upon what is perfect, and
upon what is perfect only.

As for your other correspondent, the first principle of dress that all
garments should be hung from the shoulders and not from the waist seems
to me to be generally approved of, although an 'Old Sailor' declares that
no sailors or athletes ever suspend their clothes from the shoulders, but
always from the hips. My own recollection of the river and running
ground at Oxford--those two homes of Hellenism in our little Gothic
town--is that the best runners and rowers (and my own college turned out
many) wore always a tight jersey, with short drawers attached to it, the
whole costume being woven in one piece. As for sailors it is true, I
admit, and the bad custom seems to involve that constant 'hitching up' of
the lower garments which, however popular in transpontine dramas, cannot,
I think, but be considered an extremely awkward habit; and as all
awkwardness comes from discomfort of some kind, I trust that this point
in our sailor's dress will be looked to in the coming reform of our navy,
for, in spite of all protests, I hope we are about to reform everything,
from torpedoes to top-hats, and from crinolettes to cruises.

Then as regards clogs, my suggestion of them seems to have aroused a
great deal of terror. Fashion in her high-heeled boots has screamed, and
the dreadful word 'anachronism' has been used. Now, whatever is useful
cannot be an anachronism. Such a word is applicable only to the revival
of some folly; and, besides, in the England of our own day clogs are
still worn in many of our manufacturing towns, such as Oldham. I fear
that in Oldham they may not be dreams of beauty; in Oldham the art of
inlaying them with ivory and with pearl may possibly be unknown; yet in
Oldham they serve their purpose. Nor is it so long since they were worn
by the upper classes of this country generally. Only a few days ago I
had the pleasure of talking to a lady who remembered with affectionate
regret the clogs of her girlhood; they were, according to her, not too
high nor too heavy, and were provided, besides, with some kind of spring
in the sole so as to make them the more supple for the foot in walking.
Personally, I object to all additional height being given to a boot or
shoe; it is really against the proper principles of dress, although, if
any such height is to be given it should be by means of two props, not
one; but what I should prefer to see is some adaptation