, 1873-06-29
EVOLUTION IN FEMALE FASHIONS.


BY MARGARET r. BUCHANAN.
Those who have listened during the past weeh
to the various graduation exercises, have observ-
ed that, il the next generation Of women has not
resolved to vote, it has resolved TO become q
Blue-Btocking.
It is commonly forgotten that the first Blue
stocking Was man. A ce1tain gentleman was
accustomed to attend the soirees at Lady Mary
Montagus, and the gentleman wore azure
hose. It often happened that conyersa-
ton after lunch Jagged il he we're not
there; and the ladies, to excuse their du1lness,
or to be generous to the absent, we're wont to
cry, swell, We can do nothing without Blue
! stockings!" This gentleman Was not learned,
| but merely yivacious. The conferriug Of the
nickname upon women, and upon learned but
not Viyacious women, WAS accomplished by the
! jealous male aatirists Of the period, at whose
silent heads however, go many adolescent
this week by learned girl-graduates that
the astirists' bones may be permitted
to sleep in peace until the same week next year,
| when the handful OF chalk that remains Of them
will undoubtedly be scattered to the winds,
ALI these girl-graduates claimed equal eauca-
tional rights with men- They claimed, very sen
fruits thereof, and that it is her privilege to
pluck and eat without unwarranted or absolutely
mean Interference. They claimed to put their
thoughts into generalization, that it 1s scarcely
decent, il it be quite just, for men to declare
women not tall enough to reach the boughs, and
Dive her from the garden, without permitting
her to extend her arm and take the apple.
And while these girl-graduates were ut
imDrncAtinna %ha
sorvatiam Of the past, conservatism
still adhered to By those prudent souls Who, as
Abdiel had occasion to say, had they been pres
ent at the Creation, "would have advised God
Almighty to consarve chaos" lest mischief
should coma Of the new condition. n,-these girl
graduates, who can draw plans OF the siege Of
Troy; who scan Homer and sing Anacreon to
genuine Greek nnolodias; who ridicule sum
Plus A2neas and conceive infelix Dido
to have had considerable putty in her
head for such = mental Top to have made 80
much Impression on,-these radical, progressive,
learned, courageous, nay, defiant, girl-graduates
stood before tho public as-Drcssmake1s'
Monuments.
The dressmaker ia the natural foe Of proereR-
eiye womanhood. It is not prophecy to
say that, while the dressmaker endures.
women will not vote. To rote is not
tho end Of the intellectual womau-moye-
ment. The ballot is accident, not tho essen |
tial, Of what plain minded women recognize "a |
Women's Rights. To vote will bo the objective
or possesslve case Of that substantive "A one |
chooses to think but it is not the substantive,
The fashionable dres5maker not only delnrg.
and may defeat, the political march Of women I
but she stands, q Michael with flaming sword,
athwart tho gates that lead to intellectual r1chta
for women
Manifestly, the art OF eostuming should be
progressive. It ought to rest upon aecience whose
principles consider only anatomy, physiology,
and good taste. There should be evolution in
fashions for women, whether there be evolution
in tho animal kingdom Or not. Manifestly, girls |
who are. resolved to- astonish mankind
with the Intellectual power latent in
somewhat oppressed sex, will spurn with
anger and contempt fashions which are not
5urvivals Of the ftteat. Girls who have. like
aurora Leigh, :.
Brushed with extreme dounca
: The cCcla Of the sciences -.
girls who construe the aorist aa easily rs the
French imperative, who 80 enjoy the wit Of
Horace that to read him in tho original and in
:ho English pronunciation sends tears OF lauch-
'er down their cheeks; girls who demonstrate
ho binomial theorem as recreation, and who
prefer the use OF logarithms to keep c1oquet
because to them that il tho
simplest method Of computing,-such
urls are bound in honor to adopt
10 style Of dress or adornment which is
lot the distinct result OF evolution in style.
ANY one who saw these learned girl-grsduates
q their class-day costume has before him the
Thole to which the tests Of evolution may felio-
tously be applied. II the existing fashions for
Fomen be the climax Of an evolution directed
= science, there should be nothing m the style
hat is ID batbarous, (2) contradictory Of sci-
nee, (a) vicious, morally OF physically. There
hould be only that resemblance between the pre-
ailing style and the styles Of Savage ages and
( nations still savage, which would Indicate
ommon origin and gradual progression. In
Ike animal evolution, there should be no esRen-
ial links lacking in evolution in costumes. Un-
:ke natural evolution, there Is no great un-
noWn in evolution in dress.
There VAS very little worn in the unknown
eriod. Il the female fashions which prevail are
be rosult Of evolution, their most popular and