Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-01-02
evening STAR.
ABOUT HOOPS.

lhe New lork HoSt mas an article about
hoops-which are becoming an important
branch Of manufacture which it gives
some items at to their cost preparation, &c.
The styles of skirts are numerous, varying
in shape, size and cost. Not less tha an seventy
five kinds are sold at the establishment re-
ferred to, the wholesale pieces Of which range
from six dollars to seventy-fve a dozen
There are, for example, the Skeleton Skirt,
several varieties Of the Zephyr skirt, the La
Grange SIX TT, the Congress La Sylphide, and
the Union kGt. Silk, muslin, hairclotb, cac
tus cloth, and other materials, are employed In
their u manufacture, besides the tape, cord, bone
and steel which are need TO give them their
set. In tho matter of hoops, a general pref.
erence is expressed for the round whalebone,
which, when boiled in oil, loses that brittle
ness which has been the main objection to it's
use. Some, however, prefer steel, and others
insist upon cord, which, with crinollne, con-
stitutes a sort Of compromise fashion.
The most popular style of skirts at present
appear to be the Union, the Skeleton, and La
Sylphide the latter is a simple, tasteful ar
tice, bell. shaped, and in size is just medium
between the ungraceful straight petticoat,
with its folds callipsing round the hips an6
legs, and the full blown ultra mode which is
such an annoyance to tue wesrers companions
in a theatre OF an omnibus 1t bas three bones,
the lengths Of which are fifty six inches at the
top, seventy four in the middle, and ninety
five at the bottom. These are considered the
proper proportions, though We have seen some
skirts at Genin's, which, at the lower bone,
measure no less than one hundred and fifteen
inches in circumference As for the number
of hoops, tastes differ. Some ladies 20 as nigh
~ six, while few are content with less than
two.
The skirts most universally worn last su III
mer were the Skeleton skirts. They were first
made of round whalebone hoops, held together
by tape; but these were complained of as being
apt to trip up the wearer A deep border Of
muslin was then added, which rendered them
ali that could be desired. Their great merit
consisted in their extreme ligh tness. During
toe busy season, three thousand day were
made of this kind alone. Another style IL
called the Union skirt 1t is made of white or
dark cloth, with the lower part quilted in
large diamonds, finished round the bottom
with jute cord Above the quilting is wh ale
bone hoop, and about a quarter Of yard
above that, another; the back is then finished
by three smoll hoops of whale bone, which form
skirts one above another and extend over the
hips; these are joined by tapes quarter Of
ward in length, which are suspended from the
font of the binliag and attached TO the hoop
in front OF the skirt
In regard to hoops, we are told that every
day adds something TO the novelties which are
said to combine all the advantages, with none
Of the difficulties, Of those which preceded
them. The gutta- percha hoops, q late inven-
ton, have proved quite impracticable in wear
Ing They break Immediately, and do not
bear stretching twice in one place. Another
strong objection is the fact that, on becoming
warm, they emit an unpleasant odOr which
soon renders them intOlerable The steel
hoops, still later production, are free from
some Of these objections, but are neither SO
elastic or flexible as the round whalebone
boiled in oil, which is the best material for
hoops We have seen. Made of very highly
tempered steel, they are also very expensive,
SO each being the price asked for some, which
we're only OF common materials. They are
also very apt to break, an example Of which
was afforded few evenings since at one Of
Thalberg's concerts A lady's steel hoop
broke and sprung into her leg nearly an inch
deep; the wound was very severe, and may
make amputation necessary.
Few persons are aware of the extent to
which the business of making hooped skirts
business scarcely three years old-is now
carried on in this city. One firm in the bust
ness, besides their establishments ia Connec-
ticut and other places, occupy three Hoors of a
building in Broadway, two hundred feet deep
and thirty feet wide, in the manufacture In
the busy season, three hundred girls, "a
charming congregation, by the way, to tie
admirers of female beauty,) earning from five
and half to ten dollars each a week, are en-
ployed in cutting out and sewing skirts, three
thousand of which are turned out id a day.
One hundred and fifty of Wheeler Il Wilson'S
sewing machines, and a variety of ingenious
labor saving inventions, are constantly In
play, so that single skirt Is made in ten
minutes We have known q husband enter
the store, give an order for his wife's skirt,
have it patterned and made, and receive il
all done up and ready to be carried home be-
fore he half smoked his cigar.
A ton of cord is consumed in e week in the
manufacture, and not less than Sc, 900 worth
of whalebone in q month and then what
acres of muslin and crinoline-what lengths
of thread and tape what enormous gu uantities
of little braZen tubes to unite the hoops. will
in process Of time he consumed, it las not
entered into the head Of man to estimate.
The imagination fairly breaks down in the
contemplation. Though the new fashion has
not triumphed universally, it is irresistihly
contagious Whenever it is seen il sd mired
and adopted. Perhaps il is not extravagant
to conjecture that the day may yet come when,
secure in these moving towers of bone and
steel, our invinoible wives and daughter will
laugh at the exploded theories of female
frailty, and when every wOman's petticoat
will be her castle,