National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-02-12
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SENSIBLE FASHIONS.

SENSIBLE FASHIONS. sssI
MODERN IMPROVEMENTS IN uNDER-
WEAR.
Among the enormous improvements and
changes which have taken place in fashioa
""nm the past twenty years, none b moro
u marked than that in regard to underclothing.
Inc warm knitted dannels worn by men were
almost unknown among women; indeed, they
"eo nos manufactured for women, and Il was
only BY an old lady here and there. determined
10 be comfortable, and whose somewhat clumsv
substitutes were Of her own making, that fan-
mel uDdergarments were worn at all
Warm Balmoral underskirts had NOT then
come into vogue, shoes and stockings ver.
light and thin, and cloth a. q material for
dresses unknown. Moreover, houses were net
then 90 generally or thoroughly heated - now,
and though cloaks of . broad and baggy cut
and large furs gave an appearance of bulk to
the winter dress, yet II was not In reality %
warm nor 90 well calculated throughout for
protection and comfort Is now.
1t Is true that all do not avail themselves of
the provisions made for them. "Out West, /"
the wives and daughters of farmers every
where, so far as my observation has extended,
ana girls and women employed in selling, in
sewing, IN shops, in factories, and the like, sre
usually lamentably deficient In good, warm
clothing; but these can hardly be taken Is .
criterion OF what Is either fashionable or gen
eral among persons with whom money n
abundant, who can buy what they please, and
by whom certainly the demand for these new
essentials" has been created -
Two causes operate toprevent rapid adou.
ton of even the best IDEAS by women living far
from metropolitan centres and the class en-
tenacity with which the first cling to their ira
ditions; the second the absolute necessity for
outside clothing, and the utter impossibility OF
making the small pittance which their work
brings answer all the demands.
Probably the best-that Is, the most COM
fortably-dressed women in the world are what
may be called the professional class in this
country. Superior teachers, journalists, wrL
ters, physicians-women who have usually
graduated from old and formerly s'well-to do"
families; women whose intelligence rendered Il
easy for them to adapt themselves to the ext
gencies OF practical life, and who, discovering
what their needs were, determined quickly
upon having them supplied.
These women have no trouble with their
dress. Knitted underclothing, light and warm,
Is now as abundantly supplied for them as ~.
men, and more cheaply. Wooden skirts, cloth
suits, thick cotton or wooden hose stout, neatiy-
made walking-boot and a wrap for cold or
stormy days when required, constitute o warm
and sufficiently becoming costume-one adap-
ted to all kinds of weather, easy to put on, and
no more trouble than that of a man when it il
on.
The desirability of comfort in clothing is be-
coming 90 well understood, the demand is so
great, that all the separate items of such an
outfit are part of the stock of every ladies'
furnishing house, and are the articles that are
soonest exhausted and most frequently replen-
ished.
All this is not strictly fashion, but It bears
an intimate relation to it. 1t assists to form
permanent basis for the dress of women which
Is all we want, all that is needed, all that we
have any right to ask advancing civilization,
rendering changes and luxury in the dress of
women inevitable, and no more to be deplored
than luxury In houses, churches, furniture and
other things. Dress relormers, as a rule, ig-
more the development and growth of sensible
ideas in modern dress. They bewail customs
which have been practically abolished for the
past ten or fifteen years; they make a corset,
which does not exist as the instrument of tor
ture they describe, responsible for all the ills
which female flesh endure, and hang the mil
lehnium upon shoulder-straps, which to some
women are uncomfortable, which at best only
remove the weight from the hips to the shoul-
ders-the former being best able to bear it-and
which, If narrow, cut the shoulders if broad,
fatteri the bust.
It is perhaps hardly worth while to remark
that elegance is out of the question with such
an arrangement of undertaking, because ele-
gcncc Is not what dress-refOrmers claim to ad-
vocate or expOund; yet most women as well as
men admire 1t, and only want sufficient means
to make them representatives of il, as far as
their natural limitations will let them become
80. It would be wiser, therefore, if those who
assume 10 be teachers were to make themselves
with what has been ACCOMPLISHED
toward useful and permanent dress, and be
content to assist the natural evolution of in
.elligent thought, which is working out practi-
al details as fast as women are ready for
them, instead Of requiring all women to adopt
certain notions, wear the same style of dress,
and look ugly, in order to be healthy.
THE CORSET QUESTION.
The outcry against corsets is as senseless as
. hundred other outcries against special agents
which are made the scapegoats of general and
widespread evils. There are women, and I
know them, who have worn corsets all their
ives--noti the perfectly-cut, acknowledgement,
easy-atting, modern French corset, but the old
bones enough to make a small man;kin-ccr-
sets that would make any woman nowadays
shudder, fashionable or Otherwise-and who,
have lived to eighty, reared
large families without losing one, and never
had doctors bill to pay for any ailment Of
any of them.
But does this prove that eorsets are necessary
70 health and long lifel Not at all. I have
Known other women who have never worn cor
cts at all who have had healthy children and
title need for family doctor; and must also
ldmit that know one woman, denizen Of
he quiet country-one whose life has always
apparently been surrounded by healthy eondi-
ions-who never looks at q corset, who wears
straps religiously and her gowns
hort and loose about her, yet Is ailing at
east half the time, and has never had living
hid.
Does this prove anythingl No. Perhaps, a
she might have been dead II It had
not been for the shoulder-straps. The simple
ruth Is that there are many sides to the dress
question, and the health question, and all other
questions, and the view Of those who see from
me side only must be very partial, the work
hey do very limited.
Apart from the modern improvements In cor
ets, the question has not here the same in
crest that It has across the water in England,
o enbonpoint while they are still young than
american women; they continue to wear .
tiffer and less flexible corset than the French
ne preferred by American women, and there
, much more effort to draw in at the waist
han with u, American girls being sufficiently
q fact, a. they have learned from studying
rtistic models of beauty abroad, almost too
lender.
As for tight corset upon the well-fed, ma
ronly figures which grace the Academy and
he great merchant clubs annual receptions,
Vhy, Il ID simply absurd. The close adherence
o full dress upon these occasions shows tho
ride felt In the ample proportions of arm and
houlder, while the fair, smooth, unwrinkled
bee b abundant evidence that no undue pres
ure 10 permitted upon the vital organs.
cHMpREN's DRESS.
One of the most satisfactory evidences Of
gain In sensible IDEAS in regard to
ress II to be found IN the clothing Of children.
twenty five Year, ago low necks, short sleeves,
are legs, thin shoes, linen and cambria, with .
nodicum Of hannel, and q stif whaleboned
orset for girls - soon - they were able to
ralk, were - rule with mothers who wished
o "form" their children md have the credit of
ressing them prettily. ~
Now, knitted wooden underclothing, like that
{ adults, u In such demand that IL pays to
rade Il 70 every age. Dresses are cut with
ign pecks, long s3seyes, and skirts that come
, the top Of tie boots. Warm striped hose
xtcnd ron the thighs, thick boots cover the
~, 1Dd the variety Of furred and knitted
luf1sge, and wraps Of every description, Is 50
reat that children are In rs much danger from