Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-03-16
A Brnzen Woman en- an old G~rIevnnce-
Fanny FERNS Defense Of Feminine Dress-

Brnzen Woman en- nm old Grievance
Fanny FERNS Defense Of Feminine Dress-
M. Speaker, I repeat it, women are an
abused class. That is not saying that | adore
them ss I'm no hypocrite, l don't; still [
win lot stand by, and see anybody else
abuse 'em. Among the many charges made
against m by a sex who are answerable
for two thirds oil their follies, is this
"Women gire so much of their time and at
tention TO Dress l will not stop to con-
slider The omnipotence of this very dress
mower, artis,ically used, to fsscinate these
am complaiuants away from the side of
The most sensible little body in the world,
I rovidtd the jewel Of her mind has a homsly
setting. but waving that well establ, shed
fact, let us look into the subject q little.
When a man wants a new suit of clothes,
he cots to his tailor, selects the cloth, has
his measure taken, and there's an end of it.
In a few hours the bundle comes home, and
let us trust, is paid for. A oomda has need
Of a dIess; perhaps for herself, perhaps for a
brood Of little ones. Several stores must be
visit d before she can find the article suited
TO her necessities, and the means furnished
by her husband.
The dresses bought, your male creature
faucits the thingi is done. Goose not at all.
Cther stores must now be visited for "hooks
AID cyes,n 'liuings," "fscings," buttons"
sewing. silk, &c, wherewith to make them.
If btJ ord this, auy ornamental trimming
is netded, and coloTs are to be matched, the
labor is doubled. Perhaps some innocent
bat il ouires here: "Why don't your dress
maker, like our tailor, do all this 2" Some
times hey do, sir, for a consideration in the
bill; but to stave off the grumbling you
make about paying for it, your wife often
les it instead.
Nov be quiet, while 1 finish what l have
TO ssy. After all this, comes the search
warrant for the dTessmaker; who if not
''sicI y 'or gone outof town. may agree to
attend TO your almost questionable neces-
sity 1. e. if it don't rain, or If her sister il
not going to be married. The Important
day arrives, and if you're lucky, so does she.
You count up your buttons and other trash,
10 see if every thing is right; pour a cup OF
coffee down her throat, fortify yourself with
one, and 60 til.
You are now to be let off easy, tailor
fashioD, by being simply measured" You
are ts be undressed, and thumbed, and
pinehed, and pulled around, and if you have
moi taken the precantion to put on more
under clothes than usual-to prevent that
bOTror-a tight hI-yUu are 10 be squeezed
in your new waist within az inch of your
life; besides this, if your d~ressmaker is not
scientific, you are to try it on" half a
dozen times. This ceremony may be at your
house, or hers, in which latter case, you
are sefe to have curious spectators of your
own sex.
Al lepeth, the dress is finished; q foresee
the pun you are making about Sat length"
and ! despise it At length-after all this
mighty pOtber as | said-the dress is finished,
and you wear it to dinner, and some gentle.
lnan who is carving a turkey, sends a drum
rNsnl~ swNA NOM m hw 4hn -ra4 - i
ingit or you wear it out on q promenade,
aud the male.hOof is put through it, or some
gentleman" who passes you, afixes to it a
proof of his regard, in the shape of an in
deGble tobacco stain. As to the dress being
costly, or the contrary, the botheration a
shopping and getting 1t put together is al
the same.
Nov if the male creature knew the mean
ing Of the word justice where woman was
come ned, | should like to ask him-Who in
the course of a half hours conference with
his tailor can settle the question of clothes
for q whole year-how, in the name of COM
mon sense, under the circumstance above
stated, a woman can help giving a great part
of her thoughts and attention to dress?'
would hint, too, in this connection, as
the last ounce on the cancels back-her ever
present nightmare horror of spending a six
pence or dollar more in her purchase than
she has c~oDiugal authority for doing; only
that | know it won't do to allude to such a
subject even in sight of a new box of cigars,
or a basket of Champagne in a counting
room, or any Of those necessary expenses
which discrte. females ahould always be
silent about.
TIL truth is-thank Heaven for the few
exceptions THAT lie for most women is a
horrid grind. They are placed ia a tread
mill and tainted for haipn varHn,vNl H.
to its ~peck-measure limits.