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in colour and pattern,-an assortment of green and black having, in very many cases, a good effect. On the other hand, if the furniture is of a single colour, or if its contrasts consist only of different tones of the same colour, we may, without detriment, employ a carpet of brilliant colours, in such a way as to establish a harmony of contrast between them and the dominant hue of the furniture. But if the furniture is of mahogany, and we wish to bring out its peculiar colour, then we must not have either red, orange, or scarlet, as a dominant colour in the covering of the floor.

The covering of chairs may present either a harmony of contrast or a harmony of analogy with the hangings, according as the room is large or small; and a good effect may be produced by bordering the stuff at the parts contiguous to the wood with the same colour as the hangings, but of a higher tone. Nothing, we may add, contributes so much to enhance the beauty of a stuff intended for chairs, sofas, &c., as the selection of the wood to which it is attached; and, reciprocally, nothing contributes so much to augment the beauty of the wood as the colour of the stuff in juxtaposition with it. In accordance with the principles of colouring which we laid down in a preceding part of this article, it is evident that we must assort rose or red-coloured woods, such as mahogany, with green stuffs; yellow woods, such as citron, ashroot, maple, satin - wood, &c., with violet or blue stuffs; while red woods likewise do well with blue-greys, and yellow woods with green-greys. But in all those assortments, if we would obtain the best possible effects, it is necessary to take into consideration the contrast resulting from height of tone for a dark blue or violet stuff will not accord so well with a yellow wood as a light tone of these colours does; and hence, also, yellow does not assort so well with mahogany as with a wood of the same colour, but lighter. There is no wood more generally used by us than mahogany, and no covering for sofas and chairs more common than a crimson woollen stuff; and in this we are influenced not so much by any idea of harmony, as by the twofold motive of the stability of

the crimson colour and the beauty of the mahogany. In assorting these, we will often do well to separate the stuff from the wood by a cord or narrow galloon of yellow, or of golden yellow, with gilt nails; or better still, a narrow galloon of green or black, according as we wish the border to be more or less prominent. The red woods always lose a portion of their beauty when in juxtaposition with red stuffs. And hence it is that we can never ally mahogany to vivid reds, such as cherry - colour; and more particularly to orange-reds, such as scarlet, nacarat, and aurora; for these colours are so bright that, in taking away from this wood its peculiar tint, it becomes no better than oak or walnut. Ebony and walnut can be allied with brown tones, also with certain shades of green and violet.

A writer in last Number, perplexed with the question, What is civilisation? at length inclined to think that the boarding-school miss was not far wrong who answered that it was "the last fashions from Paris." And really, if one consider what antecedents and concomitants these "last fashions" imply-what surplus wealth and abundance of skilled labour-what taste, what leisure, and what highly-developed social habitseven a philosopher may agree with the young lady's opinion. Unfortunately we cannot dogmatise much as to the coloured proprieties of this crowning product of civilisation, Dress. When it comes to be a nice question of shades, and half-shades, and mixed patterns, modified by the natural style of the person prescribed for, we lay down our pen and make a bow of confessed inferiority to the leading gentlemen of the cloth,-assured that even M. Chevreul, Frenchman and scientific colorist though he be, would feel it the height of presumption to dissent from the suggestions quietly made by the dictator of fashion" in Stulz's establishment. There is one remark we would make, however, which deserves to be noted by two numerous and very opposite sections of the community,-we mean clergymen and lawyers, on the one hand, and sportsmen and other cogThese nate classes, on the other. gentlemen always, or most frequently,

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wear a monochromic or one-coloured suit; the clergy all black, and sportsmen plaid or mixtures of various kinds. Now, it is hopeless to address clergymen on such a subject, because they cannot help themselves; and it is perhaps not less unprofitable to preach to the votaries of MeltonMowbray, who generally set at defiance and overleap economy much in the same way as they do hedges and ditches; yet it must be said, that of all modes of apparel a one-coloured suit is the least economical. It presents no contrast of colour by which the leading hues may be kept in apparent freshness. Moreover a coat, waistcoat, and trousers of the same colour cannot be worn together with advantage except when they are all new; for when one of them has lost its freshness in consequence of having been more worn than the others, the difference will be increased by contrast. Thus, new black trousers worn with a coat and waistcoat of the same colour, but old and slightly rusty, will exaggerate this latter tint; while at the same time the black of the trousers will appear brighter. White trousers, and also ones of a reddish-grey mixture, will correct this tendency to rustiness in black upper clothes, and indeed there is nothing like white trousers for making every kind of coat look well in its old age.

Civilians seldom indulge in much liveliness or contrast of colour in their dress, but the very opposite is the case with military uniforms. In the French army the uniforms are especially brilliant, almost entirely eschewing suits of one colour, except in the case of special corps, such as the Rifles. In this respect the French outfit is more economical than ours,-especially in our cavalry regiments, where the monochromic style of dress is not unfrequent. Let us take, for example, a uniform of red and green, like that of many regiments of French cavalry by the law of contrast, the two colours, being complementary, or the opposite of each other, mutually strengthen one another; so that the green renders the red redder, and the red renders the green greener. Thus, a bi-coloured uniform, if the colours be complementary, exhibits, after a good deal of wearing, cloths

which look quite as well as each did when new and viewed separately. Whitening of the seams-a disagreeable vestiarian phenomenon produced by the surface, or best-coloured portion, of the cloth being rubbed off-is likewise much less apparent in a coat of two or more colours (i.e. braided or edged with a different colour from the ground) than it is in a monochromic coat; because the vivid contrast of different colours, fixing directly the attention of the spectator, prevents the eye from perceiving the inequalities which would be visible enough in a one-coloured coat. The same thing occurs, but in a lower degree, with uniforms of which the colours, without being complementary, are very contrasting. For example, blue and yellow, which accord well together, and are seen in the masses of yellow embroidery upon the blue of some of our hussar uniforms;-also deep-blue and scarlet, in which assortment is included the uniform of indigo-blue and madder-red of many French regiments;-also green and yellow, which form an association pleasing to the eye from its gaiety, and especially suitable for a cavalry dress.

It is not enough, however, to choose for uniforms colours which assort well: it is necessary, in order to obtain the best result, that we should employ those colours in certain relative proportions, and distribute them suitably. Thus, when one colour is in smaller proportion than another, it is requisite that it be distributed as equally as possible throughout the uniform: for instance, in the artillery uniform of blue and scarlet, the latter colour, which is far from appearing in equal proportion with the blue, produces a very good effect when distributed over the whole uniform. Further, we must say, with M. Chevreul, "in a many-coloured uniform, where one colour is found on different pieces of the dress-on both coat and trousers, for example-we must take care that the colour does not cause the eye to confound contiguous or superimposed parts in such a way that a part of the one piece seems to belong to the other. Thus, some regiments of the French army wear with madder-red trousers a blue coat, the facings of which are of the same

red: but what is the result? Why, at a certain distance, the red facings confound themselves with the trousers, the skirts of the coat appear diminished to their blue parts, and accordingly are judged too narrow. It would be easy to remedy this defect, by adopting facings of blue with a red edging." And we may sum up our remarks upon military facings and embroidery with two propositions: Firstly, that whenever the coat and trousers are of the same colour, and there is in the former a second colour which exists only in small proportion, it ought to be repeated upon the trousers in a broad stripe if the soldier wears boots, and in simple edging if he wears shoes. Secondly, that whenever the trousers are of a colour distinct from the coat (that is to say, different from what we regard as the ground), a stripe or simple edging of the colour of the coat will produce this colour in the trousers.

class; and accordingly the harmonies of analogy predominate over the harmonies of contrast. In the dark type, the reverse is the case: in fact, the black hair, eyebrows, cyelashes, and eyes, contrast, in point of tone and colour, not only with the white of the skin, but also with the complexion, which in this type is redder or less rosy than in the blonde type,—and it must not be forgotten that when a decided red, like that of a brunette's complexion, is associated with black (as in her hair and eyes), the latter colour acquires an excessively deep tone, much darker than it really is. It is owing to the one class being pervaded by the harmony of analogy, and the other by the harmony of contrast, that the faces of blondes are generally characterised by softness and sweetness of expression, while brunettes are distinguished by brilliance and power.

In coming to consider what colours suit best in the head and neck dress of blondes and brunettes respectively, we find that general opinion confirms our fundamental principles, by holding that blue accords well with fair complexions, and yellow (apricot, for instance) and orange-red with dark ones,

Colour is so intimately associated with beauty that we cannot possibly disregard it in its relations to the fair sex. Moreover, we would willingly, before closing, earn a mead of thanks from the ladies, if such be within reach of our feeble powers, by a few hints upon the coloured æsthetics of female dress. Here, still more emphatically than in the male attire, we cannot enter into the minutiae of costume. It is only in the matter of simple colour that we can assume to prescribe. In regard to the general assortment of colours in a dress, we have already indicated the true principles to be followed, in our remarks upon the effects which contiguous colours produce upon one another. What we would more especially look to now, is not the general costume, so much as that portion of it which surrounds or adjoins that star-point of every figure-that noble region where life, and heart, and mind, all shine most conspicuously-jectionable for certain complexions than the Face.

Now, there are two types of face, in regard to colour or complexion, in this country-namely, the blonde and the dark: the one with fair hair, fair skin, blue eyes, and rosy cheeks-the other with black hair, dark eyes, and brunette complexion. In the fair type, the various hues are all of the same

VOL. LXXVI.-NO. CCCCLXIX.

these colours being respectively the complementaries or contrasts to the predominant hue in fair and dark complexions. We may add, that yellow and orange-red, contrasting by colour and brilliancy with blackand their complementaries, violet and blue-green, in mixing with the tint of the hair-frequently produce a good effect upon ladies of the dark type. But as an interesting study for ladies, let us give, in an abridged form, M. Chevreul's opinions upon this subject:

"Red drapery :-Rose-red cannot be put in contact with the rosiest complexions without causing them to lose some of their freshness. Dark-red is less ob

rose-red, because, being higher than this latter, it tends to impart whiteness to them in consequence of contrast of tone. Green drapery :-A delicate green is, on the contrary, favourable to all fair comwhich may have more imparted to them plexions which are deficient in rose, and without inconvenience. But it is not as favourable to complexions that are more red than rosy, nor to those that have a

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tint of orange mixed with brown, because the red they add to this tint will be of a brick-red hue. In the latter case a dark green will be less objectionable than a delicate green. Yellow drapery :-Yellow imparts violet to a fair skin, and in this view it is less favourable than the delicate green. To those skins which are more yellow than orange, it imparts white; but this combination is very dull and heavy for a fair complexion. When the skin is tinted more with orange than yellow, we can make it roseate by neutralising the yellow. It produces this effect upon the black-haired type, and it is thus that it suits brunettes. Violet draperies: -Violet, the complementary of yellow, produces contrary effects; thus, it imparts some greenish-yellow to fair complexions. It augments the yellow tint of yellow and orange skins. The little blue there may be in a complexion it makes green. Violet, then, is one of the least favourable colours to the skin, at least when it is not sufficiently deep to whiten it by contrast of tone. Blue drapery :Blue imparts orange, which is susceptible of allying itself favourably to white and the light flesh tints of fair complexions, which have already a more or less determined tint of this colour. Blue is, then, suitable to most blondes, and in this case justifies its reputation. It will not suit brunettes, since they have already too much of orange. Orange drapery :Orange is too brilliant to be elegant; it makes fair complexions blue, whitens those which have an orange tint, and gives a green hue to those of a yellow tint. White drapery :-Drapery of a lustreless white, such as cambric muslin, assorts well with a fresh complexion, of which it relieves the rose colour; but it is unsuitable to complexions which have a disagreeable tint, because white always exalts all colours by raising their tone; consequently, it is unsuitable to those skins which, without having this disagreeable tint, very nearly approach it. Very light white draperies, such as muslin, plaited or point lace, have an entirely different aspect-appearing more grey than white, because the threads, which reflect light, and the interstices, which absorb it, produce the effect of a mixture of small white surfaces with small black ones. Black drapery :-Black draperies, lowering the tone of the colours with which they are in juxtaposition, whiten the skin; but if the vermilion or rosy parts are to a certain point distant from the drapery, it will follow that, although lowered in tone, they appear reatively to the white parts of the skin

guous to this same drapery, redder

than if the contiguity to the black did not exist."

In regard to ladies' bonnets, it is generally supposed that a great deal, if not the main part, of the effect is produced by the colour of the bonnet being thrown or reflected upon the face. M. Chevreul, after experimenting, in his usual painstaking way, with various coloured bonnets upon white plaster-casts, found that this was a mistake,-that the reflection, even under the most favourable circumstances, is very feeble, except upon the temples,-and, moreover, that these reflected hues have always a tendency to produce, as they pass into the ordinary daylight, colours the very opposite of themselves; so that when rose-colour is reflected upon the face, a space lightly tinged with green will intervene between it and the parts of the face illuminated directly by the daylight. As for any reflected tints falling upon the face while the present fashion lasts, the thing is impossible; for the bonnets are placed so far off the face or rather, we should say, off the head-that any reflected tints can fall only on the hair. Here is M. Chevreul's catalogue raisonnée of head-dresses in relation to fair and dark complexions; and it will be strange indeed, gentlest of readers, if you do not find "a love of a bonnet " that will just suit you in the list here presented.

FAIR-HAIRED TYPE.

"A black bonnet with white feathers, with white, rose or red flowers, suits a fair complexion.

A lustreless white bonnet does not suit well with fair and rosy complexions. It is otherwise with bonnets of gauze, crape, or lace; they are suitable to all complexions. The white bonnet may have flowers, either white, rose, or particularly blue.

A light-blue bonnet is particularly suitable to the light-haired type; it may be ornamented with white flowers, and in many cases with yellow and orange flowers, but not with rose or violet flowers.

A green bonnet is advantageous to fair or rosy complexions. It may be trimmed with white flowers, but preferably with rose.

A rose-coloured bonnet must not be too close to the skin; and if it is found that the hair does not produce sufficient

separation, the distance from the rose-
colour may be increased by means of
white, or green, which is preferable. A
wreath of white flowers in the midst of
their leaves has a good effect.

I shall not advise the use of a light or
deep red bonnet, except when the painter
desires to diminish too warm a tint in the
complexion.

Finally, the painter should never prescribe either yellow or oranged-coloured bonnets, and be very reserved in the use of violet.

TYPE WITH BLACK HAIR.

A black bonnet does not contrast so well with the ensemble of the type with black hair, as with the other type; yet it may produce a good effect, and receive advantageously accessories of white, red, rose, orange, and yellow.

A white bonnet gives rise to the same remarks as those which have been made concerning its use in connection with the blonde type, except that for brunettes it is better to give the preference to accessories of red, rose, orange, and also yellow, rather than to blue.

Bonnets of rose, red, cerise, are suitable for brunettes, when the hair separates as much as possible the bonnet from the complexion. White feathers accord well with red; and white flowers, with abundance of leaves, have a good effect with

rose.

A yellow bonnet suits a brunette very well, and receives with advantage violet or blue accessories; the hair must always interpose between the complexion and the head-dress.

It is the same with bonnets of an

orange colour more or less broken, such as chamois. Blue trimmings are eminently suitable with orange and its shades.

A green bonnet is suitable to fair and light rosy complexions; rose, red, or white flowers, are preferable to all others.

A blue bonnet is only suitable to a fair or light red complexion; nor can it

be allied to such as have a tint of orangebrown. When it suits a brunette, it may take with advantage yellow or orange trimmings.

A violet bonnet is always unsuitable to every complexion, since there are none which yellow will suit. Yet if we inter

pose between the violet and the skin not only the hair, but also yellow accessories, a bonnet of this colour may become favourable."

As an important memorandum, it must be added, that, whenever the colour of a bonnet does not realise the intended effect, even when the com

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plexion is separated from the headtageous to place between the hair and dress by masses of hair, it is advanthe bonnet certain accessories-such as ribbons, wreaths, or detached flowers-of a colour complementary to that of the bonnet, in the way above prescribed for the violet bonnet; and the same colour must also be placed on the outside of the bonnet.

These hints, thus thrown out pri-
marily for the benefit of the ladies,
are calculated to be of use also to por-
trait-painters,-to that class of artists
whose peculiar province and happy
fortune it is to copy and transmit to
posterity those types of female loveli-
ness which, in the richness of bodily
presence, earth can but retain for a
ing out a colour by contrast ought in
too brief season. The method of bring-
a peculiar manner to fix the atten-
tion of such artists. Many a lady's
portrait has been spoiled, and a poor
instead of a lovely effect produced,
from a want of tasteful selection in
the colours of the dress or of the
background. The first thing the por-
predominating colour in the com-
trait-painter has to do, is to find the
plexion he has to paint; and that
once found, and faithfully reproduced
accessories best fitted to give value to
on his canvass, he must seek out the
it. This is often no easy matter,-so
many are the varieties of complexion,
shades, which lie between the two ex-
blending into each other by invisible
treme types of dark and fair. No rule
can be devised that will guide him
here: the artist must be able to judge
for himself. It is for him to judge
whether the dominant tint of a com-
plexion ought to be exalted, or dimi-
nished, or wholly neutralised. And if
he choose to weaken it, he must judge
also whether this will be best done by
using a drapery of the same colour as
the complexion, but of a deeper tone;
or whether he should oppose to the
complexion a drapery of its comple-
high tone, so as to produce the effect
mentary colour, taken at a sufficiently
of weakening at once by a contrast of
colour and a contrast of tone.

to be specially suitable for being much
Colour is so beautiful an object as
used in the portraits of the fair sex,
with whom beauty is almost always
the greatest charm. But with men it

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