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17

DRESS: ITS USES, BEAUTIES, AND FASHIONS.

"Miserable indeed was the condition of the Aboriginal savage, glaring fiercely from under his fleece of hair, which, with the beard, reached down to his loins, and hung round him like a matted cloak; the rest of his body sheeted in its thick natural felt. &hellip; Nevertheless, the pains of hunger and revenge once satisfied, his next care was, not comfort, but decoration. Warmth he found in the toils of the chase, or amidst dried leaves in his hollow tree, in his bark shed, or natural grotto; but for decoration he must have clothes."

"Ugly women almost always introduce the fashions, and pretty women are foolish enough to follow them."

VER since the cultivation of literature in Europe, and long perhaps before that time—for there were talkers before there were writers in the world—the absurdities of fashion have formed a constant theme of declamation; but, after a care­ful review of what has been written upon this sub­ject, we rise from the perusal of a number of learned and interesting books without having in the whole