costume quotes

It is singular that the Japanese, who rarely commit a solecism in taste in their national costume, architecture, or decorative art, seem to be perfectly destitute of perception when they borrow ours.

- Isabella married name Isabella Bishop Bird
  Unbeaten Tracks in Japan:  An  Account of  Travels on Horseback in the Interior1880 (published1885).

The same costume will be Indecent†10 years before its time Shameless†5 years before its time Outre   (daring)†1year before its time Smart Dowdy†1year after its time Hideous†10 years after its time Ridiculous†20 years after its time Amusing†30 years after its time Quaint†50 years after its time Charming†70 years after its time Romantic†100 years after its time Beautiful†150 years after its time.

-James Laver
  Taste and Fashion, ch.18.

   If the cardinal points of costume are Robes,Tato, Rig and Scunge, where are shorts in this compass? Theyare the never Robes as other bareleg outfits have been: the toga, the kilt, the lava-lava, the Mahatma's cotton dhoti; archbishops and field marshals at their ceremonies never wear shorts. The very word means underpants in North America.

- Les(lie Allan) Murray
  Selected Poems,'The Dream of  Wearing Shorts Forever'.