Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-08-06
THE BEND.
The New Birth Of the GrecIan Bend-
The Reign of HIsh Heels.

From the New York World.
1t has come again. Like "cuT ses,
home to roost," like "bad penny"
or like anything to which one likes
TO compare 1t, the Grecian Bend is
upon us; and, whether it be Aman-
da or Aspasia, whether in the park
or in the surf, or in the shade, or
where jocund day stands tiptoe on
the misty mountain tops, it has
come, and the cry is still it comes.
What was last year presumed to be
caricatured out Of existence, and
what last winter dared not curve it.
self within the smiles Of men or the
sneers of women, now expands on
the street, appears on the prone
made, uprears itself in the parlor,
and hies to the hop in all its compo-
site magnitude and wonderful dis
proportions. Nor has its arrival
been heralded, nor was it expected.
1t has burst upon us with the secre-
cy and the suddenness of an cpl
demic. The cholera was dimly fore
seen. OF the yellow fever there
were premonitions. Casual hydro
phobia was to be looked for, because
the dog star ragged and the dog law
was nulliied. But this calamity, in
its widespread fury, concealed it.
self as an inner earth-fre, and then,
from Key West to the st. Lawrence,
broke upon us
All at once. and nothing first.
| Just as bubbles do when they burst"
The offence is not a contagion; 1t
is a conspiracy. No few exclusives
renewed the custom, so that it could
be taken up in imitation by Others.
The event was simultaneous. Every
bend erected itself, by what must
have been on instinct, at the same
time. Showhegan was as prompt
as Saratoga, and Burgtown was not
behind Brooklyn.
Any one viewing the full result
which is a Grecian bend may Won
der, but cannot analyze. To mar
vel is inevitable. To understand is
not permitted. The way in which
the ''effect" is produced, however,
is authoritatively said to be as fol-
lows:
"High- h-heeled shoes dispose the
wearer to incline forward, and high
heeled CATERS are therefore adopted
She (the belle of the season. is thus
the more readily enabled to elevate
her hips .unnaturally behind, en-
hancing the aspect of the panier tc
contract the stomach and to form
an S like curvature of the upper
shape by thrusting out the chest
drawing back the shoulders, anc
bending forward the head, the Latte !
crowned by a hideous chignOn. TC
secure this posture, to which nature
is unequal, it is said that belt ii
fastened around the waist, from
which belt down either side descend
two straps furnished with buckles
and these are attached to strong
bands made fast around the lower
thighs. The tightening Of thes'
buckles draws up the hips anC
holds them in place. Thus, by th'
aid of the panier, hustle contracted
stomach, expanded chest, Out-thrus
head, enormous chignOn, and tn
: apparatus just described, the Who'll
superstructure standing upon A
CATERS, we have the Grecian Bend.
With the boy who had just learn
ed, after six weeks study, the al
! phabet, it is pertinent to eXclain
"Why 60 through so much to get S
D little?" Let no man laugh! Th
decree has passed. The bend is OF
t dained. Rather let us hail the e
: fort and the work as indicative
d what woman can do when she b:
a fair chance, nor sneer when Mil
i Anthony and the whole sisterhoc
n seek, by tightening the stral
a aforesaid, to lift themselves TO
higher sphere.