Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, August 7, 1841 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 59 pages of information about Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, August 7, 1841.

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, August 7, 1841 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 59 pages of information about Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, August 7, 1841.

We address ourselves more particularly to those whose animal part—­every man is said to resemble, in some respect, one of the lower animals—­is made up of the marmozet and the puppy.

Be it known, then, to all those whom it may concern, that there are, to speak in a general way, two great classes of Foreign Affairs—­the shining and the dingy.

The characteristic appearance of the former might, perhaps, be obtained by treating the apparel with a preparation of plumbago or black lead; that of the latter by the use of some fuliginous substance, as a dye, or, perhaps, by direct fumigation.  The gloss upon the cheeks might be produced by perseverance in the process of dry-rubbing; the more humid style of visage, by the application of emollient cataplasms.  General sallowness would result, as a matter of course, from assiduous dissipation.  Young gentlemen thus glazed and varnished, French-polished, in fact, from top to toe, might glitter in the sun like beetles; or adopt, if they preferred it, as being better adapted for lady-catching, the more sombre guise of the spider.

Foreign Affairs have two opposite modes of wearing the hair; we can recommend both to those studious of elegance.  The locks may be suffered to flow about the shoulders in ringlets, resembling the tendrils of the vine, by which means much will be done towards softening down the asperities of sex; or they may be cropped close to the scalp in such a manner as to impart a becoming prominence to the ears.  When the development of those appendages is more than usually ample, and when nature has given the head a particularly stiff and erect covering, descending in two lateral semicircles, and a central point on the forehead, the last mentioned style is the more appropriate By its adoption, the most will be made of certain personal, we might almost say generic, advantages;—­we shall call it, in the language of the Foreign Affairs themselves, the coiffure a-la-singe.

Useful hints, with respect to the management of the whiskers, may be derived from the study of Foreign Affairs.  The broad, shorn, smooth extent of jaw, darkened merely on its denuded surface, and the trimmed regular fringe surrounding the face, are both, in perhaps equal degrees, worthy of the attention of the tasteful.  The shaggy beard and mustachios, especially, if aided by the effect of a ferocious scowl, will admirably suit those who would wish to have an imposing appearance; the chin, with its pointed tuft a la capricorne, will, at all events, ensure distinction from the human herd; and the decorated upper lip, with its downy growth dyed black, and gummed (the cheek at the same time having been faintly tinged with rouge, the locks parted, perfumed, and curled, the waist duly compressed, a slight addition, if necessary, made to the breadth of the hips, and the feet confined by the most taper and diminutive chausserie imaginable), will just serve to give to the tout ensemble that one touch of the masculine character which, perhaps, it may be well to retain.

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Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, August 7, 1841 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.