American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-10-02
Small Waists and High Heels.

The Paris correspondent of the Ware
housemen and Diapers Journal writes:
81 was saying last week that there are
no bounds to modern invention, and while
it seems impossible to invent fashion
which the world of to-day would be like
ly to refuse on the score of its novelty, in
one item alone the mode is immovable
The dress must be tightly draped about
the figure, f1utee it is now called-a very
applicable expression, and one which is
likely to find universal favor To be prop
erly fiutee a woman must be thin, of
course. This is hard upon those of more
comedy proportions, but then they have
had their day, and must not complain be-
cause their more meager sisters are pre-
ferred just now. If this fashion confined
itself only to the skirts itwould have its in
conviences, but would scarcely be preju-
dicIal to health. Unfortunately, women
are not content to wind their draperies
around them, so that they can hardly
walk, swathe themselves in their tunics,
and wreath their bodies with scarfs till
they look like animated mummies, but
they also compress the vital organs be-
meath a barricade of steel and whalebnne,
elongate their waists in the most uncom-
Portable manner, and try to render their
bodies as unpliant and ungraceful as it is
well possible. A few seasons back we
should have laughed to scOrn the presump-
ton that women could be SO foolish as to
do this. That one bit of folly-tight-
lacing-was at least supposed to be of the
past. Now we shall have to begin all the
old arguments over again, and the doctors
will once more have q reason always
ready at hand with which to account tor
feminine ills. 1t is curious to note what a
number of slim women are to be seen now
when short time since stout figures were
SO much more common. The new
corsets, veritable iron-clad armor, have a
great deal 10 answer for but worse than this
all sorts of systems to reduce flesh are re-
sorted to, the commonest being diet lib
orally supplied with vinaigre. If it were
only those who have grown with maturity
under the healthful influence of the Cein-
ture Regente, or other innocuous corset of
the kind, who now 60 in for tight-lacing
and unlimited whalebone, it would not SO
much matter; but, unhappily, fashion in
cludes all in its clutches. Young girls
are frightened up in the same manner,
which in their case is thousand fold
more hurtful That we should return tc
SO barbarOus a custom after all that has
been said and writen on the subject is
almost incredible. A great deal is also
said against high heels, a lesser evil, it
is true, and one that rather incapacitates
the woman from the free use of her limbs
than really hurtful, except when carried
to extremes. A certain height of heel
greatly improves the general aspect of the
figure and the set of the dress, while it
also helps the walker; but when the heel
is elevated two inches from the ground,
the knee is thrown forward, and the body
is kept in an abnormal position. Walk
ing becomes almost an impossibility. To
descend staircase is amatter of difficulty,
and general fatigue and lassitude is the
natural result How many women dis
pense with their daily promenade because
their boots and shoes, instead of being
made for rational exercises, are formed
with an utter disregard to comfort and Sc
curity! While preaching against such
abuses as these, the harmless eXtrava-
gances of fashion seem to sink into insig-
nificance, and yet the one is the natural
consequence OF the other. If we neglect
the calls of taste and adopt forms and
shapes that have only novelty TO recon-
mend them, and, ceasing to have an eye
for the harmony of color, put together the
most incOngruous shades, we are likely to
go still further and to he careless in the
more important matter of health. There
fore, though individual initiative in dress
is good thing, as far as it allows each
one to display whatever taste nature has
endowed her with, it is only too likely TO
lead the weak into error by giving full
scODe to their natural pcryerSity