American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1851, 1851-07-21
. THE NEW COSTUME.
HIGHLY IMPoRTANTi

| When, in the course of passing events, it be-
comes necessary for the women of one nation
| to break off the bonds which Fashion has thrown
around them, and to assume among the females
| of other nations separate and distinct Dress
to which the laws Of Nature and regard for
their health 80 fully entitle them, a decent re-
spect for the opinions of mankind requires that
| they should declare the causes which impel
| them to this assumption.
| We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all women are created equal that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalien-
| able rights and among these are life, liberty,
and the pursuit Of health that to secure these
rights dresses are instituted, deriving their
fashion from the consent Of those who adopt
them; that whenever any form of dress be-
comes destructive of health or comfort it is
| the right of women to alter or abolish it, and
| to institute new dress formed and shaped on
such principles, and arranging its contour after
such a mode as to them shall seem most likely
to promote their health and insure their happi-
ness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that COS
tunes long established should not be changed
for light and trifing causes; and accordingly
| woful experience hath shown thatiwomankind
are more disposed to suffer, while the evils
arising from their costume are suffernble, than
to right themselves by aboishing the long and
| very incopvenient skirts to which they have
been accustomed. But when, the long trains
of their dresses, invariably sweeping the pave
| ments as they move along, eyince design on
| the part of the Tyranness Fashion to reduce
| our women under its absolute despotism, it is
their right-it is their duty to throw off the
long and cumbersome skirts, and to provide
shorter ones for their future wear. s Ua 6
Snch have been the patient sufferings of our
American women, and such is now the necessity
olt tba,,
TEN of dress, and to adopt other modes for their
future comfort. w5.r ..s Aamaa .s.t H
The history Of the present Tyranness Fashion
is history of repeated injuries both to the
comfort of the women and to their pockets,
having in direct object the constant soiling of
their garments, and the ruination Of their
health. To prove this, let facts be submitted
to all candid women, and to the rest of the
world. a..a ..a5.8 aa Ia.i ea3 &. ,r.H 4 81
SHE has refused her assent to those modes of
dress most necessary for the preservation of
| female health. .."E Es -sraa,
| SHE has forbidden her mantua- makers to in
| troduce any new costumes, however handsome
and convenient, until her consent has been OBJ
tained. Grt. a.g #a.H G.# .E...g 5...s#@ ..s.
SHE hns refused for the accommodation of
large districts of women, the privilege to dress
in frocks and trowsers-a right most inestima-
BILE to them, and formidable to their tyrants
only. a..a ##.a m@ .aHag
SHE has aimed to prevent the women from
assembling together to deliberate on the advan-
tages which would result from throwing off the
yoke of the Tyranness, for the sole purpose of
forcing them to o constant compliance with her
own measures. aE. ,agM..s
SHE has invariably assailed with ridicule all
those of the sex who, with womanly frmness,
have endeavored to assert their rights and re-
gain their independence. t.as ,s. as ,.-E
SHE has endeavored to prevent the adoption
of the new costume in all the States, for the
purpose of enabling foreigners to maintain that
influence in regard to the modes Of dress which
they have always exerted over the women Of the
country. 81" swa., III ss .94 ,.~aT s. ,sa
SHE has affected to render the mantua-makers
independent Of, and superior to, those who
ought in fact to hold them under their power.
SHE has combined with dressmakers abroad
to subject our women to modes Of costume for
eign to, and injurious to, their American con-
stitutions--prohibiting them, by acts of pre-
tended jurisdiction .t#.i.sa gmi.af !.
From venturing to promenade our streets in
the proposed new and. every way becoming fe-
male apparel 9a a.n. .gt S. 8.E aa
From consulting their own comfort and con-
venience in regard to locomotion and the free
use of their limbs: s .aUg j. U..at u#
From abandoning the long skirts so yolumi-
nous in their folds and so prejudicial to health:
From cutting off their long trains in all parts
of the United States: YaV .gs- aa8 .a"Usrsn
From introducing any new costume disap-
proved Of bya Paris mantua-maker. gnE aa|
SIZE has, by forcing upon us her extravagant
modes of dress, plundered our pockets, COM
mitted ravages on our health, and destroyed
the lives of many of our people. ,e ,ssta;4aE.
A TyRArNEss who thus subjects us to the
Inconvenience and injuries arising from the
introduction and maintenance of her foreign
fashions is unfit to be the ruler of free women.
We must, therefore, aoquiesce in the neces-
sity which requires our immediate separation
from foreign mantna-makers, and hold them in
regard to the proposed new costume as we would
AL others-=in opposition, enemies--in support
We, therefore, the free women of the United
States of America, in our various meetings
throughout the Union assembled, appealing to
the civilized world t and the rest Of mankind