the other is found to be most suitable to the individual. The principle in the arrangement of the hair round the forehead should be to preserve or a.s.sist the oval form of the face: as this differs in different individuals, the treatment should be adapted accordingly.

The arrangement of the long hair at the back of the head is a matter of taste; as it interferes but little with the countenance, it may be referred to the dictates of fas.h.i.+on; although in this, as in every thing else, simplicity in the arrangement, and grace in the direction of the lines, are the chief points to be considered. One of the most elegant head-dresses we remember to have seen, is that worn by the peasants of the Milanese and Ticinese. They have almost uniformly glossy, black hair, which is carried round the back of the head in a wide braid, in which are placed, at regular intervals, long silver pins, with large heads, which produce the effect of a coronet, and contrast well with the dark color of the hair.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pl. 6.

Figure 55. After Parmegiano.

56. t.i.tian's daughter.

57. Lady Harrington.

59. Roman peasant.

61. Gigot sleeves.

The examples afforded by modern sculpture are not very instructive, inasmuch as the features selected by the sculptors are almost exclusively Greek, whereas the variety in nature is infinite. With the Greek features has also been adopted the antique style of arranging the hair, which is beautifully simple; that is to say, it is parted in the front, and falling down towards each temple, while the long ends rolled lightly back from the face so as to show the line which separates the hair from the forehead, or rather where it seems, as it were, to blend with the flesh tints--an arrangement which a.s.sists in preserving the oval contour of the face, are pa.s.sed over the top of the ear, and looped into the fillet which binds the head. The very becoming arrangement of the hair in the engraving, from a portrait by Parmegianino, (Fig. 55,) is an adaptation of the antique style, and is remarkable for its simplicity and grace. Not less graceful, although more ornamental, is the arrangement of the hair in the beautiful figure called ”t.i.tian's Daughter.” Fig. 56. In both these instances, we observe the line--if line it may be called--where the color of the hair blends so harmoniously with the delicate tints of the forehead.

The same arrangement of the hair round the face may be traced in the pictures by Murillo, and other great masters.

Sir Joshua Reynolds has frequently evinced consummate skill in the arrangement of the hair, so as to show the line which divides it from the forehead. For some interesting remarks on this subject, we refer our readers to an ”Essay on Dress,” republished by Mr. Murray from the ”Quarterly Review.” Nothing can be more graceful than Sir Joshua's mode of disposing of the hair when he was able to follow the dictates of his own good taste; and he deserves great credit for the skill with which he frequently treated the enormous head-dresses which in his time disfigured the heads of our countrywomen. The charming figure of Lady Harrington (Fig. 57) would have been perfect without the superstructure on her beautiful head. How stiff is the head-dress of the next figure, (Fig. 58,) also, after Sir Joshua, when compared with the preceding.

The graceful Spanish mantilla, to which we can only allude, is too elegant to be overlooked: the modification of it, which of late years has been introduced into this country, is to be considered rather as an ornament than as a head-covering. It has been recently superseded by the long bows of ribbon worn at the back of the head--a costume borrowed from the Roman peasants. Fig. 59. The fas.h.i.+on for young people to cover the hair with a silken net, which, some centuries ago, was prevalent both in England and in France, has been again revived.

Some of the more recent of these nets are very elegant in form.

The hats and bonnets have, during the last few years, been so moderate in size, and generally so graceful in form, that we will not criticize them more particularly. It will be sufficient to observe that, let the brim be what shape it will, the crown should be nearly of the form and size of the head. If this principle were always kept in view, as it should be, we should never again see the monster hats and bonnets which, some years ago, and even in the memory of persons now living, caricatured the lovely forms of our countrywomen.

CHAPTER IV.