The Arts of Beauty/Chapter 19
On this subject, the rule is, as laid down by a time honored maxim, that "beauty unadorned, is adorned the most." As a general remark, we may say that to a beautiful woman ornaments are unnecessary, and to one who is not beautiful, they are unavailing. But still, as gems and ornaments are handsome in themselves, a beautiful young woman, "if she chooses to share her empire with the jeweller and florist, may, not inelegantly, decorate her neck, arms, and head with something like a string of pearls and a band of flowers."
A young lady, however, of fair complexion and slender figure can find no adornment in gems, as they are too heavy for her style of beauty. Her ornaments can rarely exceed the natural or artificial flowers of the most delicate kind—such as the violet, the snow-drop, the myrtle, the primrose, or the lily of the valley. The garments of a young beauty of this style should be of white, or of the most tender shades of green, pink, blue and lilac. These, when judiciously selected, or mingled, array the graceful wearer like another Iris, "breathing youth and loveliness." As a general thing all ornaments detract from the exceeding charms of such beauty.
All ornaments for the head are, to say the least, a dangerous experiment. If a lady's hair is very beautiful and abundant, it will be difficult to select an ornament that can add anything to its charms; and if it is coarse and harsh, and of a bad color, she surely will not commit the blunder of attracting attention to it by gems and ornaments. So, if her neck and bosom be of a pearly whiteness, and fashioned after "nature's most enchanting mould," what ornament can add to its fascination? And if they are naturally dingy and brown, and lack the delicate outline of symmetrical beauty, why should she needlessly attract attention to her deformity by a sparkling necklace, or a string of pearls!
So too of her hands; if the fingers are long and bony, or lack the delicate taper and "pearl-tipped nails," why will she attract all eyes to her misfortune, with the glitter of rings and diamonds? A single diamond on a beautiful hand, or some light and rich bracelet on an arm which is charming enough to bear constant inspection, may not be inappropriate; but a profusion of these ornaments is always in bad taste, and a sure sign of vulgarity, or of deficient education.
I have, however, known some artful belles who contrived quite successfully to deceive the men with regard to their incurably dingy necks and bosoms, by covering the whole with a soft, white lace shirt, over which was placed a necklace of beautiful pearls, leaving upon the eye of the beholder the most enchanting ideas of what was hid beneath. A lady who has ugly arms may employ the same art, by the use of long sleeves, of the whitest and finest material, with a neat cuff, made to fit close to the wrist, and fastened with some rich jewel. But these are delicate arts, and require great discrimination and good taste to be used successfully.
Let every woman be taught to know that the danger ever lies in the use of too many, rather than in too few ornaments.