The Follies Of Fashion

From the Revolutíon. ít is impossiljle to traverse Broadway orthe thoroughfares of any largo ..iv without meeting the devoteeaof insana lashiong, wc fashiona made so by their cxaggeration. This is said to be an Amerioan peculiarity, and one to be deplored, pwing to tho wild umi uncouth aspect it imparta to young girls, whö aio gonorally the (hst to run to extremes in al] matters of dress. In the dayg when Paris was tho realm of the modistu tho tylcs aduptcd by French ladies of fasliion wero altcred for the American market so asto meet the demanda ofatnore proiiouncei taste. The trains wero elongatod, tho paniers prtlai'gcd; and trimming of a more flash? and elabcjráto lfird substitutod for tho (juieter stylea worn by Europeans. Some of the fashions that come to us from over the water are absurd, but many of them have berm rendeicd so' by the axfiremea to which American women insist on carrying thoin. Tho worst vete bad in Europe ; the bost are too often iipoilod in Am erica. Aftor the caiirioes and whims of Pariaan modistes have been Tulgarized by the crudo tastos of this country, they becomo wiiat iflaj v. 11 be Btyled crazy fashions. Take, for iastance, the Chat olaino braid, which, when neatly arranged, is an extromely pretty style of hair dresBing, ag it shows the uatiUal shape of the houd, and givus thoso who havo even a moderato amount of hair a ohance to Üiscard falso swilches, rats, cte. Instcad-of raaking tho best of this fasliion, the worst is constantly displuyod upon our Btreets, and to the excuso it offers is pinned an untidy mass of bralde, frizzes and ettrla, A lady, we are informed, who would possoss a truly fashionablo hoad must spend from $90 to f120 in braids, and it' Lady O Luny's epitaph were tobe Wxittnn, probably tu the announoement that ahe was " ll;md, passionate and doeply roligious," she paiutod boautifullv in water colors. ivould bo addod the faot that she was tlie tappy posaossor of a switch forty-four inihus in lcngth. Tho frenzied hcads of ;onic of our young womcn, erowned with tmttertd looking gypsies and atraggling xlds and ends ol flowers, strongly reinind lis of the orazy Janes 'of the asylum, and tho thought might BUggest itself as to vvhetker it is safo to allow thuin to run at largo, especially as the present mode of wearing littlo irtlcss frizzles over the I hcad givea a somewhat wild look to 'the eyes. A necklaee, when small a'nd tastet'ul in design, ís oertainly a very pretty feminine ontaxBent - but. a few years ago' wo saw these toyseulargod to huge chai as, and hung about the persons ofyoung vouien, who, wifh the profusión of glass beads and bugles thon in vogue, lookod as if they were personatinglndiun squaws. Again, the gipsy h:it now worn is a bcwituhing littlo, piece of hoad gcar, when properly adorncd, but it is so ovorloaded with trimming, and pileá ivitli lace, feathers, floireiS, ribbon and velvet tliat shape is quite lost in a jumbledand tasteless muss of ornamente. The dress for the parlor witü a skirt touohing tne ground, or trailing a few inonea oan l)i.i tolereted (though we sineei'ely wisll that wonn n everywhere would learn tolook upon this appendage as a badge of servitude, and disoard it forever) but our belles, ftotcontent with the moro modest and only grs eful fashion of trailing garments, pensüt in dragging behind them five orsix yarda of exjiensive niiitcrial, roatly to their own discomfort and the inconvenionco of othors. ïlit' fishion i senselosS and d':grading, but it bolds its own with rein.irkable pertinaeity. Not one woman ina hundred oan wear this swi telling pi ice of elotli behind hor with any peculiar grace. It gets into a heap, ties itsolt' in tho boots of men, and. is, generally speaking, an uuadultorated aui&anoe. Now and then some woman, moving like a goddoss, can wear a train and not seem to belong to it, ulthough we have ncvor seen more than two on the stage or off who oarried the appendage in a truly noble stylo. - The diffieulty, not to say anguisb, which womon expérience in managing this artiole of dress should alone insure its condemnation. The short uit bas so nrinv srenuine mtrits itoannotbe easily spoiled. Eyerything possible has been dono to make it praotically worthless as a comfortable and convenient garment, but it has triumpbed over enormitiea of trimniiiifr and gvotesque shapes, and isstill the greatest blussing in the way of apparel ever granted to the sex.