do? have you got a headach and want
something light? would you put on something that will not spoil by
being pulled about, sat on, slept on, and stood on? something handy,
useful, comfortable, and withal good-looking?--What do you do? you get
a foraging cap. Every man looks well in a foraging cap; it harmonizes
with every body's face: it makes the old look young, and the young
look smart: it is, without pretence, plain in detail, and yet elegant
in outline: it has no straight lines in it, and yet its curves are in
contrast with those of the head; they run in opposite directions: and
the shade of the cap, if it has one, emulates the decisiveness of the
nose, and gives character to the profile of the head, just as the nose
gives point and force to the face. Nothing so easily admits of
suitable ornament: a plain band--a golden one--or even a coloured
one--makes it suitable to the various ranks and occupations of men:
while its material, admitting of infinite variety, according to the
taste of the wearer, never injures the source of its beauty its form.
The cap fails in only one thing; it is unfit for rainy weather; it
will only do for dry days. Do not attempt to put a flap behind it, and
tie it under your chin--you at once convert it into an ugly nightcap;
its curves then imitate those of the head, and the ridiculous takes
the place of the becoming. For three hundred days, however, out of the
three hundred and sixty-five, such a cap may be worn with the greatest
comfort and advantage: while, for simplicity and elegance, it has no
rival. We exclude most vigorously all other kinds of caps; we admit
nothing but the common round foraging cap, with a small shade over the
eyes; we especially set our faces against the little quirked Highland
cap, now revived, and becoming popular among the southrons. This cap
has part of its curves--those behind the head approximating too
closely to the curve of the skull: in fact, at the hinder part it is a
skull-cap; whereas, the other part of the curves in front are too much
in opposition to the outline of the face: they bend over and form an
unpleasant contrast with the nose and chin: they are deficient in the
shade or visor, and there is not one man in a thousand whose face they
suit. All fancy-caps with whalebone, falling tops, angular
projections, &c., are utterly abominate; we pin our faith to the
quiet, unsophisticated, gentlemanlike cap worn by our officers: it
beats almost any other hea