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il^E IN TU RIN. 193
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Lover Of Strong 1 Contrasts Would Ha...
arcades or portici winch line the Strada di Po , and the Piazza Si Castelloa really magnificent squareare the resort of all the
fashionable , idlers of both sexes in Turi , n , and , lined on one side by handsome shops open on the other to the light and air , sheltered
alike from rain and sun , really form a very _attractive promenade . As the belles flit from , magasin to magasin , undulating' in a maze of
crinoline and flounces , they have the satisfaction of knowing that they are passed in review by the loungers at the cafes , as numerous
under the arcades as in every other part of the town ; the most redoubted of these tribunals of criticism and gossip being the Cafe
Fiorio , frequented by the cream of the aristocracy . Even the comtessewhothough not oldwas singularly void of pretension , and
quiet , in her , deportment , thoug , ht it necessary to evince some timidity , at encountering this ordeal .
* . ' When I am alone , madanie , I always make a great detour to avoid passing before Fiorio ' s . It is astonishing what remarks are
made by those messieurs , and what stories they contrive to get hold of . When there is nothing else to be said , they pull one ' s toilette
to pieces , and are-merciless if everything is not perfectly fresh and ; iii good taste . I assure you the expense of dress now amongst us is
positively frightful ; and those like me who have not a large income , are almost compelled to renounce going much into society , unless
indeed they do as some I could point out to you , —run up bills for twenty or thirty thousand francswhich their husbands will eventually
, be compelled to pay , at great sacrifice and inconvenience probably ; for we have not fortunes in Piedmont like your English nobility . "
" It is a pity that the men by their fastidiousness contribute to this extravagance . "
" Undoubtedly it is , but there is no reasoning on the subject . A mad desire for ending seems to pervade all ranks . Even in the
bourgeoisie a taste sp for luxury and elegance has of late exhibited itself which is appalling . The wives of shop-keepers who , ten or fifteen
years ago , would have esteemed themselves happy with a simple cotton printa freshlironed capand a black silk apron , for their
Sunday costume , , now y sweep along , the Rue du Po in brocades of the value of three or four hundred francs , and with feathers in their
bonnets !" " Still , comtesse , as the example comes from above , it is not
surprising " Ah it chere should , that find is just imitators one of . " the ideas of the day ! For my part be marked
I cannot understand why difference of rank should not as it used to be , by regulations as to dress . We should see some
curious transformations then !" By this time we had left the dreaded Fiorio ' s some way behi nd *
and coming upon another cafe of less dazzling celebrity , the open doors and windows of which _g-ave leasant glimpses of spacious
saloons -with gilded ceilings and mirrors p , crimson velvet sofas , and a profusion ' ' of little-circular marWe tables , the comtesse proposed'that "
vojl iv . _p "
Il^E In Tu Rin. 193
il _^ E IN TU RIN . 193
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Nov. 1, 1859, page 193, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01111859/page/49/
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