Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-04-20
Sensible Fashions.

Howard Glyndon, writing to the New
York Mail, says:
Charles Mackay, it is, l believe, who
has written a poem about red and white
p%etticoats.
with her red, her aaring petticoat,
She's net the girl for me {"
is the way in which he winds up one of
his verses. If he is still alive, it would
be a clever tease to inveigle him into
visiting New York and walking down
Broadway on a cloudy day, when every
other girl" you meet is holding the
folds of her dress gathered to the right
.ide, in her right hand, so as to display
considerable of the red flannel petticoat
beneath. But, on the other hand, as the
poet goes on to indicate his preference
by saying
"With her white, her modest petticoat,
Oh, she's the girl fol mel
we could balm his aching heart by show
ing him an equal number Of embroider-
ed, stif1y starched and nicely ironed
white muslin petticoats, peeping out
from under uplifted folds of black, brown
and gray dresses, seemingly for the X
press purpose of getting splashed with
mud by passing stages and carriages.
Charles Mackay to the contrary, this
is simply abominable. 1t seems to me
that ladies should have some higher OBJ
ject in life than to make walking adyer-
tisements Of themselves for the benefit
of their laundresses, and certainly there
are nobler ambitions than that of soiling
one or two white p%etticoats every day.
We are all quite willing to believe that
they can afford to do this, and invest
small fortunes in their weekly washing
u lsswithout having our attention called
so often to the fact that they do run up
such bills, by seeing those splashed white
petticoats on the streets There is, per-
haps, no innovation of the present sea-
son so utterly in bad taste as white skirts
out of doors Perhaps the very wisest,
most tasteful decree hat the Empress
Eugene ever gave to the fashionable
world was when she made war upon the
white pettiooats for walking. In her
time a white petticoat was never seen
out of doors among the CONNIE il faut
With her downfall, an attempt is again
made to introduce this dirty, disagreed
Bile, and in short utterly odious custom.
Gray stockings are the only sort fit for
muddy or wet days. White ones out in
the wind and slush are as odious as the
white skirts. There is a very fine and
soft wool stocking, of a peculiarly pretty
gray tint, called "%clergyman's gray
now manufactured, and expressly for
rearing on the street on dirty days.
With these stockings and well-made,
well6tting, thick-soled boots, a lady need
not publicly belle herself on wet days,
out may still feel ladyIhke, in spite Of
raised skirts, mud splashes, and slush to
tramp through.
And if she will, let her wear a red
p%etticoat for walking, during the preva-
tence of the nasty wet weather, which
we NAV make up our minds TO, mostly,
for the next two MONTHS Charles Mae
kay TO the contrary. Although, if she
LAS a fnely-developed sense of propriety
in colors, she viii probably shun the
glare of scarlet and appreciate the deep,
grave dark-blue, that modest, wOmanly
and virginia. hue that is often found in
the draperies of Madonnas by the old
masters. A few blpa petticoats among
all those red opss would have a pretty
effect.