Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1857-01-07
About Hoops.

to their cost. preparation, &c.
The styles of skirts are nnl8Tous varying in
shape. size and cost Not less than seventy-hve
kinds are sold at the establishment referred to-
the wholesale prices of which range from SIX
dollars to seventy-fve dozen. There are, for
example the Skeleton skirt, several varieties OF
the Zephyr skirt, the La Grange skirt, the Con
gress, La Sylphide, and the Union skirt. Silk,
muslin, haircotil, castus-cloth, and other mate
rials, are employed in their manufacture, besides
the tape, cord, bone and steel which are needed
to give them their set. In the matter of hoops,
general preference is expressed for the round
whalebone, which, when boiled in oil loses that
brittleness which has been the main objection to
its use Some, however, prefer steel,and Others
insist upon cord, which, with crinoline, consti-
tutes sort of compromise fashion.
The most popular styles of skirts at present
appear To be the Union, the Skeleton and La
Sylphide The latter is simple, tasteful article,
bell-shaped, and in size q just medium between
the ungraceful straight petticoat, with its folds
collapsing round the hips and legs, and the full
blown ultra mode which is such an annoyance
to the wearers companions in the theatre or an
omnibus. 1t has three bones, the lengths OF
which are ffty-Six inches at the top, seventy
four in the middle and nnety-tive at the bottom
These are considered the proper proportions
though we have seen some skirts at TENN
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 60 as high as six, while few are content
with less than two.
The skirts most universally worn last summer
were tho '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 deep border O
muslin was then added, which rendered then
all that could be desired Their great merit con
sisted in their extreme lightness. During tht
busy season, three thousand day were made
this kind alone Another style is called "tht
Union skirt" 1t is made of white or dark cloth
with the lower part quilted in large diamonds
finished round tie bottom with jute cord. A
bove the quilting is a whalebone hoop, and a
bout a quarter of II yard above that, another
The back is then finished by three small hoops
of whaebone, which form skirts one above an
other and extend over the hips. These are join
ed by tapes quarter of a yard in length, which
are suspended from the front of the binding ant
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 guta-percha hoops, late invention, have
proved quite impracticable in wearing. Ihey
break Immediately, and will not bear stretching
twice in one place Another strong objection !:
the fact that, ON becoming warm, they emit al
unpleasant odor, which soon renders them IN
tolerabe. The steel hoops, a still later produc
ton. are free from some of these objections, bu
are neither so elastic or flexible as the rounc
whalebone boiled in oil, which is the best mate
rial for hoops we have seen. Made Of very high
" tempered steel, they are also very expensive
Sc each being the price asked for some, which
were only of common materials. They are alsc
very apt to break, an example of which was at
foried few evenings since at one OF Ihal
berg's concerts. A lady's steel hoop broke ant
sprung into her leg nearly an inch deep; the
wound was very severe, and may make amupta
ton necessary.
Few persons are aware of the extent to which
the business of making hooped skirts-a bust
ness scarcely three years old-is now carried II
this city One firm in the business, besides thell
establishments in Connecticut and other places
occupy three floors of q building IN Broadway
two hundred feet deep and thirty wide, IN thu
manufacture In the busy season, three hundree
girls, Ca charming congregation, by the way, t(
the admirers of female beauty,) earning from
five and half to ten dollars each week, are
employed in cutting out and sewing skirts, three
thousand of which are turned out in day. On'
hundred and fifty of Wheeler & Wilson's sewing
machines, and a variety of ingenious labor-sav
ing inventions are constantly in play, 80 that {
sinqZe skirt as made IN ten minutes We have
known husband enter the store, give an order
for his wife's skirt, have it patterned and made
and receive it all done up and ready to be carries
home before he had half smoked his cigar.
A ton of cord is consumed in week in tn
manufacture, and not less than $4,000 worth o
whaebone in q month; and then what acres @
muslin and crinoline-what lengths Of threa
and tape-what enormous quantities OF littl
brazen tubes to unite the hoops, will in proces
of time be consumed, it had not entered into tn
head of man to estimate. The imagination fair
" breaks down in the contemplation. Thoug
the new fashion has not triumphed universally
it is rresistibly contagious. Wherever it is see
it is admired and adopted. Perhaps it is nc
extravagant to conjecture that the day may ye
come when, secure in these moving towers
bone and steel, our invincible wives and daugl
tiers will laugh at the exploded theories of fe
male frailty, and when every woman'S petticoa
will be her castle.