SECTION III.

APPLICATIONS TO CLOTHING.

INTRODUCTION (656.).

CHAPTER I.-MEN'S CLOTHING (657.-680.).

CHAPTER II.-WOMEN'S CLOTHING (681.—730.).

INTRODUCTION.

(656.) IN explaining the applications of the law of contrast which form the subject of this Section, my intention is, in the instance of male clothing, to treat principally the question of the association of colours in military uniforms, as a matter of state economy; and in the case of female clothing, of deciding the question of the associations which are most suitable when sitting for a portrait. The first question is entirely one of administrative economy; the second belongs solely to the domain of art.

Under the latter relation, I shall attain the aim proposed, if, in the views set forth, the portrait painter finds the means of selecting associations of colours which, by imparting to his works more brilliancy and harmony, render them thereby Jess susceptible of appearing antiquated when the prevailing fashion of his time is forgotten.

Some readers may suppose, that, having already treated * of many particulars of portrait painting, I ought to have then considered the question just referred to: my motive for doing otherwise was, that in the section On Colouring, if I could not omit mentioning this branch of painting, it was without giving the developments into which I am now about to enter, because not only would they have been out of proportion with the rest of the subject, but also certain details would not have been sufficiently elucidated, as I hope they will be by many facts which I have spoken of only in that part of the work which follows the section On Colouring.

* Second Part, 1st Division, Section 3rd.

CHAPTER I.

MEN'S CLOTHING.

(657.) Ir is a fact known to many persons that a uniform composed of cloths of different colours may be worn much longer and appear better to the eye, although nearly worn out, than a suit of a single colour, even when this latter is of a piece of cloth identical with one of those composing the first. The law of contrast gives the reason of this fact perfectly, as I shall show in the following article, in demonstrating the advantage of the assortment of colours for military uniforms in an economical relation.

§ 1.

OF THE ADVANTAGES OF CONTRAST CONSIDERED WITH REGARD TO THE OPTICAL STRENGTHENING OR PURIFYING OF THE COLOUR OF CLOTHS FOR CLOTHING.

ARTICLE 1.

Of Uniforms, the Colours of which are complementary. (658.) Let us suppose a uniform of Red and Green, like that of many cavalry regiments; by the law of contrast, the two colours, being complementary, mutually strengthen each other; the Green renders the Red redder, and the Red renders the Green greener. I suppose the augmentation of colour resulting from contrast to be one-tenth for each cloth, the colour of which, seen separately, is represented by unity; by juxtaposition each colour then becomes equal to 1 + 1; I suppose also that a dress made simply of green or of red cloth, after having been worn a year, has lost one-tenth of its colour; it is evident that a uniform composed of green and of red cloth, after being worn for the same length of time, will not appear to the eye formed of two cloths which will have lost each one-tenth of their original colour, since the

Green gives Red to the Red, and the Red gives Green to the Green; and if we do not admit that the strengthening is precisely equal to one-tenth of the original colour, nevertheless observation proves that the real fraction which expresses it is not far from that, so that if, on the supposition I have made, we cannot say that at the year's end a piece of a bicoloured uniform exhibits cloths which have exactly the same colour as that of each new cloth seen separately, yet we are obliged to admit that the difference is small; I forgot to say that the two colours are taken at the same tone.

(659.) This reasoning applies to bi-coloured uniforms, of which the colours, as Orange and Blue, Violet and Greenishyellow, Indigo and Orange-yellow, are complementary to each other; only we must take into account the difference of tone more or less great that may exist between them, when they are not taken at the same tone, as I have supposed in the preceding example.

(660.) Deep Orange and Blue are susceptible of making a good uniform; but the blue cloth must not be too deep to combine favourably with the bright Orange.

(661.) Greenish-yellow and Violet, as deep as possible, such as can be obtained from woad, are susceptible of forming a fine uniform for light cavalry. The only objection is to the violet colour, which is durable only when it is the result of the mixture of the vat of cochineal and indigo blue, and when it is taken at a certain height of tone.

ARTICLE 2.

Uniforms of which the Colours, without being complementary, are, nevertheless, very contrasting.

(662.) Among the colours which are not mutually complementary, but of which the contrast is agreeable, and consequently advantageous for uniforms, I shall cite particularly Blue and Yellow, Blue and Scarlet, Green and Yellow.

Blue and Yellow.

(663.) These two colours accord well together; the Blue gives an Orange tint to the Yellow, much more evident when

the tone of the latter is higher, and that of the Blue is lower. In its turn, under the same conditions, the Yellow communicates to the Blue a Violet tint, which brightens it; if the Blue has a disagreeable Green tint, the Yellow neutralises it; but if there exists a great difference of tone between the two colours, the contrast arising from this difference might go so far as to nullify the effect resulting from contrast of colours; and besides, up to a certain point, the deep Blue will appear Black or less Violet, as the Yellow, in weakening itself, may appear Green.

Blue and Scarlet.

(664.) Deep Blue and Scarlet-Red make a good assortment for a uniform; the first, by its Orange complementary, gives more fire to the Scarlet-Red, and this latter, in adding its complementary, Greenish-Blue, to the deep Blue, brings it up to Blue, properly so called; for we must not forget that deep Blue tinted with Indigo or Prussian Blue, is rather Violet than pure Blue.

In this assortment is included the uniform of Indigo-Blue and Madder-Red of many regiments in the French army. There is no doubt, that for show, a lighter Blue and an Orange-Madder purer, and consequently less dull and less rosy than the actual colours, would be preferable, if no White enters into the uniform.

Green and Yellow.

(665.) Green and Yellow form an association pleasing to the eye by its gaiety, which especially suits a cavalry uniform. But it should be remarked, that to obtain the most suitable assortment, the Green must be lighter and yellower than that which accords well with Red, for the twofold reason that the Yellow which is in juxtaposition with Green, neutralising by its Violet a portion of the Yellow of the Green cloth, exalts the Blue, and consequently removes some of the brilliancy of the Green; besides, this effect constantly tends to increase, because the Yellow of the green cloth is sooner altered than its Blue. On the other hand, the yellow cloth receiving some Red by its juxtaposition with Green, it must not be taken too Orange.