The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1856-01-05
From the Philadelphia Lecger

A fashionable dry goods dealer advcrtscs
a lace scarf worth 81 800. Another has a
bridal dress for which he asks 81 900. Bon
nets at 5000 are not unfrequently sold
Cashmcrcs at 5000 and upwards are seen by
dozens in walk along broadway. A hun
dred dollars is quite common price fer q
silk gown. In word, extravaganza in dress
has reached height which would have
frightened our prudent grandmothers, and
appalled, their husbands A fashionable lady
spends annually with her nil!iner, mantua
maker, and lace dealer, a sum that would
Nm sappested an sn(itS household, even IN
hef Swn rink IN NE, IN the days Of Mrs. Wa.
shington. A thousand dollars year is con.
sdered, We are told, quite q narrow income
for such purposes, among those pretending
TO be "in society,"" in some Of our cities.
Add 70 this the expenditure for opera tick
ets, fora summer trip to the springs, and for
q score Of little inevitable etceteras, and the
reader gets an idea Of the comparatively
wanton waste Of money carried on year after
year by thousands, il not tens Of thousands,
Of American women. And for what end 7
Do these human butterflies improve their in.
tellcct, enlarge their culture, or elevate their
characters by this spcndthriit syste,n2 On
the contrary, they detcriorate all. DO they
bestow additional happiness on their hus.
bands and ia,hers1 The very reverse for,
TO sustain these extravaganccs, the father or
husband as the case may be, tolls late and
early, consumes his health and often driven
into wild spcculations that end in utter ruin
DO they win the approval Of the other sex 2
Never was the esteem Of any worthy man Sc
cured by costly, reckless style Of dress.
All that this reckless extravaganza effects is
to crafty miserable personal vanity. The
fostering Of one Of the most petty Of human
vices is the only result Of their spendthrift
habits. Miss potiphar plumes herself on ha
wing ou,shone her rival in laces at some grand
,oIrce or IN having worn more jewels; and this
is the single, barren harvest which she rcaps
by the expenditure Of Thousands. Can the
pampcrng of such vanity benefit her or 9th
ers. Alas, the women who live for such ,ri
| umphs as thcsc-whose souls are given 10
diamonds and dress--arc little fit to be wives
or mOlhers--to be companions for men OF
educators Of children. When the Roman
matrons sunk to similar condition, Rome
began from that hour to decline.
Fortunately for our country, however
/
ity OF the women Of America Unfortunate
/ ly, however, their influence in society /.
greater than their numbers, for TO their cx
I trayagance and vanity is united prcsump
/ ton which asserts for themselves, socially,
! superiority over the rest Of their cOuntrywO
men; and this superiority, 30 dndeseryed, il
/ conceded to them, partly because Of, their ap
parent wealth. They are thus enabled prac
tcaliy to give tone to society at large. II
city circles less osicntatious, in country vii
lagos and even in Western farm houses the
extravaganza and vanity is copied, till, il
half the families in the land, females spent
upon their dress more than they can afford
To be showly dressed is often considered o
more moment than 10 be graceful, amiablc
and intelligent. Where will all this endy
this continues for another generation, whcr
! Will We be?