The Mirror of the Graces: Containing General Instructions for Combining Elegance, Simplicity, and Economy with Fashion in Dress; Hints on Female Accomplishments and Manners; and Directions for the Preservation of Health and BeautyLady of distinction, active 19th century
History
The Mirror of the Graces: Containing General Instructions for Combining Elegance, Simplicity, and Economy with Fashion in Dress; Hints on Female Accomplishments and Manners; and Directions for the Preservation of Health and Beauty
Lady of distinction, active 19th century
Beauty, Personal; Clothing and dress -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century; Etiquette -- Great Britain
To remedy these evils, I would strenuously recommend, for health’s
sake, as well as for beauty, that no lady should make one in any
riding, airing, or walking party, without putting on her head something
capable of affording both shelter and warmth. Shakspeare, the poet
of the finest taste in female charms, makes Viola regret having been
obliged to “throw her sun-expelling mask away!” Such a defence I do not
pretend to recommend; but I consider a veil a useful as well as elegant
part of dress; it can be worn to suit any situation; open or close,
just as the heat or cold may render it necessary.
The custom which some ladies have, when warm, of powdering their faces,
washing them with cold water, or throwing off their bonnets, that they
may cool the faster, are all very destructive habits. Each of them is
sufficient (when it meets with any predisposition in the blood) to
spread a surfeit over the skin, and make a once beautiful face hideous
forever.
The person, when overheated, should always be allowed to cool
gradually, and of itself, without any more violent assistant than,
perhaps, the gentle undulation of the neighboring air by a fan.
Streams of wind from opened doors and windows, or what is called
_a thorough air_, are all bad and highly dangerous applications.
These impatient remedies for heat are often resorted to in balls and
crowded assemblies; and as frequently as they are used, we hear of
sore throats, coughs, and fevers. While it is the fashion to fill a
drawing-room like a theatre, similar means ought to be adopted, to
prevent the ill effects of the consequent corrupted atmosphere, and the
temptation to seek relief by dangerous resources. Instead of the open
balcony, and yawning door, we should see ventilators in every window;
and thus feel a constant succession of pure and temperate air.
Excessive heat, as well as excessive cold, is apt to cause distempers
of the skin; and as the fine lady, by her strange habits, is as prone
to such changes as the desert-wandering gipsy, it is requisite that she
should be particularly careful to correct the deforming consequences of
her fashionable exposures. For her usual ablution, night and morning,
nothing is so fine an emollient for any rigidity or disease of the
face as a wash of French or white brandy, and rose-water; the spirit
making only one-third of the mixture. The brandy keeps up that gentle
action of the skin which is necessary to the healthy appearance of
its parts. It also cleanses the surface. The rose-water corrects the
drying property of the spirit, leaving the skin in a natural, soft, and
flexible state. Where white or French brandy cannot be obtained, half
the quantity of spirits of wine will tolerably supply its place.
The eloquent effect of complexion will, I hope, my fair friends, obtain
your pardon for my having confined your attention so long to what is
generally thought (though in contradiction to what is felt) a trifling
feature, if so I may be allowed to name it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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