Iron Jewelry No Novelty

1916

Many months ago, almost from the beginning of the war, we were told that German women, following the example of their great-grandmothers, voluntarily gave up their gold rings, necklets, earrings, bracelets and ornaments of every description, to be made or coined into money for the national need.

Whatever truth there may be in this story, there is no doubt that many German women have been presented by the government with iron rings to replace the gold ones they have parted with.

But that happened a century ago. Then Prussia, crushed by Napoleon, and bankrupt, was in dire need of money, and the Prussian women gave up all their jewels and ornaments to help cope with the prevailing poverty. And out of this sacrifice a new industry arose.

This was nothing less than the manufacture of cast-iron jewelry to replace the gold and silver ornaments which the great ladies of the kingdom had given up. At first sight no material would seem less promising as a substitute for the precious metals than iron. It was entirely owing to the wonderful craftsmanship of the ironworkers that the results were so extraordinary.

Strength, of course, would be a distinguishing mark of such jewelry, and a complete set of these iron ornaments, now in the possession of a Toronto (Canada) jeweler, is as rigid and firm as on the day it was made. This particular set, comprising a pair of earrings, necklet, locket and bracelets, has not been looked after until lately.

The ornaments have a wonderfully fragile appearance, due entirely to the exquisite workmanship. Their weight, too, is astonishingly small, the lightness of every article being quite a feature of the set.

For Elderly Women

1901

In the mixed Oxford suitings in dark gray and black are a number of different qualities that make up well in coat and skirt, and it is just as necessary for an older woman to have a coat and skirt costume as for a young girl.

The skirt is best that has a flaring flounce at the side and a front breadth narrower at the top than at the bottom and with skirt of medium length. The jacket should always be three-quarter length and with straight fronts with pointed revers and fronts faced with some dull silk so that the coat can be worn open if desired.

If a woman is stout, she should have her coat made rather shapeless and with box back, or a seam in the middle, and at the sides curved in somewhat to the figure, this being more becoming than a tight fitting jacket. In black wool a light weight material made in this way, with the flounce trimmed with bands or folds of satin, makes a smart gown. — Harper's Bazar.

Use Your Rouge Artistically, Girls!

1920

Then The Men'll Fall for You, Is Doctor's Advice

Girls who powder and paint have found a champion in Dr. Anna Dwyer of Chicago. She said girls must paint to attract attention and she could see no harm in it.

"But it must done artistically," she said.

Dr. Anna Dwyer is connected with the Chicago health department. She takes issue with Dr. Florence Meredith, the Boston woman who heads the Y. W. C. A. dress reform movement.

"Uncorseted women do not live any longer nor enjoy any better health than the smartly corseted, up-to-date modern city woman," she said.

"As to the facial make-up, which Dr. Florence Meredith claims make it impossible for even a person experienced in the ways of women, like myself, to pick out the good from the bad, all I can say is only the good Lord Himself can tell the good from the bad these days."

And then she defended the girl with paint on her face.

"It is every girl's privilege to paint her face if she likes. Those who do, attract attention, and those who don't, do not, I notice. But it should be done artistically.

"Silk stockings and low shoes are neither objectionable nor dangerous, and the modern corset is quite sensible, to my mind," she said.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 3.

Expressions of a Prima Donna

1906

America is delightful!
Yes, football is too rough.
New York is wonderful, magnificent!
American women are the most beautiful and charming on earth.
Nothing is better for the complexion than Smearine.
The tones of the Pianoleon are exquisite.
I always take Doperine for headaches.
Eau de Swash is the finest hair tonic.
The Gasmoblle is the best made.
Denticide is excellent for the teeth.
I can't breakfast without Boneless Oats.
N. G. corsets are the only proper ones.
Never travel without Sneezerine for coughs and colds.
I fervently recommend Scrubolio.
By all means try Nervosis.
Yes, this is positively my last season on the stage.
I expect to get the decree next week. — Smart Set.

Lamps For The Library

1902

The newest lamps for the drawing room and library are of metal and naturally form a fitting foundation for those beautiful bent glass domes in leaded effects or other metallic settings. A number are in art nouveau effects; one of these is of oxidized brass. In shapes they range from graceful forms (not the very squat shapes) to tall monumental affairs of the banquet variety.

A clever thing of Grecian form with low, graceful supports is in mandarin bronze, and is very attractive. One charming oxidized bronze lamp is in the old Dutch style, a simple, sturdy loving cup as to shape and the column resting on three savage looking griffins.

Choosing a lamp is easier than choosing a shade, for a shade must look well when lit up, and it must be becoming. — New York American.

Neatness More Desirable Than Beauty

1908

Writer Makes Good Argument In Favor of Neatness

We all long for beauty, but there is within the grasp of all women something even more desirable than beauty — namely, exquisite neatness.

The writer has descanted on the desirability of neatness more than once, but it is something that will bear to be talked about more than once, or twice, or even a dozen times. "Faith," says Pat, when reproved for lying, "Oi have such a respect for Truth, Oi wud not be dhragging her out on every occashun." The writer differs in this respect from Pat. She has such a respect for neatness that she would be dragging her out on every occasion.

A man who had traveled much and seen many women in many countries, said the other day, "I prefer neatness to beauty. Beauty does not last, while the woman of 80 can still be charmingly neat." By neatness he meant more than simple tidiness. It included style and care and taste and the indefinable art of putting on one's clothes properly.

It is a faculty, alas, that Canadian women do not possess to any extent, says a writer in the Montreal Herald. They doubtless inherit the lack of it from their English ancestors, who are noticeably untidy. The mass of Englishwoman do not seem to know the meaning of the word. Their skirts and belts always separate at the back. Their hair is never beautifully coiffed like the Frenchwoman's, their whole aspect is frowsy to an extreme. Of course, this does not apply to all Englishwomen. There are exceptions to every rule.

On the other hand, the Americans are neat, and hence smart, for it is impossible to be smart without perfect neatness. They have a trim, trig way of wearing their clothes that gives a style to the cheapest ready-made. If you cannot be beautiful you can at least be charmingly neat. And neatness has an attractiveness that mere beauty lacks.

Now Futurist Face Powder

1914

Mauve, Yellow and Green Tints Made by Fashion's Leaders From Pearl Dust

The post-impressionist artists, painting, as they do, mauve, yellow, green, and brown flesh tints, have given a new idea to manufacturers of cosmetics. The fashionable woman may now tint her complexion in any tone as easily as she may assume a toilette in that color. One manufacturer is showing face powders in shades called violet yellow, emerald, old rose and ashen rose.

These new tints are recommended only for evening wear, as it is generally admitted that they would be too grotesque for daylight. The amazing thing, however, is that they really look well on the skin, and when applied give only the faintest suggestion of shadowy color. Thus, when the mauve powder is used, the shadows have a sort of purple bloom, which is rather becoming and lends softness to the face, accentuating in small degree the expression of the eyebrows and eyelashes, and also intensifying the color of the eyes. The purple tint is usually recommended for brunettes with blue or gray eyes.

Yellow powder is flattering to blondes, who need to intensify the yellow in their skins to correspond with the shadows cast from golden hair. This intensifies the type and makes it much warmer looking, therefore much more harmonious than if the face were tinted with either white or so-called flesh-colored powder.

The most difficult of all the new shades to conceive as having a place among beauty applications is the green powder. But through demonstration it is proved that certain types of coloring look well with the green tint, notably ashen blondes who have the reflection of green lights from the hair. This is also recommended for types too florid, whether blonde or brunette. It is said to give a cool, clean look to such skins.

The rose color is not at all the old fashioned flesh pink, but a sort of salmon tinted old rose. This is a color which would be well suited to a neutral brunette, as it would warm the type, giving body and a look of strength to the skin and a consequent health-like flush.

It is an interesting fact that these new cosmetics are made from powder of real pearls, a discovery of somewhat recent date, though for some time in quite current use in Paris.

Full Beards and Red Petticoats

1886

People who can remember back of the civil war must know that shaving was almost universal in those days, and that when the contrary practice began it so agitated the country that the newspapers were filled with leading articles on "The Beard Movement" and "The Mustache Movement."

Probably most of our older readers can remember when they first saw a preacher in the pulpit wearing a mustache and the shock it gave them. It was, if possible worse than the other sacrilegious act of bringing fiddles into the choir.

The event which started the beard movement was the visit of the wonderful Hungarian orator, Louis Kossuth, who was extremely handsome and picturesque in the full beard and mustache and soft felt hat with curling feather. He introduced the soft hat as well as the mustache, and as he traveled all over the country in 1854 and 1855 and spoke every where to great crowds whom he powerfully impressed with the masterly English which he had learned from the Bible, Shakespeare, and Webster's dictionary while he lay in an Austrian prison he advertised both his hat and his hair very widely. It would seem rather trivial nowadays for the newspapers to gravely discuss the "beard movement," but that was not the most trivial matter with which the newspapers of thirty years ago busied themselves.

Prominent among their themes shortly before the war was "the Red Petticoat Movement." It became the sensible fashion for women to wear red flannel petticoats instead of the white cotton one which had been the universal wear before. This was an innovation that worried the newspapers seriously. Many of them held the red garment to be, if not actually immodest, at least bold and daunting, and a symbol of the degeneracy of the age. Charles Mackay, then visiting in the country, published an earnest poetical appeal for "the white, the modest petticoat," which went the round of the press. — Buffalo Express.


1858

The Red Petticoat and the White

Charles Mackay sends the following lines, on an absorbing subject, to the public press:

Oh, the red, the flaunting petticoat,
That courts the eye of day,
That loves to flare and be admired,
And blinks from far away;
It may delight the roving sight,
And charm the fancy free,
But if its bearer's half as bold,
I'll pass and let her be;—
With her red, her flaunting petticoat,
She's not the girl for me!

But the white, the modest petticoat,
As pure as drifted snow,
That shuns the gaze in crowded ways,
Where follies come and go.
It stirs the primrose on its path,
Or daisy on the lea;
And if the bearer's like the garb,
How beautiful is she!
With her white, her modest petticoat,
Oh, she's the girl for me!

The Bicycle a Benefactor

1895

A reliable correspondent writes to the New York World that in Chicago there flourishes a club of young women bound by a vow to ride horseback astride henceforth and forever. These young women have abandoned the spine-twisting side saddle; they have lived down the ridicule which accompanied the inauguration of their reform, and, most important of all, they attribute the success of their movement to the beneficent influence of the bicycle.

Each day it grows plainer that we must add the bicycle to the list of humanity's great benefactors. Already tens of thousands owe to it health, strength and their first intimate acquaintance with outdoor life. It has helped the farmer who foolishly despises it, by advancing the fight for good roads. It has filled the pockets of languishing owners of country inns. It has made the country boy and girl acquainted with their brothers and sisters from the city. It promises to do away with the stupid fashion of long trousers — to restore to mankind the graceful knickerbockers of old. It promotes equality. It discourages the separation of the people into hostile classes.

The bicycle is a democratic machine, a faithful servant, a luxury and a necessity, great and cheap. It is a good doctor, a destroyer of the blues. It deserves the monument which it is building to itself in the shape of a healthier, happier people.

Simplicity is Best Style for Fashions, Home Decor

1910

Smartness of Simplicity

Secret of the Woman Whose House, Appearance and Conversation Create Best Impression

Think of the woman whose house, whose appearance, whose conversation creates the best impression and you will realize that absolute simplicity is the secret. Remember this in selecting your summer clothes, or furnishing your summer home, also when you meet strangers on your summer vacation.

Unfortunately, simplicity is not cheap. You will pay more for the hat of simple lines, the frock that is of exquisitely dainty embroidery and sheerness of material, than you will for something more ornate and dashing.

If you wish to pass a woman who knows, you will no more overload your back than you will your digestion. Better a few things of irreproachable cut and quality than an elaborate wardrobe of flaunting finery. It will doubtless mean having your clothes made to order or weary rounds of the shops in search of the simple, but it pays.

It is not always possible to have the house simple. If you rent, your landlord's taste is sure to be fancy and the fixtures and decorations will wring your heart. The furniture is up to you. There are nowadays so many good copies of artistic old pieces that there is no excuse for the hideous display of houses furnished in the middle of the last century and later.

Adopt a simple scheme of decoration for your entire house and make everything bought conform to it. This does not need the training of a professional decorator; any woman who makes a study of simplicity and keeps her eyes open for bargains in that line can achieve it.

These three rules go far in the right direction: Stick to good lines of the period chosen; do not overcrowd and buy only the best, though it must be a piece at a time with long waits between.

Simplicity of manner is the crowning touch — the real you. The rest is but the outer shell, a matter of training or perhaps of a skilled decorator, or clever modiste. Do not post, do not be affected, above all, do not boast. You may not realize it, but in meeting strangers the simple, easy, sincere manner makes a much better impression with the right people, than airs, much manner, or great assumption of place and power.

Refinement Removed from Excess, Waste, Allied to Simplicity

1876

Refinement is not fastidiousness. It is not luxury. It is nothing of this kind. It is far removed from excess or waste. A person truly refined will not squander or needlessly consume anything. Refinement, on the contrary, is always allied to simplicity and a judicious and tasteful employment of the means of good and happiness which it has at command. It seeks to divest itself of superfluities and aspires continually to the utmost possible purity.

Refinement leads to personal cleanliness and elegant neatness, good taste and simplicity in dress. All "loudness" or "flashiness" is repugnant to its spirit. In its home and surroundings — whether palatial, affluent, or humble — the same chasteness and natural grace is maintained. The abode of genuine refinement and a mere pretender to it are very different. In the former you will find no excess, gaudiness, or false glittering; but the latter abounds in it.

In personal manner, refinement is most conspicuous. A man of refinement is always polite without flourish, gentle without effeminacy, and considerate without stiffness. Display and ceremony are not identical with refinement, and are poor substitutes for it. There is of course no refinement like that of the heart, which impels its possessor to show on all occasions a thoughtful and kindly regard for the feelings of others. No adherence to etiquette can compare with it for the spontaneous observation of true and gratifying politeness.



The Best Nourishment

Be as the little child who eats and sleeps and grows. God gives you the best nourishment, although not always the sweetest to the taste. — Madame Guyon.

Must Dress Spanish To Be in Style Now

1916

Last Season The Fashion Trend was To Chinese — Now It's Changed
By Margaret Mason.

NEW YORK. Feb. 11. — Sing ho! for the Spanish main, for anything Spanish is the main thing in the new trend of Fashion. Last season we were all to the Chinese and goodness knows where we will be season after next. At the pace they are going it looks as if the designers would soon be sitting around on their haunches and weeping a la Alexander the Great for more worlds to copy.

Personally it strikes me Borneo fashions might be smart for the summer season, but the designers are probably holding them in reserve for the winter months. But to return to Spain; even as a Spanish omelet the fashion designers are undoubtedly being egged on to the Spanish mode by the recent production of that much-heralded Spanish opera, "Goyesca," at the Metropolitan opera house. Incidents in the life of Goya and his paintings inspired the opera, the opera inspired our present fashions and so Mr. Goya is really the responsible party.

Goya was the father of twenty children, one of the most favored lovers of the duchess of Alba and a great artist. Not for these achievements, however, is he now known to fame, but as the designer of these feminine frocks and frills for 1916.

Quantities of Spanish lace, both white and black, are used in flounces on the new old Spanish gowns which are copied outright from old portraits by Goya and Vesasquez. One of the French houses offers a gown which is a replica of that worn by the infants in Velasquez's most famous portrait. The gown is dubbed Velasquez, and it is wired out over the hips in the same exaggerated manner as the portrait. In fact, almost all of the frocks with Hispanic tendencies show this wiring over the hips, and the bodices are tight-boned and pointed.

Crude, strong tones of yellow, red, green and orange are used to get the true Spanish effects and mantillas, scarves and sashes of gay hues, high back combs and gaudy fans are accessories after the fact. Stunning evening wraps and negligees are fashioned out of the gorgeously embroidered Spanish shawls, and in some instants they are even made into evening gowns verily reeking of Carmen and bull fights.

Indeed all the Spanish fashions are bully.

Considering the shortage of dyes and the fact that all the real blue-blooded senoritas are raven-tressed, this is bound to be a closed season for blondes, and peroxide peaches will all stop trying to conceal their dark pasts.

With our characteristic whole-souled manner of entering entirely into the spirit and atmosphere of a new mode I have no doubt that even our diet will now smack of the Spanish tendency toward onions, omelettes, mackerel and sweet peppers. Our fox-trots and one-steps will give way to the fandango, our national sport become throwing the bull and our Irene Castle go around looking like a castle in Spain.

—Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, IN, Feb. 11, 1916, p. 4.