Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1871-11-25
Eaoies department.
WHAT HAS BECOME OF ALL THE
LITTLE GIRLS!

was once common sight,-and was then, |
and ever must be, the sweetest object in ma
tJre,-a simple, artless little girl. with all
the pretty, unaffected ways aid manners of
unsophisticatcd childhood, fresh and beauti-
full. about her. There is no lack of small be-
ings, dressed in such marvellous style that
Darwin himself would be puzzled to make
out the class to which they belong; but we
find nothing to remind us of the little girls
we used to know, either in dress or manners.
In former times II pretty muslin bonnet. or
simple cose-ittlng cottage straw, was thought
the most appropriate covering for little
head-protecting the bright eyes from too in
tense light, and shielding the rosy cheeks
from the suns too fervid kisses. But now
we see something, placed on the sunny curls
leaving eyes and cheeks entirely unpro-
tected-which is deliberately trimmed with
bows, feathers, II tower-garden, or perhaps
II minglng of both; for, although it is too
small for even II good-sized DOLL the miliner.
with IN ingenuity which would have been
praiseworthy If exercised in II more sensible
manner, has contrived to pile up trimming
enough to hide even the fiintest suspicion of
II bonnet. But. what is sadder thnn the lack
of true taste and good common sense in this
stylish affair, we see no semblance of child
like simplicity in the wearer. And the bon
net is but the beginning of this unfortunate
change which we mourn. The pretty "baby
waist" the plain white dress, the neat mus
lin or mcrino, appropriate, which little
girls used to wear, are suppanted by incom-
prehcnsiblc garments-the fac-simile of the
grand danes attire-hounces frnges, bows,
and double-skirts Topped and festooned in an
astounding manner, the child's-no, we mean
the young lady's hight, there are no children
in these days-is less than her circumference.
This dress is put on over hoop, and the
unite" who is made to carry such an incon-
gruous burden, totters about on hieh-heeled
boots. This tiny specimen of womanhood,
hardly weaned from her mothers brcast-or
more probably, II wet nurse 's-slakcs out her
redundant robes, bending and twisting her
small body in grotesque imitation of the wo-
men spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, with
naughty men; walking and mincing rs they
CO." See how the little ape looks over her
shoulders, us she tottcs about, to be sure
that her hoops give her dress and figure the
correct wiggle her sharp eyes have observed
in the stylish mother and her fashionable
friends. 1t is lamentable that all the sim
plicity and beauty of babyhood and childhood
should be destroyed by fashion. Added to
the absurdity of the dress these little women
attempt to discourse on the --latest style"
With their companions or dolls you will hear
them initiating the discussions on this subject
that they daily hear in the parlor or nursery,
from their mother; or, still initiating, with II
contemptuous toss of theii little heads, they
will inform their listeners that they couldn't
think of 'sociating with those girls, because
they are not stylish' A few days since, us
we passed out of store on Broadway our
attention was arrested by the conversation of
two little figures seated in fine carriage.
waiting, doubtless, for mamma to finish her
shopping. They were dressed in IL style pos
itively overwhelming. Their hats were won
ders of skill, their gloves had the orthodox
number of buttons, with bracelets over them,
a dainty handkerchief suspended from ring