of the other sex that
win attention; and to one fresh from London, the street attire of
_ladies_--or those who aspire, with more or less justice, to that
title--is a startling incongruity; for the showy colors and fine
textures reserved across the sea for the opera, the _salon_, and the
fashionable drive, are here displayed on shopping expeditions, for which
an English lady dresses in neutral tints and substantial
fabrics,--avoiding rather than courting observation. The vulgar
impression derived in Broadway from an opposite habit is vastly
increased by modern fashions; for the apology for a bonnet that leaves
brow, cheek, and head fully exposed,--the rustle and dimensions of
crinoline,--the heavy masses of unctuous false hair attached to the back
of the head, deforming its shape and often giving a coarse monstrosity
to its naturally graceful poise and proportions,--the inappropriate
display of jewelry and the long silk trains of the expensive robes
trailing on the dirty walk, and continually caught beneath the feet of
careless pedestrians,--all unite to render the exhibition repulsive to
taste, good sense, and that chivalric sympathy inspired by the sight of
female beauty and grace, so often co-existent with these anomalies.
Broadway has often been compared to a kaleidoscope,--an appellation
suggested by the variety of shifting tints, from those of female dress
to those of innumerable commodities, from dazzling effects of sunshine
to the radiance of equipage, vivid paint, gilded signs, and dazzling
wares. And blent with this pervading language of colors are the local
associations which the articles of merchandise hint. Consider how
extensive is their scope,--Persian carpets, Lyons silks, Genoa velvets,
ribbons from Coventry and laces from Brussels, the furs of the
Northwest, glass of Bohemia, ware of China, nuts from Brazil, silver of
Nevada mines, Sicily lemons, Turkey figs, metallic coffins and fresh
violets, Arabian dates, French chocolate, pine-apples from the West
Indies, venison from the Adirondacs, brilliant chemicals, gilded frames,
Manchester cloth, Sheffield cutlery, Irish linens, ruddy fruit, salmon
from the Thousand Isles, sables from Russia, watches from Geneva,
carvings from Switzerland, caricatures and India-rubber garments,
saccharine temples, books in tinted covers, toys, wines, perfumes,
drugs, dainties, art, luxury, science, all lavishing their products to
allure the throng,--phenomena common, indeed,