, 1874-08-09
SMALL WAISTS AND CORSETS.

SMALL WAISTS AND CORSETS.
a writer in Appletoas' Journal discourses thus
about small waists aud corset-laclng: There is
no doubt hut that q small waist " il admired OF
all men and au women. No matter how the
pnyslologists or the Physicians may talk, women
alWa'6 bave compressed their waists and ex-
tanaed their sklies, aud they always will, uutl
pupllc opluoD prouounces for toe heavy figure.
1t has never influenced fashionable woman yet
to bear that the Venus de Medlci has a large
Waist-she has been told 80 ever since that
faultless image OF female beauty was disinterred.
She merely shruss her shoulders and draws her
lacea tighter. She knows very well tlat. il she
went to oan with that figure Of the Venus. no
man would ask her to dauce- So important /
matter IL it to have small walst,
That it has become d matter OF pride to
the Austrian people, and is often mentioned
in the Court Journals that the Empress OF Aus
only measures IL inches. This is u greater
uobll.y than even the possession Of sixteen
quxrter1ngs on your shield, without which you
cannot be admitted to the best society of Vienna.
~ Sixteen" therefore, il q magic humber IN vi
enua- There are mauv PERSONS, to pe sure, who
have as small waist but they have not the
belght and coutour and becoming fuluess which
the Emprees has Nor the A1ua,l-wa4st fu1 ore
alone confined to the women Of civilized lands
so called. Tie small foot 0! the Chiness women
Striving for IT, Is universal. Even grave Hum
boldt describes the beaut1e. of Java ~ eating
sors OF clay called amro, by which they become
very much reduced in slze. 1t Kills them finally,
OUT wha3 Of that?
Tue sayages of the islands In the Pacific and
Indian Oce.tnp use very porent means to attain
nleudeIne1a Of hgura tor the young women ard
researches among the uins Of palen4ue tone OF
those mysterious forest cite. OF Central Amori-
cal provo that those almost forgotten people
1f nd all III firr ord
compl eeslo!e corset which has ever been invent
od. Tho savage coisets are made OF rattan,
bones OF animals, aud skins, aud laced with
leather thongs, aud ure wuru by men aud women.
rne young Iudlau warrior IT to-day laces himself
when he goes On the wat-path or to see his lady-
love in = - skin ind bone " belt which is = very
good co! set
The women Of Egypt, if We can believe tile
Pyramids. were no: above tight Iaciug+ In fact,
gloves, curseta, bracelets, aud ornaments for the
ualr 60 Dacx to the remotest antiquity.
In the book of 1salah We read of the Divine
dlspleasu1e manifested against the people OF Je-
iusalom sud Judah. aud Of tie depnviug OF tho
women Of personal adornment, aud there il thus
striking ailusiou to the corsot Ill the splendid
poetical language Of tile time: ''Instead Of
g'rd!e, there soould be rent; and Instead OF q
well-set hair, oa1duess; and instead OF stou1-
acher. girdins Of aacAcloth; and burning iu-
stead Of beauty"
The Jeni Isl, LADIES' Of sank wore pzotuse oroa-
mentation, and always tightly-laced bodice,
winch Id carefully and beautifully alluded to b.
Scott in his descriptions OF Kebecca, tint most
exquisite uf ideal JewesseB.
Now, in looking at tic loose, classical drapery
OF the Roman women, one would say that tho
corset had disappeared for whl1e from Que
Nell-dsessed period Of the world But niatory
tells us differently. In fact, any lady Of mod
ern times who has drapcd herself for private
theatricals, or for tabloAus, ID the Roman robes,
knows we'll that It must bo very carefully
constructed dresE, II cannot be lightly assumed,
It IL very ugly unless the shape be perfect
deruea1h its apparently Negligent folds. Wo
learn from poets aud dranatiaLs, veil 81 from
historians that the Roman women wore girdle,
which they catlod the strophtun,, and which Was
probably the same as the naLr1 or girdle OF the
Greeks, Tue famous cestus OF Venus IL affirmed
by poetical London tradeanan to have been
msrely I well~dtting corset. Aud the zone,
which plays SO Attractive i part iu all alagorical
and human history. may have been only COM
biuatiou OF ~ell-htting whalebone aud steel
quilted into silk or clotu aa tue wearer chose.
Thus tho supposed purely natural and stat
uesque figures Of the Roman women we're really
laced into shape. and held in "durance vile " ~
much AZ arc those of French ladies' Of to-day;
and hero We may we'll remark that wnen ws
Talk OF modern iur1i,y We must not forget that
Cleol atra's earrings wero worth f1oO.0 900,
ana that Julius Ciesar~ gave to another lady Of
hln1 sI the Tinany's Of that day "E43,uo0."
Some industrious Enelishman has translated the
Roman money into pounds for Us. Ws can also
refer to the records OF seueca and P1ny for
samples H., Of tenale estEayasance t wt %L;sh
almost feel ashamed OF herself for
her moderation. Martial and JuYenal do not
hesitate to record that. when these wealthy
daues are being DRESSED IL their gorgeous
peptu,ns, their tresaes of false hair, (which
they frizz!ed with hot irons, when they put on
ti,eir splendid pearls and oruaments Ut gold
and painted their faces aud their eyebrows
they would throw the little brass-haud.ed mir
ror at ths head Of tue offending slaves, or
even apply the whip If the t1re-"omnn did not
make her mistress beautiful.
We see that there IL 10 nothing new under the
sun !" even our little tempeis lave III been
1ndutged III by the portias, tho Cornelias. the
Cleopalras OF the past, uo1 cnn ne invent new
folly, Or caprice, OF abeuttltY Of dress, but we
tiud in history that some woman has been before
US. SO The corset has its antiquity with al the
rest
About tuo middls OF the tenth century tLere
came up terrible and cruel corset, called coaes
Aufuies. These were stif1ened with steel, and
cl6xued with brass or gold. We know very well
from the pictures OF That period what Intensely
email wais,s vera produced, and what Stiffness
Of figure. The French words corps and serres
{ to tishleu), whlcl seem to have suggested the
word corsel, could not have better expressed this
article of dress. Wo do not know now many
women died Of these corsets-probably more
than ever died OF q broken heart. Men as well ~
women wore the horrible things. One lady Of
rank IL described IS wearing - splendid Glrdle
OK beaten guild auout her middle s1nau.' Chat |
GER descabea one OF these beauties as beng
:" small o. weasel and upright as bolt, which |
does not suggeBs very pleasing image OF 1e- |
mnie loneliness to the modern mind
But, If it was one Thing to lace IN the waista. !,
it was auother to augment the size OF the skirt
uuti its outrageous circumference alould make |
the waist loo9 small. This idea undoubtedly |
arose ~neu the rich dilks Of the middle ages, |