The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1874-03-08
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DRESS REFORM.
A LECTURE TO LADIES COR.
SETS, BUSTLES, LONG SKIRTS
AND FALSE HAIR CON
DEMNED.
fRepor,ed for the Boston journal. /

afternoon by DIR. Mary Stafford Blake
in the coy vcstry of the Arlington
Street Church. The subject was
fraught with so much interest that the
binding snow storm did not prevent
the apartment from being closely
packed with some Of the most promi.
ncnt and accomplished ladies of our
city. With but four exceptions the
entire audience was composed of the
fair sex, but at this early stage
of the reform in dress we were not sur
prised that we failed to notice any alb
sence of the fashionable costumes so
generally worn at the present day. 1t
is worthy Of especial mention, however,
that the lecturer has adopted the
method and style Of dress that she SO
earnestly recommends and specifically
embodies in the closing portion of her
entertaining lecture.
DIR. ii. I. Bowditch introduced Mrs.
Blake, in few well chosen remarks.
lie fully sympathized with the object
Of the meeting, and was glad to pre-
side. Certainly no physician, and he
thought no man, speaking for his own
sex, could look at women as we see
them now in the salon and in the street,
particularly without feeling sensibly
that some modification ought to be
made in dress. When he saw the
dress intended for the French salon
sweeping our streets on muddy days, he
thanked God he was not woman.
Applause.
Mrs. Blake wore black silk skirt
with velvet basque, and her hair was
arranged in u simple but very becom-
ing manner. She spoke as follows:
LADIES: Your presence here to-day
speaks well for the zeal you have in
the cause. am delighted to find so
many here, and / shall address you on
dress reform. That there is a growing
discomfort among women in regard to
the wherewith they are clothed, none
can dispute, save those, having ears,
hear not. Whence arises this unrest,
That like n great billow has broken
over the land? Its origin can be dis
tinctly traced to our growth. We
have become women and we desire to
put away childish things. When laws
made by our foreiathcrs are outgrown
when they are found to clog the wheels
Of progress, they are modified, rescin-
ded and stand as dead letters upon the
statutes. If with enlarged spheres Of
action the styles of dress imposed upon
us by the unfortunate women Of Paris
prove wholly insubservient to our
long since ceased to pay willing hom-
age to this foreign dcspot. Fashion and
now, strengthened by the voice and
will of many, the protest against its
DEGREES has become so potent that we
begin to rejoice in the hope of soon
being able to consult our individual
tastes, needs and convenienccs in dress
as in other matters that pertain to our
everyday life, without being target
for ridicule and scorn. Wherever the
gospel Of dress reform has been
preached it has found waiting disciples.
Encouraged to believe that the time
had come for union Of effort in this di-
Iection, an association of ladies was
formed hero and in New York n year
since, which has been doing good
work and ferreting out the protear
forms of evil connected with dress, and
in suggesting remedies for the same.
The association has not arrived al
any radical change in the externals OF
dress, save those that pertain to greater
simplicity, to convenient length OF
skirts, to less trimming, and hence less
weight, Much has been done to call
attention to improved methods in the
making of undergarments, rs well as
in the material Of which they are made
Several practical Inventions for the
suspension Of clothing from the shoul.
ders, for the lessening Of the number
OF garments worn, and at the same time
for the insuring Of greater warmth ar,
the outgrowth of their Investigations
In order to have positive hygienic evi
dcnce brought to bear upon the ills en-
= tailed by improper dress, the associa
ton has made arrangements to have
, series OF six lectures delivered her,
: and in New York, mostly by woman
L physicians.
: The lecturer then stated why uni
b. iormity Of temperature was desirable
I II We desired to keep the plants in oul
a greenhouse most distant from the fur
a mace from freezing We should not hop,
=. to accomplish it by wrapping about til,
centre, from whence radiated thei
y warmth, multitudinous layers of cloth
But that is just what to do with on
o own bodies; anything ranging from
Il SIX to len thicknesses are found, as
Q rule and not as an exception, to en-
8 close the thoracic region, while tn,
I lower extremities are covered NOR
7 frequently than otherwise with but on
Q thickness, and that cotton. All efTor
y under such circumstances TO obtail
y proper warmth is made by adding Al
{, extra supply Of skirts, which contrib
N ute much more to the pressure abou
4 the waist, and to the weight upon III,
y. hips, and to the undue heat upon III,
n kidneys and abdominal organs. tina,
to the warmth Of the lower extromitios
- where it is most needed, because thor
!. the circulation is less active, and In
- parts are exposed to an undercurren
/" OF cold air. Let one step from tenn
IL pcrature Of 20 degrees within TO zer