, 1874-10-25
Tho Causo OF yvon1nn,s uurdcrous
Style Of Dress.

To the Editor Of tbs CAicaoo 77soune:
s1E: Fashions, and other "ahlictions, CONS
not out Of the ground" but have their origin
either above or below it, We may fail to reach
the great first cause, but know enough to con-
c!ude that men are quite as responsible Us wona-
en- for whatever is good or evil in them. Wom-
ems souls have so long been in the keeping Of
male priests, their bodies in the hands Of male
physicians. that the memory of tho ruce run
meth not back to the contrary Now If The ctaY
may not say to the potter, "Why hast thou made
mo thus = it il-becomes the potter to say 10 the
clay, Why art thou thus mads2" In the days
Of Enelands spenser, Shakespeare. Thompson,
johnson, Addison, and Cacon, public sentiment
was nodded BY men and, by it, u woman WITH
out stays vas considered dowdy. think it vas
Thompson who, in addition to his "seasons ~
gavs the world standard By which all woman
Find vas to bo measured, and in his list OF signs
OF stattern occuEs theaa important and itnnor-
tai lines
Nhea Betty waits without her sta5s,
She copies but her 1uistsess' Why's
This Was sleuth-hound sent into tho privacy OF
avery wonap's chamber to scent out her habits
wlleD tue eye OF her critic and Judge could not
detect her lapsos from that stcrn Neatherboarded
virtue OF figure demanded by her potter,
Mistress might be as solid as block OF wood in
v
and yet, IN the careless abandon Of her own
room, fall into tho homeliness of loose Wrappers
and no" WAS any one to be the wiser +? L, VIVA
knottr question. but the ingenuity OF the poet
waa equal to its solution. 'Just watch her ser
wants. says this fashion-dictator, and il YOU
hnd one Of them At work without her wnalebone-
armoE, take it for granted tina. her mistress ia
eften stnyleas, and stamp tue delinquent
Under the public sentiment created bT this
Elalebone virtue OF tho old English clss1es
ago, when 1 had just entered nv feens
with curved spine. from sitting on the back
less school-benches OF that day. and cousumn-
llon mas imminent, tho doctors ordered coreets
WITH board in frunt. made from pine single,
to make sure it would not bend, and two stout
oak-striPa up tho back. These were to be laced
on. mot tsh." but loosely; and wore them
uutA very io" years ago. when 1 invented a
SUBSTITUTE. Such corsets we're worn. With the
general approval of PHYSICIANS, until about
thlrt7 years ago, when it was found that the de-
mand for waists that man could span with lis
hands Lad induced 80 many women to douhIe the
r'bs' break them loose f1ona the sternum, and
eruEh u = ihls IN on tug l9ngs' thst tue doctors cried
snd Tho women TOOK them OIL. But no one
created public sentiment in favor ct natural
visits, and an hour-glass was still tho standard
OF female loneliness, before which all men bowed
IN humble .dotauon. This figure uas &C.
belt was beIow the ribs. A. ttere are
no tones in this part OF tho body, to
Project TIC vaEccra, Of course the smallest waist
could be made here, and, to increase the .ppexr-
s:ca OF smallnesg. H2sxos Of skirtz and ba1o OF
Gran we're suspended just below this precious
which followed alarmed the doctors, aud theY
cilod out. Put on corEe.a to support these
sk1rfsF And tho women pas On corsol4 but thin
'ta'o' u Wax AsE Variety Tor thsy ~azs H;t4eal