Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-11-10
DAILY LEADER.
The Reign Of scarlet.
[From the Round Table,

' b%onnets, red ribbons to adorn the hair, an
a to come down to the latest Partisan innov.
! ton, bright red hoped skirts and EQUAL
bright scarlet corsets. What is the Of
5 Ject of scarlet corsets and scarlet hoope
skirts p said a lady to the attendant in
store where these gaudy articles were dis
played. object, repeated the woman
cycling her interlocutor contemptuously
why, they are latest style"
This was sufficient. A garment NAV b
opposed to every idea of propriety, goo
sense, and taste; it may be ugly in itself
as well as unbecoming to the wearer; bu
if it is the --latest style that is endorse
ment enough; the most courageous wo
man would not after that dare to question
its claims to respect and admiration.
The reign of scarlet is not incompatible,
with the reign of gold, which has been in.
augurated about the same time, and divide:
the honors about equally in the world OF
fashion. But what shall be done with
this rage for scarlet and this rage for gold
that has broken out like the smallpox or
the e~rysipelas, and exhibits itself in glaring
blotches, in gilt bands and brassy~ pendants,
suitable enough as an adornment for win
dow curtains, but to our crude notion, out
Of place on the delicate and graceful form
of a pretty woman.
We say nothing of the scanGal and i'm
propriety of blazing out in the loose fnery
of shameless Partisan ~Lorettes while the
earth is yet fresh above the graves of
thousands ofthenoblest and bravest among
us, while thousands of homes are vet dark
ened by the loss of all that madeiife worth
the living, or wrested it from the grasp of
absolute want and misery-because such
considerations, though well enough for the
visitors Of a tract society, or as the ground
of appeal for charitable assistance, afford
no reason at all why fashionable ladies
should not follow their fancies and indulge
their caprices.
But unfortunately, our fashionable ladies
are also our wives, sisters, mothers, friends,
the guardians of our households, the angels
of the ~hearthstone, upon whom, under
Providence, the future destinies of the re-
public depend.
"The king rules the people,
But thou rulest the king"
Men rule the nation, but women make
men. And what sort of men shall these
women in scarlet, and gold, and gew-gaws
maker Alas. not men honest, not men |
true, not men ~incorruptible, but false men,
treacherous men, scheming men, men will
ling to sell themselves or their country for
that gold and mockery of wealth, the love
of which they drankin with their mothers
Shall We have modest and true women
our wives and daughters, or shall we
have purple and scarlet women, their
shamelessness scarcely disguised by a thin
semblance of respect for decency and viz
tue2 AT this supreme moment, when the
nation is struggling to regain the life and
strength which it spent in the effort to
maintain its completeness and power, it
needs the cooperation of all good and
earnest people to heal, purify, strengthen,
and consolidate the elements so lately dis
now under skilful manipulation,
fusing themselves together. And
eanw women do nothing to aid in accom-
this desirable work? Are they
the dolls which some men consider
hem, or the something that they are
leld to be by others, that they cast aside
iuty, decency, and every womanly attri-
oute, and %contentedly, nay, proudly, be-
,ome the copyists Of those who are ex-
GUIDED from the. hmblest fire-side, whose
go down to destruction, whose hands
ay hold on death.
Such a course Of action on the part of
American women is bad enough as a pres
mt evil, but it is worse in its future con-
equences. We can not touch pitch and
lot be defled. Already the results are
cen in the loose habits. the rnoLlees en- 1
,endlture, the free and easy conversation,
he adoption Of slang terms and phrases, I
nd the total neglect Of all formerly re- l
eived ideas Of good taste and propriety 1
mong the women, especially the young t
7Omen, who constitute what is called the
est society. '
" Mary B~randegee," a novel which pro- {
to give an insight into upper q
Jew York life, represents young ladies as t
1tally emancipated from all moral or So
ial restraint, and worse still, as quite I'M !
o%nscious of the evil, not to say infamy, l
'hich attaches to the unbridled indul-
ence ofloose and vicious habits and incli- I
ations. Yet many people say of this ]
ook, "how natural " and are willing to
,rgive its want of conference and common j
snse on account of its truth to nature. !
We do not believe that the pure young :
miniature which all men love, and which \
oets have paid homage to, is yet wholly l
,st we have faith that it even yet re- S
lains unsullied in many young hearts, :
Notwithstanding the bad influences of the !
avs upon which it has fallen. 1t is true I
lat whatever can be done is done to make l
lem false, lying, deceitful, andselish; they I
re early taught to despise modesty and t
ncerity, as old-fashioned virtues, and t
lat their business is to get themselves up =
18th all the arts and aids they can muster 81
- 4ho Daarl-ot Tbov- hnru {hnir fracE a
beneath a vile load of paint, powder, /
llse-hair, and dirty horse-hair, and lose
leir innocence in the love of display, and
nmaidenly attempts to attract and secure
he attention they consider it their bust h
to win. Fashions are followed with !,
ut any reference to fair modesty, any
lore than their beauty, and are exaggera-
ID, let the consequences be what they g
Jay. 4
A well known writer drew down upon :
dials of wrath some time g by :,
sr structures upon the revelations made 81
7 the hooped skirts of the young lady e
during the commencement festiyi- n
es at Harvard College. AT that time q
le small hooped-skirt known as the y
quaker was in vogue. What would a
lie say now to the "bell-shape," that ex- p
of crinoline which extends its area Fl"
its base, and will not allow ladies to II
owe, stoop, sit down, enter a car or q I,
an omnibus, without such exposure D
should crimson their cheeks with .
anne, but which has become so COM II
on that it rarely EFFORTS moro tAah-a p
ugh or a look of Indifference. Over a.
immense hoops one thin skirt is Of ~
II worn, and above this the dress is .
in such Il way that the slightest u
arrangement of drapery reveals the N
in all its naked deformity. The Il
.ll-shape, in its most expansive form, is
e style of the new scarlet and silver
skirts which are intended to add IS
cir show and glitter to the splendor of
e coming winter evening toilets. Plainly, at
Id, possibly, not unwillingly, visible Ell
ey will be in the swift-moving redowas ii
I'd wild gallop but we doubt ifthe sight W
Guild add to the pleasure with which any tt
an would see his wife or sister engage in j
fascinating exercises. ia
The apologists for modern morals and b
anagers charge upon our grandmothers, OF
HON we are wont TO consider models of OF
,corum, a freedom of speech and action ST.
ever than that of their descend 81
its but we must be excused for doubt W
g such a fact. Certainly when hooped tie
irts were worn by our great 81
,andmothers, they were, in many 70