The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-11-08

oe weather 10 settled hne the iadys tram RAISES
~ they 60. they enter the parks, the steel rim q
her pettcoat cuts his leg an they squeeze through
ne narrow gate; and If they try the high road, there
sen y sAs sudden
balloon. Umbrellas get turned wrong Moe ONT; and
the existing skirt is much more easy 10 nvert. II IL
to be drive, and not walk, lne good man runs a;
missed an old friend. With vehement prohlbitive
gesture she drove him back from the carrage-step,
with Pardon mel and my dress occupy the
earriage.n The same women who IN their youth
maryelIcd at the slavery to fashion which induced
their prandmothers to kneel in the carriage for q
drive OF many miles to save their lofty headdresses,
now Danish husband or father to the box, compel
them to walk, to make room for the accommodation
of fonnces or steel springs. Sunday is changed.
The children cannot 90 to church, because mamma
leaves no room for them; and papa has to stand
aside in the face Of the congregation while his lady
s efecting the difficult enterprise Of entering her
pew. Are the ladies aware that the dizziness of
church s relieved to bachelor gentlemen by the
amusement Of watching, and afterwards discussing,
the comparative skill of the ladies in passing their
pew doors2 We are concerned to find that new
method Of getting up prayer books and bibles for
church use, enables the ladies to fnd their own
amusement while apparently engaged IN worship
1t to be really the fact that the ladies' prayer
books have small mirror bound up with the cover
probably Of about the same size AZ that in the hat.
crowns of handles, which they consult while de-
vontly covering faces on entering Their pews; ~,
b found pursuit of pleasure under difn-
entities, unless the ladies will retrench their gar
Nents. 1t is now common thing 70 take more
places everywhere than the number of individuals
recurring them and on cross roads, where coaches
and posting are the only means OF conveyance the
gentlemen have chance Of room unless the ladies
English and Irish lakes, the decks of the small
steamers arc unsafe for children and other unwary
passengers amidst the sweep of hoops and hidden
elothesnes. 1t is out Of the question for the ladies
~ t.a faro nfoIn
while carrying q balloon about their waists; and
they cannot climb to the ridges in dress as heavy
an themselves and longer than their own heels Ii
they venture on foreign travel the prevailing fashion
compels kind and amount of custOm-house search
highly dstasteful to any family man. And where is
the recompense of all this If it il troublesome at
home that wardrobe closet will hold the house
hold gowns, il is no compensation 10 witness the
effect of those dresses in company. An admiring
father, who till lately delighted in his daugh-
ters grace and hghtness Of movement, and her
elegant figure, now sees her deformed and tram
nelled, whether at the piano, In the dance,
Or simply sitting the sofa. In the first case, she
can perform only at arms length; in the second, she
steers about like great steamer on the river, which
all boats get out of the way of with all speed; and
n the third case the spectator is reminded Of nothing
50 much rs the old way Of bathing at Bath, when
the ladies waded about IN ponds, finely dressed to
the shoulders, while hoops and the waters concealed
all below the waist. A girl at party now looks
hike q romp half hid in haycock, or the aconite
pushing mn its blossom between two leaves; fear
We must add like hunchback, all ruled and friled
hunchbacks are wont to be. There l. an anecdote
told by of travellers III the United States, OF
a dressmaker in New England village who, on
being reproached about the lit of the gowns she
made replied that she did not see how she could do
more than she had done she had obtained the pro-
portions Of the Venus dc Medici, and if the ladies
were not satisfied with what would ut her, why, then
their taste was not to be admired. What would the
Venus de Medici and her devoted dressmaker say To
The spectacle Of pretty slim girl so smothered in
aYpl that IA sfe pfs she like a
to the armpits in q feather bedt
As to the hidden apparatus requisite for the
management OF such mass OF clothing, 1t Is really
TOO well known to require much description. When
q man has gained 10000 by such an invention as
:adys petticoat his commodity becomes object OF
study at once; and no doubt the gentlemen have
contemplated the petticoats IN the shop windows
crpoline, gutta percha, and stee-with as much in
rros. as the ladyfcustomers within. The gutta per
cha tubing Ito be inflated by persons who despise
their ancestors for stnfhng their neither garments
with bran) seems not TO answer very well, judging
by the proposals made to buy it up for TRANSATLANTIC
Telegraph purposes. Not only may the steel bird
cage which seems the most eligible TO be seen in the
shop windows, but, in the apartment above, an oc-
casional experiment, or course OF practice, may be
seen Of drawing up the hoops by string over the
left shoulder TO enable the wearer TO st down. More
harmless were the hoops Of the Grandson days,
when, a. Harriet Byron shows u, the ladies made
room tor the gentlemen in carriages, and for their
own circumference in sedan chairs, by slipping the
hoop upon the left shoulder.
In the United States an unripe citizen, who has
secured through Europe before settling down a. a
country lawyer in the back Of his State, builds him
self q wooden house ia the massive Grecian style,
though he has a German barn, with x,andtwenty
windows in IT, for neighbor, on the one hand, and
Dutch dwelling, with its spacious stoop, on the
other In louisiana between a dusty road and
muddy, mirror like bayou, British emigrant builds
himself house just like the one he lived in at home;
red brick, without yard of porch or yeran.
aah, or anything that can give shade. And
no on, in the matter OF domestic architecture,
when impulses and emotions are active and
Judgment and taste undevelopcd. The case Is paral
lel with that of Engiishwomen in regard To
dress. The remedy IL the same In both instances
The reason must be brought to bear on the object
and uses Of the dwelling the dress; and then the
srnamention naturally grows out Of the use. We
would fan think that our countrywonien may attain
n time that true selfrespect which will destroy the
hast degree Of resemblance between them and the
aboriginal sayages-a resemblance which they them
selves ut present perpetuate We need not point out
the analogies between savage and fashionable deco
rations: they are obvious and notifying enough,
from the duchess who makes holes In her cars az the
Feeee woman makes hole in her nose 10 hang
levels by 10 the maid servant who this summer has
had an entire clothes line hemmed into her petticoat,
thereby hkenng herself TO the squaw who winds her
self about with a hundred yards Of wampum. We
would rather refer our countrywofnen 10 the more
refined works of nature than TO the silly and
eonceited savage. Throughout the range OF
animated nAlGIb tnC sllitn0Of ot
N assigned 10 the male while quiet grace i the
approp riate charm az the female. Throughout the
universe of birds and insects il II 20; and among the
znperior animals the order IL very marked. it
would be well for women II they could perceive the
wisdom of conformity to that order in their own
case for is incontestable that the grace which they
lose In making dress than adjunct cannot DO
compensated for by anything in the dress itself.
Let them try for themselves In regard 20 the most
graceful creatures of other races. Wrap up an Ara
bian horse in the gayest trappings Of the old hobby
horses and what IL the cfIectl Devise dress for
the deer which shall trammel their limbs, and where
IL their charm, be their caparison splenddl
II the hooded falcon beautiful, with it, pert
feather ON lis crown, than when IL can its bril-
liant eyes at willg Imagine for moment the absur-
,ty of subiecting any other creatures, women
subject themselves To the rage OF the day. We call
ships our palaces framed in iron and iron stair.
cases aud even houses, a. q security against fire;
49, cahioo and fplepraoh WIRES nutt;oy yirdle