Walking Dress 1810
The Empire gown is figured in the illustration of a walking dress, 1810. It lasted practically until the advent of the crinoline in the forties, when it finally disappeared.
A Sitting-room
The sitting-room has little furniture. An indispensable article in it is the brazier, usually oblong, with a set of three small drawers one under another at the side and two others side by side under the copper tray filled with ashes, on which charcoal is burnt inside an iron or clay trivet. On this trivet is set a kettle of iron or copper. The iron kettle is made of thick cast-iron and kept on the trivet so as always to have hot water ready for tea-making: and the copper kettle is used when we wish to boil water quickly. Beside the brazier is a small shelf or cabinet for tea-things. Behind the brazier is a cushion where the wife sits; this is her usual post. There is also a cushion on the other side or the brazier, where the husband or other members of the house may sit.
Man and woman in Chinese costume
Lady
Lady in Hat
A young lady dressed for a visit
When she goes out on an informal visit, the Japanese woman usually puts on a crested haori; but if it is only for a walk, the haori may be plain. The kimono may on such occasions be of any pattern, only that when she makes a call, the band must be of the same cloth as the kimono.
lady with hat
Woman with hat
Curls
Young lady with curls
i 189
Lady 4
lady 2
1800 2
man and woman
Japanese Hairstyles
Troublesome as was the man’s queue in the old days, it was a trifle compared with the woman’s coiffure. In the early days of the present regime when men began to cut their hair, many women followed suit and cropped theirs as short. The government, however, interfered and prohibited the cutting of the hair by women other than widows and grandames with whom it was a time-honoured custom. In 1887 when the pro-European craze was at its height, many women tied their hair in European style; but it was subsequently abandoned by those who found that by tying the hair in this manner, they spoilt it for the Japanese coiffure; for having been accustomed to oil it well for their native style, they discovered that the hair, when bound without any pomade, became very brittle and snapped short. Still, the European style is now largely adopted because it does not require expert assistance and the services of the professional hair-dresser can be dispensed with. Various styles are in vogue. Soon after the fall of Port Arthur in 1905, a high knot came into fashion under the formidable title of “203-metre hill knot,” in celebration of the capture of that famous hill which was practically the key to the great fortress. The favourite at present with our women is a low pompadour known as the “penthouse style.” But though the European way of dressing the hair has become very popular, it is not likely so long as the kimono remains unchanged that the Japanese coiffure, awkward as it is compared with the European, will be entirely superseded by the other.
Paris Evening Dress 1833
The reformed dress
The kimono appears indeed to be capable of little improvement. The only concession that has been made to the requirements of the latter-day school-girl is the contraction of the sleeves. The “reformed dress,” as it is called, has large open sleeves which can be tightened by means of a string. It is found very handy and is worn by many school-girls. Reformed or unreformed, there is this to be said for the Japanese woman’s dress that it does not suffer in the matter of pockets or what serve as such from comparison with man’s.
Inverted Maidehair
Helen Johnson
Crinoline
Girl with Umbrella
Lady sitting in a carriage with an umbrella smoking a cigarette
Mongolian Types
Possibly they mingled to a certain extent. There is little to prevent our believing that they survived without much intermixture for a long time in north Asia, that “pockets” of them remained here and there in Europe, that there is a streak of their blood in most European peoples to-day, and that there is a much stronger streak, if not a predominant strain, in the Mongolian and American races.
The shimada and ‘rounded chignon.’
For young women the formal coiffure is the shimada, so called from the name of the town on the high road between Tokyo and Kyoto, where it first came into fashion. In this the hair is gathered and tied tightly at or near the crown together with a large tuft of false hair. The tip is folded in forward; the hair is then folded twice in the same direction as the tip so that the edge of the fold is half an inch or less behind the knot; and the whole is turned over the knot in such a way that the edge of the second fold is forward of the crown. Then, by a string passing over the knot the fold is tied down. The chignon is formed by spreading out the hair; sometimes a piece of paper, of the size of the chignon, is well pomaded and put under the surface of the chignon to help it to keep in place. The size of the chignon varies with the wearer’s taste; but, generally speaking, a young woman’s is larger than her elder sister’s. Its position too varies, as it depends upon that of the first knot, whether over or behind the crown. In the formal coiffure of a young lady of social standing it is close to the crown; but girls in a lower station of life or anxious to be thought chic prefer the chignon to be more to the back of the head.
Man and Woman
She decides to die in spite of Dr. Bottles
1916 Woman
Yes or No
Young Lady
Young woman
She finds that exercise does not improve her spirits
Young lady
She contemplates the cloister
Tie-back skirt
Tie-back skirt Late '7o's and Early '8o's The bustle remained an important feature after the panier effect had been discarded. The skirts were made severely plain and were pulled back by strings, so as to fit with extreme snugness in the front. At the back, however, they were drawn out over a bustle of such extent that the fashion plates of the late '70's now have the appearance of caricatures.
Young lady
Chinese Woman - 11th Century BC
Chinese Woman - 11th Century BC
Dreamy Look
Young lady
Young lady standing
Young woman
A widow and her friends
The widow
Sad young lady
Young lady
Cupid whispering in young lady's ear
Young Lady
Aren’t there a couple of young men in there with Clara
“Aren’t there a couple of young men in there with Clara?” “No, only one. There isn’t a sound.”
Lady putting hat on
Lady in black dress
She finds some consolation in her mirror
Maid putting shoe on while young lady looks in mirror
Lady skating
Young woman
Lady in profile
Unhappy lady
Young lady
Botocudo Indian with Lip-plug
Many of these wild tribes delight in bright feathers. They make necklaces, head-dresses, arm-rings, bracelets, leg-bands, aprons, and capes from them. Not that a single tribe makes all of these many ornaments; some will use the feathers in one way, others in another. Among the tribes of Brazil, the Botocudo are famous for the ornaments they wear in their lips and ears. These ornaments are mere disks or plugs of wood, which are inserted in holes pierced in the ears and lower lip. Some Botocudo lip plugs are three inches in diameter. Such a lip ornament holds the lip out almost like a shelf.
Lady with umbrella
Young lady with hands up
The widow - standing
Lady standing in black dress
Choice of fabric
Here a small all-over pattern minimizes size, the plaits and tassels lengthen, the necklace adds a slenderizing touch. The appearance as a whole is graceful and youthful.
Woman sleeping
Man and woman sitting by the fire
Hats 1
These two examples show how even a hat with drooping brim, if not too wide, can be worn by the stout person if trimming is adeptly used to direct the vision upward and lend an illusion of height.