Category: History - Other

The Evolution of Fashion

A hard fate has condemned human beings to enter this mortal sphere without any natural covering, like that possessed by the lower animals to protect them from the extremes of heat and cold. Had this been otherwise, countless myriads, for untold ages, would have escaped the tyr...

Chapters

1. CHAPTER I.

A hard fate has condemned human beings to enter this mortal sphere without any natural covering, like that possessed by the lower animals to protect them from the extremes of he...

2. CHAPTER II.

Holy Writ simply teems with allusions to the luxurious tresses of the fair daughters of the East, and there is little doubt that at an early period in the world's history women...

3. CHAPTER III.

The glove as an article of dress is of great antiquity, and among the fossils of the cave-dwellers of pre-historic times, which have been recently discovered in France, Belgium,...

4. CHAPTER IV.

A well-shaped foot has been considered from the earliest times one of Nature's kindest gifts, and sober history and fairy lore have combined to give us many interesting particul...

5. CHAPTER V.

Certain curious customs have been associated with the Ordinance of Marriage from a very early period, and among others may be mentioned the union of near relations in barbaric o...

6. CHAPTER VI.

The signs of mourning in ancient times were by no means confined to the apparel. Fasting, laceration of the flesh, throwing dust on the head, and shaving the hair, were outward...

7. CHAPTER VII.

"Vanity, thy name is woman," "As vain as a woman," and similar epithets, are hurled at our defenceless heads by our teachers and masters; yet how few of them pause for a moment...

8. CHAPTER VIII.

Of children's dress in olden times we have singularly few details, and, as a rule, it may be concluded that their raiment was fashioned on similar lines to that worn by the men...

9. CHAPTER IX.

During the Roman occupation of Britain, many sports and pastimes, with their appropriate costumes, were introduced into this country from Southern Europe and the East, and at a...

10. CHAPTER X

Garrick was one of the first of our English actors to realize how much the success of a piece depended upon appropriate costume, and, on his taking the management of Drury Lane...