The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1864-12-16
5}llstellancous.
The Dress Reform Experience of an
Apostle.

Apostle.
A lady who has taken prominent
prac ical part in the dress reform, which
has created considerable excitement within
the past few years, delivered an address
upon the subject before the Dress Reform
RS Convention in New York BY the
following report Of what she said it will
he seen that her experience in the reform
dress was not of the most agreeable char
actcr:
The present system Of lress for women,
she claimed, is totally, radically wrong.
Health is sacrificed to the demands OF
fashion. The waist, containing the essen
tai organs of vitality, is compressed in
such Il manner that disease and debility
canuot fail to result. In fact, woman's
life, owing to the present style of her dress,
is 50 tormented by the various diseases
that are peculiar to her, that it becomes,
not matter Of enjoyment, but of endur-
auce. The shoulders are often left bare,
inviting chilIs The vital organs are com
pressed till they can no longer operate
BEAUTIFULLY. The lower limbs are but
very thinly clad, and the man dress is
kept from protecting them by hoops,
which leaves large space for the cold air
to chill her. The skirts and hoops de-
pend, not as they should, from the shout
ders, but from bands around the body
above the hips, thus bearing down upon
delicate internal organs, and producing
almost numbcrless complaints that make
woman's life miserable endurance
While strong, sturdy man wears sensible
dress, tittiug close to his body from neck
to ankles, women are expected to live
with such dress as this. The difficulty
is, that while mans dress is adapted to
his form, as it should be, woman adapts
her form to the prevailing style of dress
1t is The altar upon which thousands Of
her sex are yearly sacrificed; the great
Mogul before which she bows III almost
worship; the Juggernaut under whose
wheels her life is slowly crushed cut As
to tho dress for her feet, there has been
much Improvements. God bless the man
that Invented high Balmoral CATERS with
| lhiNh
This, then, being the case with regard
to woman's dress, the question was how
should it be remeded? The reform dress
supplied remedy The reform dress
consists, FIRST, of wooden or canton flannel
drawers, extending fully from the neck to
the ankles, and neatly adapted to the con-
iguration Of her physique. They should
be tied at the lower extremites about the
ankles. Next, two pairs of stockings,
WOODEN being worn next the feet and white
cotton over them. A neat pair of panta-
looms is the next garment. The dress
proper should be neatly made, coming Just
"a little below the knees. She had seen
some mad" almost like mans coat, and
most apoulnably ugly, but there was nc
need vi s"ciluctng taste In any such man
ucr. The hat should be made to protect
the head like mans hat, though of a
somewhat different shape, and the shoes
should be thick soled In such dress o
woman could trip up and down stairs with
the agility of girl could cline fnl crs
or hills, or work in the flower garden witt
UNNECESSARY fatigue.
Perhaps they would ask her, if the re-
form dress was snch an Improvement over
the ordinary styl', why she did not wear
it hcrsct. Sue had worn il for two long
years, aud had suff red moutpily in CAP