The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1866-11-17
~ oman, and What she Wear.

We have several times Of late given selections
from our Eastern contemporaries regarding tn
dOings Of that tickle gOddss-FashiOn-and tn
customs of her votaries. At first, - absurd did
many Of the statements appear. men were led {
imagine them simply q buTle~4Ue- They coul
not conceive that = woman. mans helpmate an
COMPANION, the faiEest. hrighte-t and bet Of al
the haIdiwOrk Of the Great Creator. had - tar
lowered, Gebased am forgotten herself g. u ADOPT
the outrageous costumes introduced by ayaric.ous
millineTs and Gres-Eaker-: and when in the
course If time il vas found that those statements
Were literally true, they believed. or al leAst they
hoped, that the customs spoken vi had been
adopted by only courte1ans. They dared not
think, for one moment, their wives, their sisters
and their daughters should FIJI - low.
They are now, ~unhaVpily. fully aware of tie
correctness Of the statements. The objectionable
innovations are no longer confined 10 New ! ork.
They are here in the Vest. and to the everlasting
shame and disgrace OF our women, be it said,
they have adopted them without any apparent
quaims Of conscience or the slightest display of
mOIcsty. Our women have become such blind
followers of fashion. have given themselves up 20
entirely To press and display, that they have lef.
but a very small remnant indeed OF that noble
mOdesty which IL every woman's best and most
lovely ornament. Some OF the customs now pre-
vailinG in this country among the women are 50
UNANIMOUSLY improper "a milder expression would
be out of place. that even cOurtcZans would not
have adopted them Il few years ago. just think
Of women who pretend to be virtuous, PADDING
their calves, and then wearing hoops made to tilt
up at nearly every step and display the limbs
even 10 above the knees just think Of it, We
say, and then ask yourself have our women lost
all their womanhood? Has their modcsty en-
tirely departed?
y couple of days ago we had the opportunity
of Inspecting a place called Il '. ladies furnishing
establishment" of which there are many in our
city. We must confess that, though We had pre-
pared Ourselves for Il surprise, our preparations
were not nearly sufficient. We had expected to
be astUnisied, and We were. Such little things
as :. water falls, - rats and mice, and other
head fXings we Were prepared for. We Were
even ready TO see false bLsts, for we had heard of
such things, and We did see them, and more too.
We would like 10 describe all these things. but
we cannot-not that We are afraid of shocking
the feelings of our lady readers, hut those of the
gentlemen We might speak < of false calves, OF
fitting hoops, Of false waists, of false busts, etc.
as they were displayed TO us in all their deform-
ity, but we will not. We will simply refer to
them, and assure our male readers that there are
such things, and that they may be detected on
our women on the streets every day III the week,
for they are Worn by nearly all women from the
highest TO the lowest. Tie ladies (l on the ave
nues, and the women of Wells street. alike APP
pear in them. and the modesty of the latter is.
in this particular, quite us great as that In the
former.
The waterfall, birds nest, and other gear which
the women have been diSfguring their heads with
of late, were bad enough. The sight Of them
was always unpleasant. because they were unnat-
ural and ugly, and the feeling against them was
increased with the thought that in all probability
the hair which composed them was shOrn from
the head of 4 smallpox patient, or lunatic, OF
CORPSE. These things we did not care much
about. The wearers were satisfied and pleased,
and we had no reason TO complain. Neither did
We care u great deal when they took to disfgur-
ing the =. human form divine with such things
rs gave the upper portion of their bodies a volup-
:uous appearance. Outrageous rs this was, it
was a modest proceeding in comparison with
what Is now being done. False calves. of course.
would be of no use unless they could be displayed
TO the gaze of men, and therefore, following the
introduction of this infamous fashion, we have
hoop skirts made for the express purpose of show
ing them off - the best advantage. How any
female. with he slightest pretensiOn to ~mocesty,
can indulge in these scandalous exhibitions 1t is
impossible to- conceive. Yet if one of them was
charged with immodesty her indignation would
know no bounds. As an eastern paper suggests.
every one Of them should he indicted by the au-
thorities for w%ilfully and knowingly exposing her
person, and punished in accordance with the
laws bearing upon that oHense. We see them on
the street; we see them in the theater we see
them SIMULTANEOUSLY sailing up the aisles of our
churches in fact we see them in every place.
With unblushing faces their welreTs tilt them in
our very faces wherever we go, and with all the
"AAS va AA~ NhhS NAA W ~ ~ $50 lACh@-|'N
upon the men who are gazing after them. II
they knew the remarks that are made, the sneers.
the iunuendoes. the ieers that are passed by fash
ionably dressed blackguards who congresate here
and there on the streets for the express purpose
of seeing them display their legs, they would fly
TO their homes, their cheeks burning with shame.
and would never be seen in public again until
they had forgotten their disgrace. Well may it
be What are We coming TOP Have
our women lost every sense of decency Have
they forgotten that they are women? Have they
that their common mother sought to
cover her nakedness when she knew that she was
so? Do they know that they, by following these
,candalous fashions, are doing what no pagan
woman ever yet discovered would do? Shame on
you, We women of America. Do not your cheeks
with an honest blush as you think of this?
Go back To your hOmes-hide yourselves in your
chambers. and let not the world look upon you
again until you have recovered your modesty and
your honor.-ChicGgO Post.