he _corsage_ or body, and the _jupe_ or skirt. They are as
independent of each other as the upper and lower divisions of a
wasp--(indeed, some giddy girls have carried the similitude too far, and
have been seen to approximate in their lacing contractions to that
wonderfully small animal passage)--and these two divisions of the garment
are to be formed and ornamented on totally different principles. By the
common practice and consent of all womankind, it appears that the lower
portion should be loose and flowing; and that the upper should be so
conformable to the contour of the body, as to show that contour to the
best advantage; these must be taken as the fundamental definitions upon
which all laws of female dress are to be tried. And, first of all, of the
skirt; if its form is to be loose and flowing, it should be made to derive
its beauty from the curves and breaks and folds which drapery, partly
suspended, partly at rest on the ground, will afford. It must be ample and
symmetrically proportioned; and its material must have sufficient
stiffness as well as pliability--drapery always requires a certain volume
of material to be effective. The extreme limit of a scanty skirt, and its
poor effect, as well as its great inconvenience, may be judged of from the
figures and pictures of the old Egyptian priestesses--they look very
_statuesque_, and make capital _caryatides_ for temples--but they will not
bear a comparison with those lovely Athenian virgins, winding round the
Parthenon, in their sacred pilgrimage to the shrine of their tutelar
goddess. Drapery, then, must be ample, if it is to fall in graceful folds.
But drapery, only suspended, will not produce the entire effect desired;
it will hang in merely longitudinal lines, whereas one of the most
pleasing effects produced by it is caused by those abrupt breaks in a
fold, those sudden cuttings off of volutes, which are only to be seen when
part of the drapery is in horizontal repose, or rests partially on the
ground. Hence short gowns are not so graceful as long ones; they are
beautiful at any time, it is true, and when the wearer is seated, produce
somewhat of the effect alluded to; but for a woman to be robed with all
the combined influences of grace and dignity, she must allow her dress to
trail partially around her. Think upon the short garments of many classes
of peasantry, and think of the train of a lady when dressed for court--we
speak of their form, not of their sub