They are not the result of development
simply, which may and must frequently occur in sciences; but they are
the result of those variations in custom and usage for which it is
impossible to find any more expressive word than that of Fashion. Why
then should not dress have its fashions also, and why should not those
fashions change as time advances, and why should not fashion rule in
this as in other things?
* * * * *
IV.--EXPENSE OF DRESS.
This is a portion of our subject which awakens the liveliest interest
in persons of both sexes. It is the complaint of many men of our times
that the dress of women is a very costly affair. The complaint is
often made apparently under a sense of wrong, as if they had been made
to suffer from it. Some time ago considerable attention was directed
to the subject by some letters which appeared in one of the leading
journals of the day, in which grave reflections were made upon the
exceeding costliness of dress at the present time. It was said to
exceed that of any former age, and to be the reason why so many young
men flinch from the idea of matrimony. Among these requirements dress
occupies a prominent place. The style and variety of dress which is
affirmed to be necessary for young ladies in the highest grade of
society renders it no easy matter for them to find men both qualified
and willing to afford them sufficient funds to procure what custom had
created into a necessity.
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