The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1873-07-03
vvoMAN's WEAR.
Docs one women ina fifty fill the
Eower Part Of her Lungs
with AEr?-What Miss
Phelps Thinks.
From the Boston Adyertiser.


most prominent advocate of reform in
womuns dress, and her book asks and
answers the questions Is the character
Of wOmans dress such as to require re-
generation? and what are the practical
means of regenerating it? To the first
Of these inquiries Miss Phelps declares
herself ready to answer with the prompt
ness born Of those convictions which rise
upon the stepping of our dead
opinions to Cat least self satisfactory
things, that the present dress of woman
is bad taste, bad hygiene and bad NOR
ais" She takes very melancholy view
Of the condition Of women, view that
would lead US to believe, if we did not
see something of the world ourselves,
that women were nearly at their last
gasp-killed in the mass by tight-lacing
and heavy clothes and that in a short
time the world would be peopled by men
aIone-strong men, who owe their lives
and their strength to a proper costume.
She sees woman in 6 low tone" artist
cally and morally. Her American girls
are puny, pallid, understood, under
soued, deyoured by the back-ache, the
headache, the heart-ache, dark puzzle
TO the Psychologist who undertakes their
present relief, a sad problem to the po-
Iitical economist who looks to the future
ideal society, the mothers of which they
will be. she selects long, lean, gaunt
women of fifty, dressed in the most alb
surd and gaudy of cheap clothes, as
representative of fashionable dress, and
denounces fashion accordingly. Her cen
sure is sweeping the ordinary style of
dress Is, in her opinion, extravagant, I'M
healthy, immoral, made to attract men
by appeals to their senses, rather than to
their taste or intellect.
Miss Phelps has given time and
thought to this subject, and the single
facts which she states are not to be set
aside; but her congratulations from do
women great injustice There are innu-
merabe women who are not invalids, the |
slaves of fashion, or the victims of
clothes They have health, and dress in |
a reasonable and comfortable way with
out making a fuss about it. They fol- |
low Miss Phelps own law of taste, that |
dress shall not attract undue attention, |
and we believe these women to be ma |
iority of their sex. There is, without |
doubt, great deal of extravaganza, bad |
taste and trivolity in the world but |
these faults are confined to no single |
class or sex, and dress is only one form |
OF their expression. Extravaganza does |
not consist in the actual money or time
spont on dress but in an undue proper |
ton of money or time spent upon it |
and poor people are much more extraVa-
gant than the rich. No one can well |
nudge for another. Our neighbor wore |
with point lace in the square neck and
about the wrists, and a small fortune in
exquisitely set jewels. She is beauH-
full woman, and i'll that dress a more
lovely picture than Reuben or Titan
ever painted. She was a real delight to
those who saw her, and her dress was not
extravagant, though it was very costly.
Other fashionable women dress inexpen-
sively; they have the gift of making
things look well, and some of them know
how To make sylish and beautiful party
dresses with little trouble and little work.
We will make these an offset to Miss
Phelps bad cases. Frivolity cannot be
cured by any dress reform; and dress is
perhaps the most innocent way to en-
play it. Frivolous reading is worse than
many tlounces, and frivolous philanthropy
does more harm than the ugliest chignon.
Good taste, coo, comes from education
and training, and If universal costume
of short, waistless clothes, hung from
the shoulders, could be introduced to-
morrow, rs man of them would be bad
in color and trimming as the upholstered
garments of to-day are. Miss Phelps
SAYS the average woman is no fool We
agree with her, and are willing to go fur
Their, and say that, being no fool, she
does not injure herself by tight lacing.
Some girls do iniure themselves, and
ought TO be ashamed of it; but the ma
jorIty of women have some regard to
health and comfort, and 1t Is an immense
over-estimate of the number of female
fools 10 say that mot one woman in fifty
ever knows, except in her undressed
hours, from girlhood to the grave, what
it Is to till the lower half of her lungs
with air." In the really fashionable
circles there is the average amount of
common sense. a lady belonging in
fashionable life said of another lady in
the same class: "She is good and bright,
you know, and all that, but she belongs
to the kind that wears Congress boots
without heels She was not a solitary
exception, but simply one of kind that
the speaker respected, but did not sym
pathlze within the same way that a
woman conscIentiously plain in clothes
and hair, often says of friend: ''She is
very nice and good; but she frizzes
frightfully." Miss Phelps herself brings
testimony to the fact that women's waists
have enlarged and the cost of their
clothes decreased within few wears: so
she ought to take comfort, and not de-
spair as often as she does. She supposes.
as wild reform dream, that by one
subtle, strong comp detat the thinking
women of America could make it fash
ionable to dress like rational creatures"
What then? In three months the fashion
would change. We have had many sen
sible fashions within twenty-years, and
not one of them has remained in fashion.
Short skirts have superseded long ones.
and now dragging ones are once more
worn. But we hold to this fact: That
through all changes an immense number
of women have worn short skirts on the
street, and have held to every good thing
that fashion has introduced. They do
not need dress reform, and the others
would not mind it. Any woman who
wants to can dress simply and comfort
ably now without attracting attention.
We think that Miss Phelps gives too
much importance to the whole matter;
that she judges women harshly, and con-
dennis them on insufficient evidence.
To the reform-dress many sensible wo-
men object. Let clothes be loose and
light, and skirts above the mud of the
streets, by all means. That Is good
teaching and has many followers; but
universal suspenders would bring Martial