Tea at Trianon: The Art of Dress – A Survey of Principles

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, February 17, 2024

The Art of Dress – A Survey of Principles

From 1P5:

Art in Every Day Life introduces the important concept of idea harmony. “It is not enough that sizes, shapes, colors, and textures should have something in common,” the Goldsteins write, “but there must be harmony in the ideas which are presented together.”[11]An ensemble of clothing may convey many ideas: the age of the wearer, the wearer’s state in life, the wearer’s present occupation, the time of year, etc. The more the ideas conveyed by an ensemble harmonize with one another, their wearer, and their surroundings, the more beauty the ensemble can achieve.
The light summer fabrics and brilliant colors (or dazzling whites) historically worn by those in tropical climates harmonize perfectly with their surroundings. They seem to have grown out of their surroundings as a harmonious synthesis of nature’s inspiration and human craft. On the other hand, the rich earth tones or warm jewel tones of fabrics historically used in colder climates harmonize well with the quiet sobriety of winter’s ethos. A dress of flounces and polka dots clashes with the venerable dignity on an elderly woman but harmonizes well with the playful spirit of a child. Conversely, black lace and dark heavy fabrics harmonize far better with a matron than a little girl. Formal clothing cut in more restrictive styles and made of fine fabrics does not harmonize with occupations such as hiking or farming which suggest ease of motion and a kind of pragmatic kinship with the elements. On the other hand, the garb of hiking and farming does not harmonize with ceremonies of high splendor such as liturgies, which point to things high above the mundane. These greatest occasions of life demand formal clothing in order to harmonize with the decorum and majesty of the prevailing atmosphere which has momentarily set aside life’s various labors to bask in the divine.
One of the most common disharmonies found in the dress of devout Catholics comes from the disregard for seasonal dress. Velvet appears in July and hibiscus prints in January. The many devout women who amass collections of maxi skirts, those long polyester tubes of striped or figured polyester, seem not to realize that the flimsy fabric and invariably garish summer prints will never look well with Eskimo boots.
Admittedly, wool and other winter-weight fabrics have become nearly impossible to obtain. Year-round, one can hardly find anything but thin, stretch polyester in loud prints. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the clash of ideas—summer and winter—creates disharmony. It is worth noting too that the change of seasons and the movements of the natural world in general have a profound impact on man’s spirit. Dressing with a true consciousness of the seasons is a fundamental way to counteract forces which, through technology, seek to disconnect man from the natural world and the image of God therein. (Read more.)