Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1851-12-27
TILE NE W COS M iii
Highly I,upoYtant

/ When, in the course Of passing events
Il becomes necessary forlhe woman ofIone
nation TO break OF the bonds which Fash.
Oh has thrown around them, and to al
tsHme among the females Of other natioiIs
/ q separate and distinct dress, To which tho
laws Of Nature aud 4 regard for THEN
health 50 fully entitle them, a decent re.
! spect for the opinions ofntdatkiua requires
that they should declare the causes which
/ impel them TO this assumption. s
We hold these truths to be- self.evident,
that all woman are created equai--tIla,
they are endowed BY their Creator with
certain analienable rights, and among these
are ife, liberty and the pursuit of haaltl
to secure these rights dresses are instit,l
ted, deriving their fashion from the consent
Of those who adopt thei1l---that whenever
any form Of dress becomes destructive oI
health or comfort it is the right of woman
| to sater or abolish il, and toinstitutc a new
dress formed and shaped osa sunhE llfsaei
| pies, and arranging its co,stoill y afser such
| d mode al to them shall seem most likely
to promote their health and insure their
happiness. Prudence, indeed, willlictate
that costumes long established should not
be changed for light and trifling causes
and accordingly woful experience hath
shown that wornankind are more disposed
to suffer, while the evils arising from their
costume are silfferable, than to right them
selves by abolishing the long and very in
convenient skirts to which they have been
accustomed. But when the long trains d
their dresses, invariably sweeping the
pavements as they move along, evince a
design on the part Of the Tyranness FASH
/ ion to reduce our woman under its abso-
llute despotism, it is their right---it IS their
duty to throw off the long and clhnber-
some skirts, and to provide shorter ones
for their future wear
Snch have been the patient suffcrings
of our American women, and such is now
the necessity which constrains thcm to
alter their former system Of dress, and to
adopt other modes for their future comfort.
The history Of the present TYRANNEss
FAsnIoN is q 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 / heir health. To prove this,
let facts be submitted to all candid wo-
men, and to the rest Of the world.
SHE has refused her assent to those
modes of dress, most wholesome and ne.
cessary for the preservation Of female
health. MI gsg 81
S.r h.. far,S,,aan Ia ,,,.,,.,,.
to ;,,.rod.,cs M M INV ] new co.,n,na. hemrsver
hand some ana convenient until ber can.
aa,,t has beer,, ,flhfa;nelI
80 sr.s ~ s.a .af,,sad D,a', ~ ~,
of larre a.. r;.ts of women ,l,a n,;a;legs
q 3ress Il frocks and fro,vse.rs--., rigi,t
,,ost ;,,es,,,nal,le 81 ,l,a,, al f,rr,;la1,ss
= their tv,ra,,ts onlv 4
SHE has aimed ID prevent the women
from assembling togesier ID leliheraae on
the advantages which would result from
throwing Oh the yoke Of the TYRANxEss,
for the sole purpose of forcing them 10 a
constant compliance with her own mea-
sures. 1 So
SHE las invariably assailcd with ridi-
cule all those Of the sex. who, with wo-
manly firmuess, have endeavored to-assert
their rights and regain their independence
SHE has elldeovofed to preventive adop-
tion ofthe new wscostume IN az the States,
for The purpose Ct enabling foreigners TO
maintain that influence AZ regard 20 the
modes OF dress which they have always
exerted over the women oi the country
Iss+ a.