The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-11-08
LADIES' DRESSES IN PARIS,
Is CriDOIine Out OF Fashion

Inc correspondent Of the London Post at
Haris' having received letters IRON ladies in
England begging him TO inform them whether
cllnolne IS ia or out OF fashion in Paris. writes
IN repy:--
II meet IN the streets of Paris, and some
times at an evening reception a toilet of the
periOo OF the First Empire, short-wasied, and
certainly there can be no crinoline or IRON
hooped anything under a somewhat scanty
robe, such as q Lady Jersey danced in at
Amacks IN the days Of George IV. You see
inc pretty feet, and some idea may be arrived
at as to how nature has sculptured the whole
OF the graceful female torn. At the promenade
IN the Bois you meet with ladies whose dresses
gracefully respond to the movements OF the
frame; and certainly there cannot be any cum
nlnPly conceived subslructure OF steel and
textile substances under that Empire style of
costume. therefore conclude that there are
ladies of fashion moving about in the most re-
fined society honestly without cnnoline; but
they are not yet majority. You find most
ladies, on the contrary, wearing dresses which
spread out at the bottom, and show a tram
which begins to be as long as those worn at
court. From the waist down wards this ever
spreading trailing robe must be supported by
some material? Is it crinoline? Is il iupe in
another shape, or is IL mass OF clustering under.
clothing OF cotton or linen? How am to find
out that! 1 nave watched sublimely grand
ladies get out of a carriage, under the impress
sion tnat the accident of events might enable
one to form a pretty good opinion about the
presence OF crlnolne. But no jupes Cdges ever
spread, trails on the ground and is as irritating
10 surrounding human nature as the old cr1no-
line nuisance. Gentlemen have to dodge about
in the drawing-room, and on the pathway of
gardens and parks.
In the streets of Paris some ladies wear
dress which appears to be cTinOlineless, until it
suddenly and abruptly spreads out at the bot
tom as II single hoop were employed. What
is this! windy day at the seaside might
relieve ones doubling mind. ] strongly suspect
this is the last ring-a hoTrld cage. If crlnolne
IS expiring, IL dies hard in Paris. The ladies at
the markets still wear crinoine, and so do the
ladies of the kitchen, therefore | suspect crino-
line is lowering still about in ali classes of
society. Now those interested in this mo.
mentous question will say, Why don't you 90 to
the fashion books for information? Ask an
audience of Ne VT in the Rue de la
Paix. Do you think you can say ANYTHING
positive after all this One maLazine of the
fashions tells us:- Taking our impressions from
certain high indications we think we may go so
far as to declare that a gradual abandonment of
crinoline is taking place in all classes of So
clety.' You then turn to the colored plates,
and there you find a dress worn by a lovely
creature, the bottom OF which is occupying
nearly the whole width of the plate. What
keeps out its vast spreading proportions? If
you ask me to sum up, my answer is, | believe
crinoliue is only half out and something quite
as bad is half in. We are probably passing
through period of transition. IL will be very
interesting for some time to come to look for
the day when humanity can write CriaolSna
fUitr