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CHAPTER
18
DRESS
DRESS
perplexes some and takes up much of their time and thought. They love dress too
much who give it their first thought, their best time, or all their money; who
for it neglect the culture of mind or heart or the claims of others on their
service; who care more for their dress than their disposition; who are troubled
more by an unfashionable bonnet than by a neglected duty. Female
loveliness never appears to so good advantage as when set off by simplicity of
dress. No artist ever decks his angels with towering feathers and gaudy jewelry;
and our dear human angels, if they would make good their title to that name,
should carefully avoid ornaments, which properly belong to Indian squaws and
African princesses. Tinselry may serve to give effect on the stage or upon the
ballroom floor, but in daily life there is no substitute for the charm of
simplicity. Through
dress the mind may be read as through delicate tissue the lettered page. A
modest woman will dress modesty; a really refined and intelligent woman will
hear the marks of careful selection and faultless taste. Often the best coats on
our streets are worn on the backs of penniless fops, broken-down merchants,
clerks with pitiful salaries, and men that do not pay up. The heaviest gold
chains dangle from the fobs of gamblers and gentlemen of very limited means;
costly ornaments on ladies often indicate to the eyes that are well opened the
fact of a silly lover or a husband cramped for funds; and when a pretty woman
goes by in plain and neat apparel, it is the presumption that she has fair
expectations and a husband that can show a balance in his favor. What
multitudes of young women waste all that is precious in life on the fooleries of
the toilet! How the soul of womanhood is dwarfed and shriveled by such trifles
and kept away from the greatest fields of activities, thought and love by the
gew-gaws she hangs on her bonnet! How light must be that thing which will float
on the sea of fashion—a bubble, a feather, a puff-ball! and yet multitudes of
women float there, live there, and call it life. Poor things! Woman was made for
a higher purpose, a nobler use, a grander destiny. Her powers are rich and
strong, her genius bold and daring. She may walk the fields of thought, achieve
the victories of mind, spread around her the testimonials of her worth, and make
herself known and felt as man’s coworker and equal in whatever exalts mind,
embellishes life, or sanctifies humanity. No
person can attend the services of the fashionable churches in towns and cities,
and worship God without distraction. One needs continually to offer the prayer,
“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.” There is the rustle of rich
silks, the flutter of gay fans, the nodding of plumes and flowers; the tilting
of lace, of ribbons, of curls; here is a head frizzled till it looks more like a
picture of the Furies than a miss of “sweet sixteen.” There are bracelets
and earrings and fantasies of every sort and every hue—everything that is
absurd and foolish in fashion and everything that is grotesque and ridiculous in
trying to ape fashion. All these are before you, between you and the speaker.
How can you worship God? My
dear sister, do not dress showily or extravagantly or beyond your means. Do not
dress in such a way as to call attention to any part of your figure or to
distort or alter it. Do not dress so that people will notice your dress more
than you. I think there is no higher art for a girl than to dress simply,
quietly, and tastefully, as one who is careful of the body that God has given,
but who is mindful also of the apart words: Let “women adorn themselves in
modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or
gold, or pearls, or costly array” 1 Timothy 2:9. “Whose adorning Let it not
be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of
putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which
is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in
the sight of God of great price” 1 Peter 3:3, 4.
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