FASHION. 11 



riage, harness and livery, if of simple and appropriate design, 

 will always be in good taste, though they may not satisfy the 

 demands of a passing fashion. 



Evidences of bad taste are manifested by many persons 

 who exhibit, in the extravagance of the separate parts of 

 their equipage, a desire to have "the proper thing," but who 

 fail, owing to the inappropriateness or lack of harmony in 

 the component parts. The most common example of bad 

 taste is thrust before our notice in the vulgar effort of some 

 ambitious owners to possess elaborately appointed equipages ; 

 and who mar the whole effect by having the new livery of 

 the new groom a few shades darker than that of the coach- 

 man, or in the vain attempt to make the worn-out family 

 steeds, by the aid of fine feathers, partake of the animation 

 and glitter of a phase of life unknown to them. 



An owner of large means, if inclined to conduct his 

 stable luxuriously, may do so and keep within the bounds of 

 good taste by improving the quality or increasing the num- 

 ber of his horses and carriages ; either course will ease the 

 pressure on the purse-strings and add more to the comfort 

 and pleasure of the master than the bedecking of the harness 

 with metal mountings or the conspicuous blazoning of coats 

 of arms on the carriage panels. 



FASHION. 



Fashion is a name given to the constantly changing pro- 

 vision which is made to satisfy the natural desire for variety. 

 The dictates of this mistress are based, in many instances, 

 on a sound foundation, and a beginner, though started by a 

 competent adviser, soon goes astray if he does not possess 

 sufficient judgment to discriminate between the good and 

 the bad. 



