The Etiquette of Changing Fashions

The new freedoms of women after World War I brought the “flappers” and their shorter hemlines, bare legs, and bare-backed dresses. These styles brought new problems in etiquette... “Several nights ago a dozen barelegged and bare-backed women surprised an exclusive west-end restaurant by appearing on the dance floor. Customers who remembered the Victorian days gasped and several of them hurriedly left ... Complaints were dispatched!”

Half Dressed Women Annoy London Police 

(By United Press) LONDON, July, 27 — The Lord Chamberlain's office was given a new problem in etiquette today, involving the appearance of women dancers without stockings. Several nights ago a dozen barelegged and bare-backed women surprised an exclusive west-end restaurant by appearing on the dance floor. Customers who remembered the Victorian days gasped and several of them hurriedly left the place. Complaints were dispatched to the Lord Chamberlain's office in an effort to force a decision on whether bare-legged women could dance in cabarets. The bare-leg fad has gained popularity among office women, tennis players and suburban shop girls. — 1931

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Another Victorian Female Fad

“Good Morning, Sir,” she said

They Tip Their Hats!

What the Girls Are Now Doing–A San Francisco Invention That Has Caught on in New York and Chicago

It is the fashion in the East now for girls to tip their hats by way of salutation!

The New York damsels were the first who had the courage to expose their precious bangs to the elements whenever they met a friend. Then the Chicago girls followed their example, and now the fashion has reached San Francisco.

Etiquette has not yet asked ladies to tip those dainty little creations, all lace and feathers, nor yet the towering flower gardens that are the bane of our theaters. The hat that girls tip is a special headgear, warranted to be put on and taken off easily, and to stand hard wear and tear. It was patented by a San Francisco firm, so that for once we can claim the glory at having dictated fashion to the East. Untrimmed, the hat looks a sort of cross between a cook's cap dyed black and a man-of-wars-man's hat. It is only when examined conscientiously that its entire originality is discovered. 

Upon a circular band of straw, an inch and a half in depth, is posed a plate of fine chip straw about ten inches in diameter. The front of the band is pleasingly ornamented with a strong peak of glazed leather, which can be firmly grasped and used to raise the hat, without any injury to the entire construction. The hat has quite a rakish appearance when trimmed. This is usually done by encircling the band of straw with ribbon and velvet and gracefully tilting up one side of the brim, with flowers or a plume of feather. – San Francisco Call, 1893

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Etiquette and the Papal Wardrobe

Heavenly Bodies — Fashion and the Catholic Imagination... Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council, had been wanting for some time for the dicastery to focus on the relationship between fashion, art and faith, and agreed to collaborate with an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art because of the Met’s significance to culture and the potential global outreach, but officials were unaware of the widely criticized gala that took place last Monday night. “We wanted to be involved and those behind it had good intentions,” a Vatican official told the Register. The Met Gala “crossed a line and was openly, brazenly disrespectful,” wrote Piers Morgan, Catholic talk show host. Pop singer Rihanna dressed up as a provocative, sequinned pope and actress Jennifer Lopez wore a jewel-encrusted multi-coloured cross. The Met Gala is the annual curtain-raising event for its Summer exhibit. The Vatican has loaned 40 priceless items which serve as the “cornerstone” of the display, including “papal robes and accessories from the Sistine Chapel sacristy, many of which have never been seen outside the Vatican.”  – National Catholic Register Blogger Edward Pentin

A Wonderful Wardrobe

“The most costly wardrobe in the world is to be found at Rome, and belongs to the Pope,” says M. A. P. Each day etiquette compels him to wear different garments, and as nearly all of them are ornamented with rich and rare gems, no millionaire could hope to purchase them, even if a value could be placed on them. The Pope's little skull caps are of the finest and most beautiful of silk, while his slippers of embroidered velvet are gorgeous to look at, being works of art. His gloves, made of white wool, are still more costly, embroidered as they are, with fine pearls in the shape of a cross. A special flock of fifty sheep are kept, from which all the Papal woolen garments are manufactured. The surplices are of the most valuable and beautiful lace, while one long cape, the cappa magna, which is rarely worn, hangs straight from the shoulders, and literally gleams from top to bottom with gold and precious stones. The rings, too, which the Pope wears are priceless, containing, as they do, many stones of matchless quality. – Los Angeles Herald, 1910

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Edwardian Era Etiquette for Men

A generation has witnessed extraordinary concessions to comfort in summer clothes. Suits of linen and duck and seersucker date from before the war, but it is only since the 1880’s that unstarched shirts and low-cut shoes of tan or patent leather has come into general use.

Question of Clothes a Great Problem

Where Is the Deadline Between Men’s Comfort and Decorum?

The hot wave brings, up anew the question of midsummer negligee. To what extent may conventionality in clothes be disregarded for comfort. The refusal of the management of a fashionable hotel to serve a guest in his shirtsleeves was an incident of yesterday’s news. At the Congress of Whist Players a southerner of the old school remained true to traditions of respect for the presence of ladies and sweltered in broadcloth, while the other players sat coatless. Where is the deadline of decorum to be drawn? 

A generation has witnessed extraordinary concessions to comfort in summer clothes. Suits of linen and duck and seersucker date from before the war, but it is only since the eighties that unstarched shirts and low-cut shoes of tan or patent leather has come into general use. It is during that period that outing clothes and the “two-piece” suits of thin fabrics and washable materials have gained their great hold and the belt universally replaced the suspenders. “Athletic” underwear, so called, is of very recent adoption. The inroad of negligee on manners is a serious phase of the question. 

The shirtwaist man is endurable in his place, but that place is clearly not at a public dinner table or a formal public gathering, nor yet in an automobile. The question of shirtsleeves on the streets is a moot one. But does the slight gain in personal comfort compensate for the necessary loss of self-respect? The line of propriety in summer clothes is now so lax that it should not needlessly be overstepped. – New York Tribune, 1908

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Etiquette and Casual Attire

Style icons earn their status by using a bit of careful consideration and forethought when buying their clothes, (regardless of price) and by dressing appropriately for an occasion. Looking well groomed and stylish does not require a lot of money. In many cases, it merely requires common sense.

‘Casual Look’ Goes Too Far

“Her dresses always looked as though they had been designed in a rage and put on in a tempest... she tried to look picturesque but only succeeded in being untidy... like a bird of paradise that had been out all night in the rain.” Those words were written in 1890-91 by Oscar Wilde in "The Picture of Dorian Gray.” They could just as well be a commentary today on the way so many women are dressing. That “casual” look in clothes, in other words, has gone just too far it’s time for a return to some sanity, some semblance of elegance, clothes to make men’s eyes turn in admiration instead of astonishment. My suggestion is that we start spring by dressing up again. Why not begin with Easter Sunday?

Remember when it meant a special new bonnet, something to inspire an Irving Berlin song? Remember when you looked forward to the special new outfit to be worn on that day and when you’d not dream of going to church without hat and gloves? What changed it all? You could blame, or credit, everything from a general letdown in our requirements for etiquette, to rebellion against the “older generation” standards, to a new lifestyle that simply left no time for daily grooming requirements, such as washing white gloves and shining one’s shoes. You can say it all happened because we no longer had our fashion image makers constantly before us. White-gloved Princess Grace went off to royal duties and bringing up a family in Monaco. The Duchess of Windsor, a supreme example of elegance, went almost into seclusion after the death of the Duke, Britain’s former King.

Even Jacqueline Kennedy changed. When she was First Lady, Women’s Wear Daily gave her another title—“Her Elegance.” Then, women copied everything from the now Mrs. Aristotle Onassis pillbox hats, to her smart, lower-heeled shoes, and admired or envied her regal look when she entertained heads of state. Now, more often than not, we catch pictures of Mrs. Onassis windblown, wearing the eternal dark glasses, in pants and “poor boy” pullover tops. (Or, in the case of one Italian magazine’s claim, in the altogether). Somewhere we traded in neatness for carelessness and I think acceptance of pants everywhere —office, shopping, even the most elegant restaurants —helped pull down the barriers. 

I’m not anti-pantsuits so much as pro-skirts. Trousers have a definite place on the modern scene and I confess that I'm wearing them even as I write this at the office. But often, there is some feminine rebellion that says, “Put on a dress today,” and immediately I feel more like a woman. I take no strong stand one way or another on hats. They go handsomely with some faces, terribly with others. Apparently, the young are helping to bring them back, for the millinery industry reports a thriving business this spring. One of my earliest childhood memories, however, is of my mother in a new hat —an Easter one of pale gray straw, its wide “picture” brim covered with big flowers in assorted pinks, the whole thing a frame for her blonde Gibson Girl hair style. – By Gay Pauley, UPI Women’s Editor, New York, 1973

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Etiquette and Seasonal Standards

The Prime Minister of Great Britain, who had been unilaterally escalating formality by wearing hats all summer, shows up dressed in silk with pearls and high heels. She is quoted as having refused to participate in “a lowering of standards.”– Judith Martin, aka Miss Manners 

When temperatures go up, fashion decorum goes out the window...

Now that “White Shoe Season” is closing (after today, offenders should expect no mercy), let us review the fashion lessons of this past summer. This year's two big fashion stories are, in Miss Manners’ authoritative opinion: 

A. The Prime Minister of Canada suggests that heads of government attending the 14th economic summit conference in Toronto dress casually.

The Prime Minister of Great Britain, who had been unilaterally escalating formality by wearing hats all summer, shows up dressed in silk with pearls and high heels. She is quoted as having refused to participate in “a lowering of standards.” 

The Prime Minister of Canada wears a suit. 

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B. A Washington messenger is barred from entering the Department of Justice while wearing a T-shirt referring to the then-Chief Executive of that establishment as a pig. He responds by:

1. Unsuccessfully arguing the right of free speech. 

2. Unsuccessfully offering to remove the T-shirt in return for access to the building, presumably shirtless. 

3. Successfully arranging to have an acceptably dressed replacement sent from the messenger service in time to deliver the goods as promised.

4. Delivering his problem to the American Civil Liberties Union, which successfully argues his right of free speech. The Department of Justice, charged with demonstrating that it “obviously doesn't understand what the First Amendment is all about,” reverses its ruling after talk of the ACLU's filing a lawsuit. 

Now, what do these two stories teach us? Quite a bit about politics, notably that it makes an awful lot of difference who is doing the talking. Also that anyone hoping to maintain a higher standard than the society generally recognizes has to be prepared to lend practical assistance. If the Department of Justice, like certain restaurants and clubs, kept articles of “proper attire” on hand to lend those whom it deemed improperly dressed, solution 2. might have worked, and there might not have been a need to escalate to 4. The etiquette angle of all this is, naturally, more subtle. 

High symbolism, and some of the low kind as well, is involved. Social symbolism is not something in which modern people are skilled, and summer heat seems to rob them of any dexterity they might have. Each year, a number of otherwise relatively civilized gentlemen can be counted upon to raise a battle cry against the tyranny of the necktie. The more adventurous even suggest a fullscale clothing revolution, so that each man can express his true self. Miss Manners hopes sensible people can see the fallacy here. Clothing does express individual taste, but only within the context of the community. One's identity involves not only the contents of the particular heart or mind, but the age, gender, era, nationality and particular activity in which one happens to be engaged. To choose clothing that violates those requirements is to broadcast that one is in conflict with them. 

When the British Prime Minister refused to don clothes appropriate to relaxation, she was refusing to pretend that the economic summit was an informal gathering of friends, rather than serious international business. Miss Manner is less ready to cheer on the messenger. Since T-shirts proclaim the wearer’s presumed sentiment, it seems reasonable to hold the wearer as accountable for them as if he were uttering the statements publicly aloud. In most situations, that would merely mean that the bearer should be prepared for counter-attacks by people expressing the right of free speech. The confinement of a necktie is nowhere near as risky in summertime as is offering one’s innermost views to the chance reactions of strangers. – Miss Manners, September 4, 1988

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Etiquette and Cockades

Prince Charles Edward Stuart wearing a cockade – A cockade was pinned on both the side of a man's tricorne or ‘cocked hat,’ or on his lapel. Women could also wear it on their hat or in their hair. In pre-revolutionary France, the cockade of the Bourbon Dynasty was all white. In Great Britain, supporters of a Jacobite restoration wore white cockades, while the recently established Hanoverian Monarchy used a black cockade. In the 18th and 19th centuries, coloured cockades were worn throughout Europe, to show the allegiance of their wearers to some political faction, their rank, or as part of a servant's livery. Military uniforms used cockades as well.

Origins and Etiquette of “Cockade” Under Inquiry 

The origin of the cockade is still under investigation in the columns of the Justice of the Peace. 

A correspondent cites the Clarendon Press Dictionary, which gives “Cockade” : A corruption of cockard, a. F. cockarde, derivation of Coc-Cock according to Littre, so called from the cock's comb. But the first appearance of the word is in Rabelais, in the phrase ‘bonnet a la coquarde,’ explained by Cotgrave (1611) as a ‘Spanish cap, or fashion of bonnet, used by the most substantial men of yore; also any bonnet or cap worn proudly, or peartly on the one side.’ 

Here, coquarde appears to be the feminine of coquard: adj. ‘foolishly proud, saucy... malapert, as such a malapert cockscomb’ as a ribbon, knot of ribbons, rosette, or the like, worn in the hat as a badge of office or party, or as part of a livery dress. The cockade worn in the hat by coachmen and livery servants of persons serving under the Crown, is a rosette of black leather, originally a distinctive badge of the House of Hanover, as the white cockade was of the House of  Stuart and its adherents.” 

Then follows a reference to the use of the word at various dates from 1160 to 1846. It is worn, as all know, by livery servants of persons serving under the Crown, but not necessarily all such persons, and the particular persons so serving must be ascertained by long established custom. No doubt many persons, for some obscure reason not easily understood, unless they be “foolishly proud, saucy, or malapert,” now and again assume the badge whom “etiquette” does not acknowledge as entitled to the privilege. – San Francisco Call, 1909

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette of a King’s Wardrobe

What keeps the Royal valets busy (and the King always takes a couple with him,—like Count D'Orsay) is the constantly growing stock of official clothes, because Albert Edward is a stickler for etiquette. If he goes to an army ceremony, he wears the uniform of the Field Marshal, and he attends naval affairs dressed as an Admiral of the Fleet.

King Edward's Wardrobe

Much nonsense is customarily talked and written about the King's clothes. But with every deduction made for the imagination of talkers and writers, the fact remains that Edward VII travels with a good deal of baggage “whene’er” (as the Isaac Watts hymn puts it) “he takes his walks abroad.” The King is a man of sense in regard to dress, whatever he may be in any other respect; but I do not think he carries about, or wears more ordinary clothes, than any other gentleman of high position. 

What keeps the Royal valets busy (and the King always takes a couple with him,—like Count D'Orsay) is the constantly growing stock of official clothes,  because Albert Edward is a stickler for etiquette. If he goes to an army ceremony, he wears the uniform of the Field Marshal, and he attends naval affairs dressed as an Admiral of the Fleet. Similarly, when he went to Kiel the other day to visit his nephew (whom the irreverant call William the Bumptious and the punctilious Kaiser Wilhelm) he took along, not only a sufficiency of yachting suits and flannels—though the King hates flannel—but also a full rig out for every German and Prussian regiment of which he is an honorary officer; and conforming to the ridiculous and meaningless custom of European courts he is in that position with regard to a good many. 

And, of course, there were jacket suits of various weights, because the King loves a lounge suit, and though being what he is, he may not know the luxury of an old, shabby suit, he gets as near it as he dare. The King, though a well-dressed man and a man (as I said before) of some, though not of, exquisite taste (his son, the Prince of  Wales, is neither) is not a dandy and never was a dandy.—The Haberdasher, 1904

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Walking Stick Etiquette

Some walking sticks are dashed backward and forward like lethal bayonets! So never mind if he growls; you are acting in the interests of etiquette and sound citizenship.

Canes and Sound Citizenship

Walking sticks are "In" with a greater virulence than has prevailed since the year 1898, says the London Chronicle. The West End began it with silver-topped and gold-topped ebonies (same as used by the King), and the East has taken up the tale with cherry crooks that also have metal embellishments. In the Fleet Street-Strand Monkey Crawl of promenaders, nine out of every ten male promenaders had sticks, whereas a few years back the crowd was almost stickless. 

The sticks, it may be added, are a menace, so few people having studied the art of carrying them. They are carried at dangerous angles below the armpit; also they are dashed backward and forward like lethal bayonets. When you come upon a man carrying a stick that projects from his armpit upward behind him, turn it down. Never mind if he growls; you are acting in the interests of etiquette and sound citizenship. — 1914

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Edwardian Era Dress Etiquette

Flowers and frills are out of place in an office or about the streets in the morning. A tailored coat and skirt, with a plain hat and a neat shirt blouse always look well and convey the impression that you are a good woman of business.

The Etiquette of Dress

“I DON'T know what to put on for this occasion. I wish I knew what the other people will be wearing!” says many a puzzled girl as she overhauls her wardrobe with a view to making herself look as nice as possible for some social or business event. 

For dinner at a private house it is correct to wear evening dress, unless your hostess has given you a hint to the contrary. Perhaps she has said in her invitation, “Don’t dress,” and in that case you will wear a pretty, light blouse, or a dainty afternoon frock. But if she has said nothing, you should wear evening dress and gloves, unless you happen to know that the dinner is quite a family matter, in which case the gloves may be dispensed with. 

For a theater or concert, you should wear a stylish gown, cut high or low, as you wish, an evening cloak, gloves and no hat. Hats are occasionally worn in theaters, but unless they are very elaborate ones, they do not look well, and in any case they are apt to prove troublesome. The same costume is correct for a bridge party, an evening “at home” or a dinner at a restaurant. 

For a dance, wear the prettiest low-necked evening dress that you possess, with jewels or flowers. For a wedding an up-to-date afternoon toilette, with a long skirt and a pretty hat, is the correct thing. The same costume is correct for an afternoon “at home,” an afternoon bridge party or a garden party. For a call, a nice walking suit looks best. A rather elaborate coat and skirt, with a stylish hat and a dainty blouse, is always safe to choose. When paying a first call be particular about your dress or your hostess, who does not know you, is likely to think that you regard her as unworthy of consideration. 

For a morning call or business interview let all your dress be as neat and plain as possible. Flowers and frills are out of place in an office or about the streets in the morning. A tailored coat and skirt, with a plain hat and a neat shirt blouse always look well and convey the impression that you are a good woman of business. — Los Angeles Herald, 1911

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Portuguese Royal Court Etiquette

Doña Maria Pia of Savoy ~ She was a Portuguese “Queen Consort,” spouse of King Luís I of Portugal

The Best Dressed Woman In Europe

The Queen of Portugal is supposed to be the best dressed woman in Europe. The statement that she never wears a dress twice is an exaggeration. What are evidently referred to, are dresses worn on public occasions. This is in accordance with Court etiquette.

It may not be generally known that the Queen of Portugal has all her morning dresses made in London, and a morning costume just finished for her Majesty is in blue and brown, a plain skirt in brown brocade in a floral design, the outline of the pattern being in pale blue. Over the skirt is draped a pointed tunic of brown cloth, with black draperies of the same.

The bodice of brown cloth is shaped somewhat like an officer's shell jacket, with little gilt buttons all round the edge. Where the jacket is cut away in front, a loose vest front of pale blue silk is revealed, a sash of the same being ranged like a scarf drapery passing under the basque of the jacket behind, tied in two loops. — Cardiff Mail, May 8, 1885

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Red Carpet Worthy Etiquette

When honored with an Academy Award nomination, Red Carpet attire should be chosen carefully. Attire should invite compliments, not questions of your judgement, regardless of how much fun you feel it would be to attend in what appears to be a giant, dead swan!— “Society has its own definite code of manners that must be observed before one can enter its portals. There are certain rules that must be followed before one can enter its envied circle. There are conventionalities that must be observed ... There are certain prevailing modes in dressing ... To know and adhere to these laws is to be admitted to the highest society and enjoy the company of the most brilliant minds. — Etiquette is an art—the art of doing and saying the correct thing at the correct time—the art of being able to hold oneself always in hand, no matter how exacting the circumstance.” —From Lillian Eichler's 1921, Book of Etiquette

The Red Carpet: A brief history...

For decades, stars great, small and dubious have swanned down the Oscars regal rug — Crimson being the color of royalty for millennia. But what of its origins? It has a backstory as rich and multifarious as a Selznick epic!

458 B.C.
In Aeschylus' tentpole tragedy, Agamemnon returns from the Trojan War to find that his wife, Clytemnestra, had laid a path of dark red tapestries, supposedly in his honor. Agamemnon's response, "Only the gods deserve the pomps of honor, I am human." What that 21st-century red carpet honorees were so humble.

1821 A.D.
In Georgetown, South Carolina, a ceremonial red carpet was rolled out for President James Monroe when he arrived by riverboat.

1902
The New York Central launched the 20th Century Limited, an exclusive passenger express between New York and Chicago. Embarking passengers at Grand Central Terminal walked a red carpet that ran the length of the platform, supposedly inspiring the bromide "red-carpet treatment."

In Hitchcock's, North by Northwest, Cary Grant escapes Manhattan on the Limited -— The scene was shot at Grand Central and featured a carpet by industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss. Grant, disguised as a Red Cap, and Eva Marie Saint, tromp on plush red when the train arrives in Chicago.

1922
Hollywood's first red carpet event usually is ascribed to the opening of Sid Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and the premiere of "Robin Hood," starring Douglas Fairbanks. The irrepressible Grauman, a founding Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member, later would take credit for the red carpet becoming a staple at Hollywood events.

1961
The first Oscar's red carpet was rolled out at the 33rd Academy Awards on April 17, 1961 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

1966
The Oscars were broadcast in color for the first time, giving millions of viewers a glimpse of the red carpet in living color.

1992
The American Turf and Carpet company took over making the Oscars red carpet. The continuous filament nylon creation is manufactured and dyed in Dalton Georgia, and replaced every two years. The carpet is not wholly red. It's dyed with a proprietary blend of colors, used exclusively for the carpet to make it "read red" on television ("Nancy Reagan red", as Joan Rivers called it), sealed to prevent the color from degrading under assault from innumerable high heels.

2001
The Oscars moved to the Kodak (now Dolby) Theater. The red carpet followed.

2003
US forces invaded Iraq three days before the Oscars. In deference, the preshow hoopla was scaled-back dramatically, including the red carpet itself, which shrunk to a vestigial doormat in front of the theater entrance.

2013
A metastasizing number of awards events and premieres inspired organizers to roll out carpets in yellow, (like at the 2013 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards,) blue, pink and even white. The Grammys, Emmys, and Oscars carpets remain steadfastly red.

2014
Today's Oscar red carpet has grown to 16,500 square feet and takes two days to install. Scraps are jealously guarded to keep them out of the hands of eBay trolls.  Source —The Hollywood Reporter

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia