History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 16

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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" Thus all our modern belles and beaux Are swaddled in such loads of clothes As proves them ornamental gluttons. Lord ! what a dash does Mr. Demme cut,

In his superlative, unrivaled strut,

Besplattered with a peck of buttons!

His frizzled friends, this charming weather, Have ventured out to air their leather- Some staggering beneath as huge s sack As Bunyan's Pilgrim carried on his back ! Sure they should strut with shanks of tonghest steel

To prop the massy bundles which they wear; For 'tis a sorry sight, my friend,

To see their charming little spindles bend Beneath such monstrous packages of hair,

Crammed iu with tallow and with Indian meal- Some bungling barber's expeditions work, Who took no pains to decorate their pork !

" Who pace with strange, exotic bags,

Put on unseemly o'er their rags;

And breeches buttons round their necks- Gaping with huge and ghastly suout, And whitewashed eyes turned inside outl

" THE MEN.

"' Most ladies lose their hearts,

Enchanted by the power of clothes-

By silks and satins, wigs and erspes, Superbly hung on muffled apes,

And bolsters tied below their nose!'

" THE LADIES.

"' But it excites my wonder more To see them wesr their watch before, Like warming-paos, of monstrous size !' "

These follies, however, were limited to a certain class of young men. Sober-minded gentlemen clung to the becoming old style.

A writer in Oswald's Gazetteer of January, 1795, describes fashions in polite assemblies. He speaks of the turban, the "shot dress," and the ruffled sleeves. Proceeding further, he speaks of-

" the satin waist, with trails of mull loose, and jaconette, gsuze, crape, and light stopper. Then there's the hsir up, the hair down, the frieze and the frizzles, the straight, and the curled. There's the Spanish leather, the Danish kid, the tamboured and plain slipper, and Roman sandals with English flat heels, and perch sky-scraper heels."

Wanzey, in 1796, said,-

" At the theatre ladies wear small bonnets of the English fashion, some of chequered straw, some full-dressed, with caps, and a very few

in the French style,-the younger ladies with their hair flowing in ring- lets on their shoulders.

"The gentlemen had round hats, coats with high colors (cut quite in the English fashion), and many costs of striped silk."

Washington never changed his style of dress, the plain black velvet suit already mentioned. At his inauguration, John Adams wore a full suit of light drab, with loose cuffs. He also wore wrist-ruffles. His hair was powdered and tied up in a bag.

William McKoy, speaking of the inauguration of John Adams, in 1797, gives a very full description of the Marquis D'Yrujo, the Spanish minister, who mar- ried the amiable Sally McKean. He says, " He was of middle size, of round person, florid complexion, and hair powdered like a snow-ball ; dark-striped silk coat, lined with satin; white waistcoat, black silk breeches, white silk stockings, shoes and buckles. He had by his side an elegant-hilted small-sword, and his chapeau, tipped with white feathers, under his arm."

Jefferson, Mr. McKoy says, was dressed in a long blue frock coat, single-breasted, and buttoned down to the waist; light sandy hair, very slightly powdered, and queued with black ribbon a long way down his back.

One more poetical squib. They give us not only the caricature of the fashions, but specimens of the satiric wit of the time.

In Carey's Recorder, in 1798, was published the following :

"THE ADDRESS OF A VERY UOLY LADY TO HER ' UGLY,'-A HIDEOUS INSTRUMENT WHICH THE WOMEN OF FASHION WEAR ROUND THEIR HEADS

"Come, blest iovention, come ! Io kindness screen This old, yet fruitful, source of all my woes ! Draw round my amber eyes thy case of green, And wrap in night this never-ending nose ! In numerons blessings crowo her useful head, Who found a remedy for ills so great-

Ills that not Spanish wool, not s'en white lead, Could cure, remove, diminish, or abate ;

A month whose wide embrace both ears inclose ; A nose of ruddiest hue, sublime and high ;

A chin on which a tankard might repose ; And the dull leerings of a blinking eye-

All seek for safety in the dark'oing veil- All fly for rescue from the critic's stare- The red, the dark, the purple, and the pale, And the long, meagre, furrowed face of Care !"

Much has been said of the freaks of fashion and the submission to its behests shown by both sexes. Yet there has ever been a marked difference in the results of this submission. The ladies, prompt to ac- cept any new style that might enhance their personal charms, have sometimes been deluded into adopting some ridiculous mode, but it was short-lived, and disap- peared so soon as the experiment was made and proved it to be a failure. The forms of their head-dress were often changed, yet powder remained long in use; it was abandoned and taken up again. Why? Because powdered hair was becoming, though not natural and causing much trouble and loss of time in the dressing. So with their wearing apparel ; it was more or less ornamented, beflounced, and cut in fanciful shapes ;

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its return to simplicity, attempted at different periods, was never lasting. The taste for ornament is inborn with women ; even the uncivilized savage maiden will deck her person and decorate her scant dress with feathers, beads, or bright-colored seeds and shells. It is with all the sex an unsatiable thirst for the beauti- ful.

Not so with the men ; they have no sooner attained a style of dress that makes them presentable than they cast it off for something hideous or ridiculous. The dress worn by our Revolutionary fathers, especi- ally at and after the end of the war, had a manly ele- gance unequaled at any other period. It was as far removed from the stiffened skirts, laces, and feathers, in which the fops of an earlier period delighted, as it is from the uniform ugliness of the garments of the present generation, whose only merit is in being com- fortable, the love of ease having become the charac- teristic of modern society. The ladies, kind souls ! have made so many concessions that they are not shocked at the sight of a beau in a short sack coat, tight pantaloons, and diminutive round hat, puffing away at the inevitable cigar.

Can any one, gifted with the faintest artistic taste, after looking at the pictures of the Washingtons, the Adamses, the Jeffersons, and their contemporaries, re- alize the fact that to their imposing costume suc- ceeded the dress we now describe? The coats were of the fashion called in modern times "swallow-tail," but much more broadly cut in the skirts, which com- menced about the region of the hips in front, extended in a sloping line backward, and were cut off square in the back, so as to reach about to the bend of the leg. The lappels in front were prodigiously broad. The collar rose up on the sides as high as the bottom of the ears, and was continued in the back of the same width, and then it was doubled and turned over all round with a fold quite as broad. The cravat was wide and high, an oval fence around the neck, suffi- ciently wide and deep to allow the man to sink his chin into it. The ends were brought down in front, kerchief fashion, and knotted. The cravat was in- variably made of light silk or linen, muslin, except occasionally in India importations, not having come into use. There was no shirt collar. Vests were shortened, and reached no lower than the well-defined region of the waist. Sometimes they were single- breasted, cut low, with small, straight collars, and allowed the display of the frills, or they were double- breasted, and finished with broad lappels. Another style was tight about the neck, covering the whole shirt except the collar, and extending from the neck no more than half a foot to the waistbands of the high pantaloons.

Breeches were not entirely banished, especially in the most polite society. They were in use for parties and balls, but they were superseded for ordinary business, and for men's wear generally except for party purposes, by trowsers and pantaloons. The

latter went through strange mutations of cut and shape,-wcre sometimes closely fitted to the limbs, and called "tights ;" at other times they were baggy and bulging. Sometimes they were tight at the waist and very broad at the bottoms; sometimes they were tight at the knee, and spread out like funnels toward the ankles. Again they were tight at the ankles, and loose and broad at the knee. They went through other changes, among which might be mentioned plaits at the sides and waist, tucks at the bottom, and other fantasies.

Fops clung for some time to perukes, powdered heads, and three-cornered hats. Elderly gentlemen of the old school were also loath to give them up, and as late as 1800 even wore the large wigs made of gray or white horsehair. When they gave up these, they consoled themselves in the use of the queue or pigtail, formed by twisting and tying the natural hair behind, below the back of the neck. But the middle class followed the French republican fashion, and cut their hair à la Titus,-a shock head from the forehead to the back of the neck. At a later period another French style was introduced ; the hair combed down the forehead to within a short distance from the eye- brows, and cut straight across, was allowed to grow long on the sides and back of the head, covering the ears, en oreilles de chien, as may be seen in the por- traits of Gen. Bonaparte at the time of the campaign in Italy.

The beard during all this time was banished from good society. The cheeks, upper and lower lip, and throat, were carefully and laboriously deprived of their natural growth of beard once, twice, or thrice a week, and, among the highly fashionable, every day. No gentleman could present himself with decency at church or at the theatre, or visit bis friends and ac- quaintances, unless he was most scrupulously shaved, and was able to present a clean and respectable ap- pearance.

The hats had narrow brims, and the crown tapered off toward the top, not unlike the Tyrolese hat, but less elegant. They were made of beaver, or of the skins of the muskrat, the otter, and the raccoon, these furs being used for body and all in the finer hats, or the fur was felted upon wool; coarser hats were made entirely of wool. The various furs were also used in the making of caps, or these were made of cloth ; there were various shapes of caps.

As long as stockings continued to be an outside portion of the dress of gentlemen they were objects of care and sometimes of pride. Upon occasions of ceremony, where elegance of costume was looked for, the stocking was of silk,-white among young men who coveted distinction on account of the observance of the proprieties, and black among elderly gentle- men who commanded respect on account of age or social position. For persons iu moderate circum- stances, and those who could make no claim beyond that of being useful members of the community, the

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stockings were of yarn,-gray, blue, or brown, accord- ing to the fancy of the good wife who knitted them. Striped yarn stockings, à la mode de Paris, were also worn with the short pantaloons not reaching to the ankles. Low shoes with metal buckles remained in the fashion until 1800, when they were succeeded by high boots, which were worn with the short breeches. A curious fact is that, until that time, there was no distinction made by shoemakers between the right and left feet. About 1800 William Young, who lived at No. 128 Chestnut Street, claimed to have intro- duced this valuable improvement. His advertise- ment gives the following summary of fashions :

"Plover and anipe toea, cock and hen toes, goose and gander toes, duck and drake toes, gosling toee, hog and bear snouts, ox and cow months, shevel and stick nose, and others too tedious to mention.

"THE PRESENT EUROPEAN FASHIONS :

"Suwarrows, cossacks, hussars, carrios, double-tongues, fire-buckets, Bonapartes, greaves, Swiss, hunting, walking, full-dress, York."

Some time after this announcement, Mrs. Young promised that she would-

" by the direction of her husband, cause her sex to have right and left feet,-to ataod and walk with facility and pleasure. Why should they not be at ease as well as the gentlemen ? It is a wonder that aome one or more cordwainers in their line have not come forward in the ex- ecution of ao object so extraordinary, expedient, and exquisite in its nature. All colored silks and satine, as well as fancy patterns, kid do., and morocco do., will be procured."

John Bedford, of No. 73 South Second Street, in 1800, took out a patent for "iron-bound boots and shoes." He said that they were made-

" on a plan entirely new, equally fit for men, women, and children. He hae the pleasure of saying that thia invention is considered by some of the best jndgee in this city to be one of the most economical ever offered to the consideration of the public, for it not only saves immense labor, but material also, both of which are well known to be of serious conse- quence in this country."

Bedford said that in the old way of making shoes, one pair a day was as much as could be made by one man, and that few men could make more than four or five pair a week. But by his new plan a man and a boy could make from six to ten pairs a day, so that the improvement would be a vast saving in time and leather, and would be an immense economy to the people of the United States.

While on the subject of shoes, it may be well to note that such a thing as our modern blacking or "shoe-polish" was unknown. Day & Martin's liquid blacking was first manufactured in England in 1801, and Lee & Thompson began its manufacture in New York in 1803. The first blacking which was manu- factured in Philadelphia was made, some time later, by William Stubbs, Stubbs & Allen, and Robert Cochran. Before this "Blackball," so called, was the article used upon boots. It was composed of lampblack, mutton suet, or bayberry tallow, and not unfrequently of the greasy mixture which the tanners call "dubbing." Whatever might be the labor used with this mixture, there was still danger of its rub- bing off upon the clothing of the person coming near

the boots or shoes upon which it had been used. La- dies walking with gentlemen arm-in-arm, or dancing with them at parties, were particularly exposed to this nuisance; and when the modern shoe-blacking came into use, the benefit of it was universally recog- nized.

Jewelry, of which the ladies made a brilliant dis- play, was but little worn by men. Watches were generally of silver and of very large size; they were worn outside. A French fashion, which prevailed only among a few, was the wearing of two watches, one on each side, with a steel or silver chain, from which dangled a bunch of watch-keys, seals, and bright-colored tropical seeds set like precious stones.

What a comical picture there is in the following reminiscences of a writer quoted by Mr. Watson :

"The coat I wore waa such as fashion enjoined. The skirts were long and narrow, like a swallow'e tail,-two-thirda, at least, of the whole length; the portion above the waist composed the other third. The waist was directly beneath the shoulders. The collar was a huge roll reaching above the ears, and there were two lines of brilliant buttons in front. There were nineteen buttona in a row. The pantaloona (over which I wore the boots) were of non-elastic corduroy. It would be un- just to the tailor to say that they were fitted like my skin, for they sat a great deal closer. When I took them off, my legs were like fluted pillara grooved with the cords of the pantaloons. The hat that anr- monoted thie dress had a three-quarter-inch rim and a low, tapering crown. It waa circled by a ribbon two inches wide."

Another writer, who, about 1850, gave his reminis- cences of forty or fifty years before, said,-

" When I was a child the ladies wore shoulder-strapa to their petti- coats, but the men none to their breeches. The consequence waa that gentlemen had frequently to adjust their waistbands. Learned judgee standing up to charge a jury, and venerable clergymen preaching in the pulpit, I was accustomed to see hitching up their small-clothes with one hand, while with the other they tucked the lower portion of a fine ruffled shirt between the waistband and flaps of an ancient vest. This was necessary to prevent the exposure of a double lineo ruffle below the waistcoat, extending horizontally from hip to hip. This horizontal fold of white linen,-not always exactly white, however,-in connection with the long, perpendicular ruffle of the bosom, formed a sort of in- verted cross, of greater dimensione than the one paraded on a Roman bishop's back. The fashionable breechea of my early daya were but a few inches longer than the thigh-bone of the wearer, and were buckled tight below the knee-pan, often to au obstruction of a free circulation of the blood, and productive of such itching as made a gentleman glad to unbuckle his knees when in his own dwelling in the company of bia family alone.

" Was such a dress in itself desirable? Yat I remember when the male sex began to nse snspenders, and they were ridiculed who firat tore shoulder-straps. They were said foolishly to affect a female mode of dress. But why was it not well to keep broechea in their place by anspenders, instead of hitching them up perpetually by the handa?"

As we stop on the threshold of the nineteenth century, we will, for the benefit of the ladies, peep into the mysteries of fashion in the next half-dozen years.

In 1800 the walking-dresses for ladies were in the style called à la grecque,-a closely-fitting garment of very plain make, with the waist as high up as it could be made; the bosoms, cut square, were gathered in surplice style, and the neck and shoulders were pro- tected by a muslin or gauze handkerchief, crossed in front, and forming a point behind. The bonnet fitted as close to the head as a cap, and the hair was twisted

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or turned up high on the back of the head, while, in front, it was eombed straight over the forehead, almost to the eyebrows. The evening dress, while preserving the style, was more elaborate; instead of the hand- kerchief, a ruffle was worn round the neck of the gar- ment, descending in front, and leaving the neck and shoulders bare. The hair was frizzled in front, and an ostrich plume fell with a graceful curve over the top-knot. Whether for walking or evening, the sleeves were short, and gathered up with a band, above the elbow, leaving the arms bare.

A very popular head-dress for street wear in the summer time was made of muslin or some other light material. It surmounted the head like a cap, and was kept in place by a ribbon of some gay color all round the crown. The light muslin, often bor- dered with lace, deseended in graceful folds on either side of the face and on the back, protecting the neck from exposure to the sun. It was a becoming coiffure, and was further improved, after a short time, by being divided in the back, and made to hang down both shoulders to the waist, the ends being finished off with a knot or tassel.

The sleeves kept getting shorter, and the exposure of bare arms in the streets were disapproved by staid people and ridiculed by the wits. The Portfolio in 1803 got off the following cruel hit :

"The display of a beautiful elbow is now becoming an old fashion, and some dashing belles intend to introduce the display of a finely- shaped knee. This will be no difficulty, considering that petticoata are laid aside."

It was during this period of bare arms that Moses Guest wrote the following piece, which appeared in the volume entitled "Poems on Several Occasions," published in Cincinnati some years later :

"Their heads and heels are often changing, And still for novelty they're ranging, Sometimes a hoop must swell their size, And sometimes they a cushion prize ; Sometimes we find their waists are amall, But now we are they have none at all. A princess fair first found this ont- Designed to hide her ahape, no doubt. Her light, loose dress, 'twas sald, lookod neat ; 'Twas elegant, 'twas thought completo. Then soon from Charlotte, England's queen, Down to the lowest maid 'twas seen. With something new they're always mtuing, And any variety is charming ! Their elbows naked now we view - I'd almost sald their bu dies top- For many, ti led, tis said, with pride, Have lali their underclothes aside. Such antique dress they do despi-e. And nought but gauze and mu-lin prize "

The author adds, in a note, " When this piece was written it was the fashion for young ladies to dress as thinly as possible, with gauze and muslin ; to have their arms bare nearly up to the shoulders, and also to have the upper part of their breasts bare, which fashion they adhered to even in the most severe winter weather."

A novelty introduced in 1803, was a basque of dif-

ferent material and color from that of the dress. It was received with much favor and retained for several years with such improvements from time to time as lengthening the basque, edging it with embroidery, and adding variety by the use of a scarf fastened at the right shoulder and on the opposite side below the middle of the dress with a flower.

The French fashions were not the only ones con- sulted, however; many, and of the less frivolous, clung to the old England styles.

The Philadelphia Repository, in 1802, reported the London fashions in this manner :

" The Bonapartian hat is coming into vogue. It consists of white or salmon-colored satın, In the form of a helmet, surrounded with a wreath of laurel, and worn much on oue side.

" Plain white chip hats, in the gipsy atyle, without any ornament whatever, tied carelessly under the chin with pea-green or pink ribbon. "The archer-dress, a petticoat without any train, with a border of green or blue; a blue or green sarcenet boddice, vandyked at bottom; loose chemise sleeves, and no handkerchief. The head-dres", A small white ur blue satin hat, turned up in front. Brown, gray, or olive silk stockings with yellow ur orange cloaks, are worn by the ladies to walk in. " Feathers aud flowers continue to be much worn, and wreaths of roses on the hair for full-dresa, in preference to more combrous ornaments.

"Small watches are worn by a few dashing belles, on their bosoms, not bigger than the round of a half-guinea."

Tbe pelisse, of different color from the underdress, came into fashion in 1805. The muffs used in winter, which had been hitherto quite small, attained a large size; boas of white or colored fur became also very popular. The shape of the bonnet underwent a con- siderable change about that time ; the front was turned up high above the forehead, and a large ostrich feather rose conspicuously over the crown. The style of the dress remained pretty much the same.

A writer in the Portfolio, in 1804, attacked a new style of bonnets in this wise : "The ladies have just now adopted a repulsive kind of hat, which may be called the ' poking hat.' It has a long projection, like the beak of a snipe, and is a good guard against all familiar approach of those who have any regard for their eyes. It is an invention inspired by the Goddess of Ugliness, and is quite worthy of its origin." This head-gear, called the " poke bonnet" and in later years the "coal-scuttle bonnet," could not withstand the ridicule constantly " poked" at it by the wits ; besides, the ladies became convinced that it spoiled their gond looks ; it was given up. But, by a strange contradic- tion, the very homeliness which caused it to be dis- carded by the worldly, gave it favor in the eyes of the Quakers. This was the very thing to keep variety ont of the heads of the young Quakeresses. Some slight alterations were made to it, and it was pre- seribed as the proper and permanent head-dress for the female members of the sect. Many a pretty face beams now from under the modest "scoop bonnet," the gentle possessor of which has never heard of its original model, the " poke bonnet," onee worn by the worldly belles of 1804.

In 1806 the skirts of the dress were made longer, and a very decided tendeney toward a train was per- ceptible. But, alas! as the skirt lengthened the waist

[From prints in Pena vivants Historical Society.

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

PHILADELPHIA COSTUMES ANDWEAD - DREDE [From prints in Pennsylvania Historical Society.

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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, 1700-1800.

shortened, and a writer in that year expressed his dissatisfaction by the remark, "The part called the waist, which used to be admired, has disappeared, and we are left to conjecture where it may be found."

A fur hat, with rim and bell-crown, similar to the men's pattern of round hats, was worn that year by many ladies as a comfortable, if not pretty, head- dress for walking out in winter. The straw bonnets for summer wear were tastefully decorated with rib- bons and flowers. A pretty fashion, introduced from France about this time, was that of carrying a rich lace handkerchief in the hand. It came from the Empress Josephine; that amiable woman had very bad front teeth, and, as she was very gay and easily provoked to laughter, when she laughed she raised her handkerchief to her mouthi to conceal this defect. Josephine was passionately fond of fine laces, and her handkerchiefs were made of this costly fabric. The ladies of the court took to flourishing lace hand- kerchiefs, and they became an indispensable part of a fashionable costume. Thus it came to pass that the elegant daughters of the Philadelphia merchants in- vested large sums in lace handkerchiefs, because an em- press of the French happened to have defective teeth.

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 16

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992