Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-07-29

- Thank Heavens exclaimed Santa
Barbara belle. the other day, q" tomorrow
is Sunday
Why" l inquired
Because | shall not have to sew.
was about to ask if it was absolutely
necessary that she should sew six days out
of the seven, but a glance at her toilet re-
strained me. She was so founced and
ruflled and trimmed that | saw it was inev-
liable. She further Informed me that it
had taken week on sewing machine to
make her dress; Il little cross examination
developed the fact that buying the dress
and its trimmings hunting up faShiona-
bic artist to cut it, and the consultations
held with her in regard to it had occu-
pied another week Thus the flounces and
folds, and airy, floating draperies, repre-
scented twelve days, and know not how
much WEAKNESS.
Nimble fingers and a sewing machine
ought to make dress in two days suitable
for Christian maiden to wear. This
pretty butterfly called herself a Christian.
vet she felt no shame in spending two
weeks on Il dress. \ woman { toilet ought
to mean something; it ought to be Il type
of the wearer. But rs is well known, our
fashions are copied from the demi-monde
of Paris; consequently. the modest, pious
GIRL and the courtezan dress alike. These
things ought not to be. Religion. decency
and patriotism ought to forbid it. That
they do not, proves conclusiyely that we
have no strong, well-detined views on the
subject Our ideals are low, we fail to rise
to the full height and majesty of the Amer
lean citizen. \ crusade could be wag-
ed in this direction with eminent propric-
tv. | do not propose, however, to inaugu-
rate it. My object is not to treat the sub
iect of dress in Il grave or comprehensive
manner. Where it grazes our duties as
American women. our duties to the world
and the age, there | shall be silent.
speak not to the matrons, but to the girls,
our young, fresh, fair rosebud>.
And IN the first place, girls, don't want
YOU to think | am going to find fault with
you for trying to look pretty. 1t is your
poisoning time, your sweetness fills the
air. Youth. beauty and love are the gods
before whom we all bow down and wor-
ship: the dew and freshness of the early
morning are inexpressibly grateful to u,
who have felt the midday sun; birds and
flowers and all pleasant things rejoice in
the month Of May. Laugh on, young
hearts, and sing, for it is not always
spring; but blossoms turn to fruit ana
maidens into mothers. How is it, Rose
buds? Beneath yonr pretty graces, the
short-lived charms of youth. are there any
germs of growth; is the large, sweet, pre-
cious fruit of womanhood beginning tc
form?
Il spend two weeks on every dress
wear" Alas, Is this to be the answer
Nay, | will not think SO meanly of my
countrywomen. Surely, some girls &c
look thoughtfully, wistfully into the future
surely, the hand of some older, wiser wO-
man could turn them by Il touch into paths
of wide-reaching usefulness. cannot be
licve that the American girl is at heart
wholly given up to dress, fashion and fol-
". | must believe that all she needs is tC
think. Let her begin with the eXclama-
ton of the Santa Barbara belle, "Sunday
is the only day when do not have to sew.
Ponder that well. Consider what it means
to give two weeks to Il single dress. What
becomes of the girls music, her drawing,
her French? Where does she find time to
help her mother, where to read the news
paper to her father, where to listen to the
scrape that her brother Tom had GOT into,
where to help her little sister in her task?
left by two weeks at u sewing machine:
And how much of the girl herself? Repeat
this experience Il dozen times Il year, AND
you have twentv-four weeks of sewing ma
chine OF six months spent on clothes. But
this is Il low estimate. In point of fact
Young ladies spend much more than one.
half their time on their wardrobe and tot
let. In many cases what is the result? Al
twenty-five, papa's purse and patience are
about equally exhausted, the men dom
propose" and they begin to fade. Hero
is where | make my points. You lose youl
beauty and You wither'' on the virgin
stalk Men do not fancy extravagan
wives; they regard matrimony in u moro
business-like way than women imagine
they are kcenly alive to dollars and cents
therefore beware how you array yoursel
in silks and jewels; your devoted cavalier
may be mentally appraising you. and com
inc to the conclusion that he could perhap:
keep you in-gloves.
Now for my other points. There is ne
cosmetic equal to fresh air. Sunshine anC
breeze plant permanent roses and lilies on
the cheek. A woman who has always liv
ed an out door life, is as beautiful at forty
as at twenty; beautiful with Il warm, ripe
OctODc1 1ONellIIeSS. II Is lfeSIl stlT, anu Ina
alone, girls, which will swell your buds
Coop yourselves up in the house, stoor
over your sewing machines day after day
and before you know it you will be gather.
ed flowers. America is full of them, wo
men radiantly beautiful at eighteen; now
the heavy eyes, the sunken cheeks, the
care-lined brow, the pinched, suffering ex-
preston, these mock the women with what
she was; here is now only the pathetic
loveliness of faded rose. The sewing
machine has failed of its object, it is nc
longer a benefit; our folly has turned il
into the insidious enemy of health Fair
maidens, l would have you calm, sweet
blossoms to gladden. some happy home; ]
would have yours that generous woman
hood, wide and warm, which shall be the
hope of the world. To this high estate you
can attain only through health; the virtues
do not thrive on the cold soil of sickness
you can ripen only in the sun.
Make it rule, therefore, never to sew
but two hours day. Impossibler
you exclaim. How could | dress in
fashion, Fashionably-no; hecomingly
yes. The elaborate trimmings now in