Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1870-05-05
Fashions of the Period.

Fashions OF the HcEious
Does modern education lead US to &
more correct estimate of the duties o
nature, or convert us from the conven
tional to the true ideal of perfection anC
of beauty? We fear not. We pity the
poor perverted taste, eXemplified by the
custom of modelling the form of theil
crania into as near an approach as possi
ble to the cubic, by inclOsing the grow
ing heaads of their tender infants in
strong and unyielding boxes. We are
amused at the gait of the Chinese ladie:
as they hobble long on those stunted
pediments which might have been use
ful feet if their growth had not been
checked by the,early presevering appli.
alton of Dandage III conformity with
their civilized ideal of beauty. The tat.
toed of the South Sea a1nlanders, and the
befeathered heads of the Obeibways,
excite our laughter and contempt. Now,
| i'll truth. we are, even in the matter OF
harmless peronal adornm ent, not a whit
in advance of our so-called savage broth
ers and sisters; as witness our men, s
hats adorned with peacock's feathers,
ets., ETC.; our woman's hats, no longt t
used as head coverings, but as brow
shades, and Grnameuted with flying
plumes gathered from the tails of the
dunghill cocks; or black stain for the
eyelids and "6teu pour les Uenaes, Our
forms OF ftattooing. Butin baneful adorn-
ments we fall far behind the savage peO-
pie, and to this phase of false caste we
wish to draw special attention.
We commence these remarks with the
relation nf Il case ofruined constitution,
disease and death, caused by thesysiem-
attic use Of tight iacing. This hurtful
l,.a
orally misunderstood. Ladies give what
| the consider satirfactOry reply to the
charge of tight lacing. II assure you L
could put my hand between my stays
and waist" This may be true or not
it matters little, for the the evil consists
in the gradual modelling of the waist by
systematic pressure begun in girlhood.
The size Of the waist is in this manner
prevented from further growth, its nor
mai Development being arrested so far
as 30 perpetuate the slender waist of the
child, while all other parts are allowed
| to expand into the natural bulk of wo-
man. This, and not the amount of pres
ure necessary to maintain the small size,
| is the real evil. The small waist j. made,
not SO much by actual squeezing as by
the'maintenan of a rigorous ceinture
that prevents all uIther development.
The evils arising from this stunted aud
shrunken waist have been so often deS-
cri bed as To require no notice here. The
next harmful of modern female decora-
ton is, perhaps, the chignon. The girl
OF the period is not satisfied with only
one head, but adds h"ad to head in
Siamese twins fashion. l. t"that one
small head can" net carry alp she
knows? But as these remarks are in
tended, not for artistic, but physiological
purpose, We must not discuss the merits
of the chignoh in its ornamental capaci-
ty; we will merely observe that since its
introduction cases of brain fevers are
enormously Oh the increase, being near
ly double in number. Headaches are
much more prevalent. These conse-
quences might be anticipated from the
use a machine so powerfully retentive of
animal heat.
The paniers being harmless eXaggera-
tions, may be passed without comment,
but the high heeled shoes and boots mer-
it notice. The necessary result of the
Use of these instruments of torture is a
great increase of pressure against the
toes, giving distortions, corn callosilies,
etc, for the feet are placed on a si0Iing
instead of a flat surface. The instep be-
comes flattened, and the much admired
arch of the fent falls to level or more
The ankle joint loses its proper bearings;
all the weight of the body being placed
on its posterior surface, it gradually loses
form. The III lscies of the calf, b. the
relaxation oftbe teadO dcRilis, wastes in
bulk and. acquires a tendency to spasm.
Ease, elegance and dignity of gait are
rapidly lost, and a nervous tOtter is rap
idly acquired.
But OF all the hurtful customs growing
out of perversion of taste, the worst is,
we think, the alternate wrapping and
denuding the chest and shoulders. The
tender aud sensitive young lady who
enjoys the warmth of fur and ether
wrappi ngs during the carriage drive or
morning walk, is in the evening expos
ed, with denuded bosom and shoulders
to the draughty atmosphere ofthe opera
house or ballroom. To enable our deli
cateIy nurtured English matrons and
maidens to resist such extreme changes,
would require an amount of vigor rare
ly possessed by them, and consumption
too often follows, as a natural cOnse-
uuence, the gaities of the London sea-
son. We feel that we are touching on
delicate ground, but our interest in the
we'll being of our fair country-woman
makes us reckless of all censure. We
therefore boldly assert, that however a
low dress may suit the ballet dancers, it
is both unseeming and dangerous to
our matrons and maidens. We have not
exhausted our comments ON the girls of
the period, and should we escape eXcom-
munication from the drawingrooms we
shall add a few more paragraphs at some
future time, and the fashion of lady's
postscript.