416 



COST i MI;. 



would l>r as different from thai i>t a luiman in the ! 

 days of Cicero, as a Gothic church is t'uuii a . 

 temple; and each costume, in point of taste, might ; 

 be marked with the same spirit that inspired the 

 architecture of the different periods. 



Nothing can be more ungraceful than the costume 

 of the Egyptians, as it is represented in their 

 sculpture. In the Capitol at Rome, there is a 

 collection of very ancient Egyptian statues. The 

 dress consists of a cloth or mantle, wrapped closely 

 round the body, so as to show the whole outline 

 of the form, and descending in some to the knees, 

 in others to the feet ; and bound so tight as to fet- 

 ter the limbs. The arms are left bare ; on the 

 head is a small cap, shaped in some like a coronet, 

 from each side of which descends a sort of wing 

 or pendant, making the neck appear of the same 

 breadth as the shoulders ; the whole costume, giving 

 the living man, as near as possible, the look of a 

 mummy. A representation of a priest, in Denon's 

 work on Egypt, also shows very nearly the same 

 costume. The cap and its grotesque wings are 

 precisely like those in the statues ; arid the dress 

 consists of a tunic descending not quite to the 

 knees, and fitting close to the body. Now there 

 certainly is some resemblance in the stiff, graceless, 

 and square form of this costume, to the equally 

 stiff, graceless, and square architecture of Egypt. 

 That people were certainly distinguished by bad 

 taste, but there was a harmony in its badness ; 

 their colossal structures and their gigantic statues, 

 their sphinxes and their other monsters, all are 

 marked with the same monstrous taste. There is 

 a resemblance to these in the costume. We do 

 not mean that there is an imitation. The caps are 

 not made in the shape of a pyramid or a sphinx, nor 

 the vest in the form of any other structure. But 

 there is in the costume a certain taste, which is ob- 

 viously the same that gave birth to the architec- 

 ture. It is essentially Egyptian, as strongly marked 

 as the pyramid or obelisk, and could not be mis- 

 taken. 



The Asiatic dress is entirely different. The 

 costume of the Parthians was a long flowing tunic 

 or gown, reaching nearly to the ancles, and gathered 

 round the waist with a girdle. The sleeves, which 

 reach to the wrists, were made tight, so as to show 

 the form of the arm ; the trowsers were loose and 

 gathered at the ancle ; and the cap was low, and 

 shaped somewhat like a coronet. This dress, as re- 

 presented in ancient paintings, resembles almost ex- 

 actly the costume of the Persians at the present day. 

 The dress of the Persian ambassador, whom we 

 met in Paris a few years since, might have been 

 thought a copy from the antique, so closely did it 

 correspond to the representation of the ancient 

 Parthian. The Parthian sovereigns are represented 

 on the coins, sometimes bareheaded, with long 

 bushy hair and profuse beards very elaborately 

 curled, sometimes wearing a cap in the form of a 

 truncated cone, inverted. The Medes and Persians 

 generally wore a conical cap, sometimes truncated 

 and much ornamented. The inhabitants of the 

 countries bordering on the Black Sea and of the 

 Archipelago, used the Phrygian cap, with the 

 top bent forward, and long flaps descending to the 

 shoulders. 



We have particularly mentioned these various 

 head-dresses, to show that all antiquity boasted 

 nothing" in the way of head-gear so absurd as the 

 hats of the present day. Of all the articles of 

 dress which the present age abounds in, there is 



none which we contemplate or wear with so little 

 complacency or patience as a hat. For the fashion 

 of other parts of dress, we can see some reason ; 

 but we are at a loss to discover the philosophy of 

 this. It can hardly be called a covering for the 

 head, as it only rests on the top, never covering 

 the ears. The tall cylinder of the crown rises up 

 several inches above the head, leaving a large spare, 

 which, for all we caji discover, is perfectly useh^s. 

 Then the hat must bind the forehead closely ; 

 otherwise u breath of wind will take it off. The 

 most sensible head-gear which is worn in tliesj 

 days, is the cap which sailors call a stmthwester ; 

 fitting close to the head, and having a sort of rape 

 which descends over the shoulders. But any kind 

 of cap is better than a hat, which, we doubt not, 

 is the invention of some unhappy wretch whose fair 

 proportions nature had curtailed ; and who endea- 

 voured to make up for his deficiencies by a lofty 

 head-dress. Fashion, however, dictates, that hats 

 shall be genteel, and caps otherwise ; and who shall 

 dare to dispute her decree? 



The warlike dress of the Amazons, if we may 

 believe the paintings upon antique vases, was very 

 tasteful. It consisted of a tunic reaching not quite 

 to the knee, and confined at the waste with a 

 girdle. It came up round the throat and fitted 

 close to the form above the waist. The sleeves 

 were made tight and reached to the wrists. Over 

 this tunic was worn a short cloak or mantle not 

 longer than the tunic, fastened round the neck and 

 flowing from thence. This garment resembles very 

 much the short Spanish cloak worn by cavaliers in 

 the sixteenth century. Finally, these ladies, with 

 extreme propriety, and in keeping with their char- 

 acter, wore pantaloons. They were made to fit 

 close, showing the form of the leg completely ; and, 

 in addition to their elegance, must have been ex- 

 tremely convenient. With the war dress, the 

 Amazons wore a helmet, sometimes terminating in 

 the beak of a griffin, the jagged crest of the animal 

 forming the summit or back of the helmet. In peace 

 these ladies condescended to put on the ordinary 

 female costume. 



In general, the Asiatic costume forms a remark- 

 able contrast to that of Egypt ; the one, loose, 

 flowing, and graceful; the other, so contrived as to 

 fit close to the form, and yet to make it appear 

 more awkward, without a single fold, square, 

 dead-like. There is something very grand and im- 

 posing in loose and ample robes. We attach the 

 idea of princely magnificence to them, and man 

 seems to acquire double grandeur when thus 

 arrayed. The fact is, that this mortal must put 

 on a dress in order to look respectably. One 

 tailor is not enough to make a man. He is not 

 completely made till he has had nine of them at 

 work upon him. 



We come now to the classic costume, which we 

 shall find to be completely in keeping with the taste 

 displayed by the Greeks and Romans in other 

 things. The first thing we notice with regard to 

 the Greeks, is, the great care bestowed upon the 

 arrangement of the hair. Writers on costumes 

 distinguish the different ages, by the changes in the 

 manner of arranging the hair. The earliest style 

 was remarkable for primness, the hair being divided 

 into symmetrical curls much in the corkscrew form ; 

 and the dress was made to correspond with this by 

 plaiting it into straight and stiff folds. The hair 

 was dressed in the same way for men as for women. 

 Aftjr a little time, it became the fashion to gather 



