Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1869-08-25
THE FOLLIES OF FASHION.
Severe structure on High HeeIed
Boots, Hair Dyes, Naked NecIes, &c.
From the Broadway Magazine


p, "a. From the Broadway Magazine.
Another htfrtful and Ridiculous fashion is
in the high-heeled boots which have again
worked round from our great-grandmothers.
A slight heel is an advantage in walking,
but those high heels, with the excessively
small surface and the sharply-beveled sides,
make walking q service Of pain and diff
Guilty. Besides, they destroy the shape Of
the leg, which is something to be consider
cd. They throw the weight forward and
the strain on the shin, and consequently
they diminish the back muscle, the calf,
and convert the fore part into an ugly bow,
The shape of our shoes and boots Is in itself
an outrage against common sense; but we
women ara not alone in this absurdity, nor
are we to blame, so that as the papers deal
with our own folies specially, we may be
let Of without amy personal and peculiar
proof therefor. a asf.t a.lI
But what can we say ofthc fashion which
dyes the hair, paints the cheeks, blackens
the eyelids with antimOny to make the Or
bit look larger and the lashes longer, or
that expands the pupils with belladonna,
no matter at what cost Of complexion or
future eyesight? What. too, can we say Of
|
neck in the evening, after having clothed
them during the day in flannel or velvet,
CT i'll warm wadded stuf1s? Women threat
ened with bronchitis or rheumatism sit all
day in warm room mufled up to the throat
III thick material; at night they uncover be-
low their shoulders, and go out in the cold
winter air with just an opera cloak thrown
over their shiyering skins. But this is fash
ion, and none of MS dare disobey it; none
of us dare 90 ont in the evening with dress
es made after the pattern of our morning
ones, or wear in the morning low bodices
and short sleeves, to Mt least equnlize the
risk and inule us TO the evening attire with
out damage,
There is no intrinsic reason why we
should not be sitting in low bodices and
short sleeves at this very moment, though
we will make it ten o'clock; but if we were,
we should be thought mad OF bad, OF both,
and not even our staunchest friends would
stand by u.s. But wholly one thing or the
other would be wiser system than the
present and would be productive of fewer
catarrhs, bronchial affections and conGump.
tions. All it is sad thought which
springs up from that last word If we
could only see, as those removed from our
own sphere would see, the criminal folly
of sacrificing beautiful and valuable lives
TO the fashion which imposed naked necks
rs rule for evening costumes Many a
sweet young creature, who would have liv-
ed into happy old age as q beloved wife
and happy mother, has gone to an early
grave because Of that ball or party at which
she caught coldtrom exposure. But fash
ion 80 willed ii; and neither mother nor
daughter had strength to resist her impal-
pable but absolute decree.
We all obey her, young and old alike,
those who should keep their beauties So
cred, and those who have none to show
the delicate WHO have to be kept alive by
art and care--the lean who Rre too ugly for
any one to find pleasure in the contempla-
| ton of their aniles-the wrinkled and the
gross; we all parade ourselves in evening
society without more disguise than bit Of
gauze on lace can give, and only very fow
| of us that, even when well on into the fif-
ties, consider il quite superfluous for any
thing TO be gained by concealment. Asto
| the extent to Which we cut down our bod.
ices, that is matter too patent and too
painful to be discussed. 1t is race among
us who shall wear the dress lowest and
show the largest oxpanse of shoulders And
yet we mean no harm @e mean only to be
fashionable. That is the worst of il.
The incest women among us-pure, high
minded women, who would rather die than
be guilty ofimproprety, tit appeared like
an impropriety to them, and whose very in
nOcence makes them unsuspicious of evil,
yet become aCcusiomed,ns every one must,
more or less, to an Objectionable fashion,
and follow it in pure simplicity Of nature,
as thing without meaning OF effect,
Also, the incest women among us are just
those who always follow- who have not
sufficient boldness Of mind or manner to
make a public protest against anything in
dorsed by the majority women who are
not touched by The evil Of abNleful custom,
aud by whose own purity is eliminated
the poison of n miSchioyous fashion. They
follow, and their moral support holsters
up the bad habit, and gives countennnce
to the bad followers thereof But what
can We say when originality is still cen
sured as unwomanly, and n public protest,
be it even against evil, is set down as
'atrong minded and unfeminine?"