The Origin of Fashionable Adornment
It is sometimes profitable to inquire into the origin of things, and learn the source from which certain customs and fashions have sprung; for however true it is that a stream from a pure spring may become corrupted in long meandering from the fountain head, it is certain that an impure fountain cannot send forth pure water. And as persons are sometimes inclined to bolster up the natural pride of their hearts, in the idea that they are treading in the steps of illustrious ancestors, by parity of reasoning, it ought to have a beneficial effect occasionally for them to learn that some of their customs sprung from a source just the opposite. With these remarks we commend one item to the consideration of those who are inclined to indulge in that outward adorning, which the foolish and immodest fashions of the day demand. According to tradition [see Kurtz's Sacred History, p. 54] the first person who added ornament to female apparel, was Naamah, the daughter of Cain!