Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-10-23
Pretty Plain Talk.-But no Plain
ar than the Question Calls for.

err than the Question Calls for.
There seems to be a difference OF
opinion upon this point. On one side
it is asserted that the internal organs
of the abdomen are so delicate and so
easily displaced or deranged, that it is
conducive to weakness and disease to
carry any weights hanging upon that
portion of the body. 1t is replied to
this that women's shoulders are not
strong enough and suitably shaped to
carry so great a weight as Fashion puts
upon women in the way OF dress with
out undue weariness tt, the shoulders,
and that the gfsatcr beadthES il the fe-
male form at Che hips suggests the-pr6]
priety of carrying the chief weight OF
the clothing there. There is some
sense in this reply, for it does happen
that even the long, heavy sack or cir
cular cloaks sometimes worn by wo-
men, become q heavy. burden to weak
or even to very sioping shoulders. No
doubt it feels more comfortable to car
ry heavy skirts hanging upon the ccr-
set rather than suspended from the
shoulders, for a well-ftting corset SO
equalizes the pressure around the
waist and abdomen that no one spot
suffers especially. But. the corset is
only an enemy in disguise. 1 hardly
think, however, that it can be driven
from the field so long as our present
style of dress remains in fashion-cer-
tainly not while basques and "bias
waists" are generally worn. Did it
puzzle any reader of Miss Phelps pa-
pers in the Iddependent to know what
she meant by ''bias waists ?' I am
sure it did. She must have meant
what some of Us cali "p1ain waists, /" Ur
the waists cut to fit the figure with
"biases" or ""darts" in frOnt.) The
charm of those waists is their perfect
them the temptation to pinch and pad
the figure, and to use case OF bones Or
steel about the waist to prevent
wrinkles and help make a good figure.
An old lady tells us that she and her
sister used always in her girlhood to
finish up their eorsets with tops fitting
never pressed very heavily upon their
dlll, IL 10 ttOu- I
sense to talk as though women whol
wear skirts unsupported from thel
shoulders wear the weight upon the
hips. In a majority of such cases the |
chief point of support is the abdomen,
and that is where the pressure is chief |
ly felt and chiefly mischievous. The
back also suffers. l do not think that
suspenders can ever meet with much
favor among women, certainly not
with women of well-developed busts. |
/ would not put them or anything |
that woHld press over the bust upon a
growing girl, for fear of hindering
fine development of the form. L do
not know of anything better than
well-made underwaist for women and
for children. 1t is cleanly and COM
Portable Citing the figure loosely, of
course, and makes a good support for
the skirts, either by means OF buttons
or by means of gered or eirclfDg piece
about two inches or less in depth, with
long whalebone or rattan run in the
hem. This is set on around the bot
tom of the waist. and skirts buttoned
around the waist hang upon it and
make no pressure upon the hips. A
piece of the cloth of the underwaist,
sewed on when the bust ought to be
either full like a scent puff or set on
plain like a pocket open at the top,
serves as receptacle for any material
which women defrauded by, nature of
good womanly form are tempted to
carry. The best filling for these poek-
cts is probably white curled hair or
moss. 1t is great pity that aay wo-
man should need such additions 10 her J
wardrobe, but everybody knows thatI
it is frequently the case, and less SIM ]
pie and less artistic articles for r1he pur- |:
pose are openly exposed for sale. The
waist proposed here, such as many
have worn for years, suits some of us
better when made over the shoulders
like Garabaldi or Spencer waist, but
gathered into belt five or six Inches
wide, with cores Cor darts or biases) tot
fit the figure: This seems To give NJ ore
freedom to the arms and gives d good
''set" 10 the loose: dfess-waist worn
over it. Il 4n1e1Icd3 4gyic,tltit,fst.