A TAILOR ON CLOTHES

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 30, 4 August 1923, Page 19

A TAILOR ON CLOTHES

'The Eternal Masquerade." By H. Dennis Bradley. New York: Boni and Liveright.

Mr. Dennis Bradley is a practical 1 tailor, member of the firm of Pope and Bradley, fashionable London tailors; but he is more than an artist with chalk and shears: he can write. He writes his own advertisements, and they are a joy to read. Of course, they, draw attention ' to. clothes, and especially to the craftsmanship of Messrs. Pope and Bradley, but they have a decidedly literary charm of their own and are also essentially businesslike. "Carlyle has formulated a philosophy of clothes; but ■ Mr. Bradley doe's not affect the style of the Sage of Chelsea. He has a, far lighter touch, verging on the gay. He has now written a" book, and its title is'"The Eternal Masquerade." It is a history of. clothes, and some reflections thereon. He starts from nakedness and asks: "Withoat his physical trappings where is man's power? Could a naked sing rule?" This remark recalls Thackeray's drawing of "Louis Soleil,". with its "Louis," the decrepit old man; "Louis Rex," the king, in his wig and robes and wearing his insignia, and finally "Rex," the empty "physical trappings." Mr. Bradley also deals with ■women's clothes. It was in the days of William Rufus that "while the women made the men's dress the fashions remained undecorative. They brooked no risks when their husbands went abroad. It was only whei a Norman tailor, named Baldwin, settled in England that an advance was made and rich fabrics and fine clothes were introduced. Indi-x-iduality crept into the reign of the second William. Women woke up to the possibilities of their bodies, and Welshmen wore loose trousers to indicate their morals. The fabric of women's garments became richer, and though by lacing she disclosed the shape of her breast, she was modest enough to hide her legs—at least to the multitude." Fashion is traced through English history from the Norman Conquest to ■ the Elizabethan era. That was an age 'of fantasy. Says Mr. Bradley: "In clothes it was the period of gestation of design. Styles ran riot. Comicality had free play. Experiment was hailed. Grace had a following, but the grotesque had a vogue. Things were not what they seemed, and the human form became a, peg for bombast. National character in dress lost its insularity, and ' merged into that of the Continent, Fashion mixed its breed in wild confusion. Convention was cast aside, and the old 'formality became a feeble force. The Spanish hat gaily sported itself on top of the Italian ruff, :uid the ruff held itself starchily aloof from the French doublet, while the German hose looked arrogantly down on the Flemish shoes. Tlie great ruff cackily and uncomfortably er.c.osing the neck was the distinguishing feature of the reign. Then a she-devil in Flanders discovered the art of starching cambric, and added to life a new misery from which we fools,of. men suffer unto this day. Another fiend in England, by mime Mrs. Turner, gained notoriety by inventing a receipt-for, yel-. ' low starch. She was afterwards hanged at Tyburn for another crime.',' In Cromwell's time .ugliness .was. akin' to godliness. "Man clothed himself like the fool he was," Mr. Bradley remarks. Reaction against Puritanism came in with Charles 11. It affected clothes: "Never in history was there such a sudden and sweeping change of fashion in dress. The clothes of yesterday were impossible to-day. To appear in them damned one as of a bygone age. With a_ cry of.joy at relief from her bondage of sobriety my lady tore the Puritan garb from her back, and one is amazed to find that silken undergarments with I pointed lace and dainty embroidery had remained hidden . beneath so severe a mask. Imperiously she commanded the I harassed costumier to drape her in' a gown of gay colours post haste. "My lady threw away the Puritan collar which had stiffened her character and neck, and exposed her bosom in its natural delicacy; and that her arms might caress more freely she bared her sleeves to' the elbow. The perruquier. coming with a revived -joy into his own again, aided the dressing- of her hair ■with his art, and playing with her curly locks gave them such a character that they were chistened with names. The _, little loose curls on the forehead were called 'favourites,' and the locks over the ears were 'heart-breakers.' and 'the coy little curls flirting with- the blushes on her cheek were unquestionably 'confidants.' " In the reign of Queen Anne, «g Mr. Bradley shows, "my lady, unable to keep pace with the elegance of the gentlemen of the period, extended her circumference. Man, she must have thought, must be kept in his place Her hair was simply dressed and ■ her frontage became fragile, and the comparatively new wired side-pannier wan discarded for an enormous hooped skirt. Her cheeks protruded with plumpers, an artificial contrivance ior filling them: An obvious invitation! Her waist was still ; pinched and crossed-laced to a point. Her neck was beautifully bare and her bosom was invitingly natural, hut fronifl the waist her anatomy ceased. Somewhere in the vast space there were legs else how would it be possible for this great balloon to slither? But her feet were furlongs from her furbelows. And beneath her capacious skirt it was possible to hide at least a dozen lovers " "Queen Annie is dead, but Venus lives forever," cries Mr. Bradley in a voice of triumph. After reviewing the Geogian- era with its dandyism, and referring to - such names as Bmmmel, D'Orsay° wily AVilliams, Lord Byron, and Becklord 'Mr. Bradley comes to the fashions ■ of the .sixties, when "art took the knockout, as he expresses it. He giv-s the reason for the crinoline. As to the v ivrin ' *r wri'eß 1860 and v»-| J.a/u tne.-styles became more horrible ■^.1 than any conceived in history. As a con»..s^cession to-the much-needed gaiety of the 11 ' ]t «ecanle the great age for i vKf'hiskers. The Dundreary pattern addv'vC f 8 me.rrimen'- The lapels of the \ mW drdl >' and narrow, little Sffl taAblack carbuncles were ■$ In a -° n the head ' and the leSs w «'6 v* encased in a couple of loose bags made w materials of execrable design! finishr. Pd perhaps an inch or so too short. Then $ S 6 '"ventlve genius introduced bell- " feet erS to dissuise *he uneainly teet . and the masher, striving to make I° it^l ' «"* S° Short that stood oh it ? eb T "l" 1"* wd-exposed most suit watti, V he >eishtieE the eveni"g tvm> wr? + 6 est Sarraent worn, and the tfen r ,?' day IS. an adaptaSDolfchv Ie ,ent, ire effect was often ZVethl ™" "S'y low polo collar, which " wal m-ol^H 1 * hang:dog Iook" Utility : ZThzC w y agami responsible, for „ Wa T s VlS°™s a"d perspiration pi talent. In manner men" wei'e stifflooking fools, a ,id starch was their only . oLJUCi-DV, - ■ '/-• * - . ■ ' * tbfTlif t!' l ec'ot' les.^ the wom°n of given 'V 1 £"?«■'»§ .description is given.- Beneath her - crinoline, which stood ax inches from the ground. peeß .

Ed the frilled hem of her long drawers, boldly inviting public inspection. This must have been a disclosure of desperation indicative of the times, for lovers of lingerie prefer a more delicate discovery and resent all public exhibitions. The first Victorian illustrations of this plural garment are, however, historically interesting. It is the record of a first appearance which in its attenuated shapelessness endured an ugly infancy. The garment must be conceded the dignity of invention, fov prior to its existence its place was occupied by nothing. Since these crude days it has developed in subtlety, has long since ceased to be a lengthy exposition, and short as the inVerted growth of the skirt has hygienically become, the more intimate garment in its variety of designs and transparent adornments has acquired the delicacy of becoming shorter still." Woman is still mistress of the art of disguise, in Mr. Bradley's opinion; but if modern dress for men has attained "a cleanliness masked in drab stupidity," that of woman shows that she has achieved sartorial emancipation. "The Jiteranal Masquerade" is as entertaining as it is clever.