Woman as Decoration

Chapter 6 COLOUR IN WOMAN'S COSTUME

Word Count: 1181 | Released on: 30/11/2017

and as decorator, will be largely responsible for recording this a

s; colour in woman's clothes; colour in house furnishing; colo

ng says (we quote from an editorial in the

, celebrate the glories of camp life in such vivid colors

es it. A revolution is on. Did not the strong red, green, and blue of Napole

agicians of brush and dye-pot held a prism to the sun-beam; violet, orange an

l but disappeared from our persons, our homes, our gardens, our music and our literature. More

complacent minds, has been cast aside, and the blasé man of ten years ago is a

supplemented the good work of le Gazette du Bon Ton of Paris, that effete fashion sheet, devoted to the decoration of woman, whose staff included many of the most gifted French artists, masters of brush and pen. Always irregular, no issue of the Bon Ton has appeared of late. It is held up by the war. The men

onderful colours in silks and gauze. They come to us by way of the Pacific, from China and from Japan. There is no escaping the colour spell. Writers from the front tell us that it is as if the g

ch was heaped crinoline and stiff brocades and chains and gems and wigs and every manner o

a Hof

lasquez

ur scale. These men have demonstrated, in an unforgettable manner, the value of colour; the dependence of every decorative object up

oduce atmosphere and elimination of unessential objects, the argument of his school being that the too detailed reproducing of Nature (on the stage) acts as a check to the imagination, whereas by the judiciou

le Bac

nd woodwork (mignonette). Now, so long as the characters moved about the room, they were thrown into relief most charmingly, but the moment the women seated themselves on a very light coloured and characterless ch

immediate background for gowns. It might have been covered in dark chintz, a silk damask in

t, occupying the opposite end of the sofa. A modern addition to a woman's toilet is a large square of chiffon, edged with narrow metal or crystal fringe, or a gold or silver flexible cord. This scarf is always in beguiling contrast to the costume,

half yards), of lovely soft mauve silk damask, lined with satin charmeuse of the same shade, and weighted by long, heavy tassels, at the corners; this she throws over the Empire roll and a part of the seat, which are

Chapter End

Claim Your Bonus at the APP

Open

Woman as Decoration

Emily Burbank Literature

“First published in 1917, advice which was seriously meant at the time it was written can now be read as humor. As explained in the Foreword: "WOMAN AS DECORATION is intended as a sequel to "The Art of Interior Decoration" (Grace Wood and Emily Burbank). Having assisted in setting the stage for woman, the next logical step is the consideration of woman, herself, as an important factor in the decorative scheme of any setting,—the vital spark to animate all interior decoration, private or public. The book in hand is intended as a brief guide for the woman who would understand her own type,—make the most of it, and know how simple a matter it is to be decorative if she will but master the few rules underlying all successful dressing. As the costuming of woman is an art, the history of that art must be known—to a certain extent—by one who would be an intelligent student of our subject. With the assistance of thirty-three illustrations to throw light upon the text, we have tried to tell the beguiling story of decorative woman, as she appears in frescoes and bas reliefs of Ancient Egypt, on Greek vases, the Gothic woman in tapestry and stained glass, woman in painting, stucco and tapestry of the Renaissance, seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century woman in portraits."”