The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-08-21
The Dress Of Women.


The Dress Of Women.
Important rumors come from Paris that
before the cold weather is upon us we shall
be gratifed or irritated by essential changes
in the shape OF gowns for women. For a long
time now the dress has been worn very tight,
and it cannot be denied that to all good femi-
nine figures, at least, such garment is more
becoming than some of the styles it replaced,
and, inasmuch as it partially serves the ends
OF both beauty and utility, it seems pitt to
dscardE it, unless something very much
better is substituted The rumors are to the
effect that the panier worn in the time of
Marie Antoinette, and which causes far
FROM graceful enla rgement at each side of
the hips, is to be evolved for modern use.
There may be no foundation for the rumors
which SO agitate the world of mantuamakers.
or, rather, which fashion reporters represent
as occupying the thoughts of the beautiful
craft at whose head the great Worth Stands,
butthey are significant as showing the styran
ny OF. fashisn," about which a writer in the
Co'm1lIl Magazine troubles herself, and at
which social satirists and social reformers
have so long beaten that it has become pretty
threadbare. But the English essayist says
some things worth listening to. Her pur-
pose is to inquire whether the civilized world
cannot by some gigantic struggle and COM
mon protest release itself from the thraldom
Of modern fashion, and obtain degree of the
quiet and fxity in the matter of costume
which has blessed or cursed the Chinese for a
thousand years. She seeks for ''some peace
tul haven, safe from the ceaseless perturba-
lions OF this disturbing influence, in which
those may find rest who are now dragged re-
luctantly with the current of fashion, or for
such as, affecting to defy it, are wallowing
helplessly in the trough of dowdyism."
Countless shiftings in the form of the
clothes of men being Incompatible with the
grave concerns OF life, the masculine FASH
ions now change but little, and coat, pro-
vided it is not too much injured by use,
! may be worn for years. The alterations in
its shape are trifing, and man need not
| make himself an object of remark by neg
Letting to keep up with them If he wishes
to dress of an evening, there is only one sort
Of suit for him to wear, and he may endue
himself in the same garments just so long
as they do not present a shabby appearance.
The costume is not very expensive, it is
easily put on, it is invariable, and may be
worn for great length of time without Civ
ing him look of oddity, something offensive
to the ordinary modern idea. Once he has
arrayed his manly form in black swallow
tail coat, black trousers and waistcoat, a
clean shirt, properly blackened boots, and
white cravat, he is dressed for any society
and looks as well as the next man, provided
nature has gifted him with figure on which
the tailor can make clothes hang effectiyly
l And even if he is a rawboned and awkwardly
built person, he gets on well enough, and
has no occasion to trouble himself about his
garments. 49,
! But how can women, of whose attention
and money so large part is spent on TIE
mere fashioning Of clothes, be relieved from
the oppression which now weighs SO heav
lily on them? This is question asked by
the writer in the Corn1izl Reuep aud hel
answer is that "the harbor of refuge to be
provided one day for that cultured elite amops
women who are beginning to feel the tyran
ny of fashion intolerable, must be one from
which beauty is not banished. but where, OF
the contrary, it finds its securest anchorage
in USE" That is, when women have once
found a fashion Of dress that is becoming t
them, they must, if they would he free
stick to it, in spite of Worth and hi
satellites, and content themselves with sucf
changes of color and ornament as their indi
vidual taste prompts.
The cost of woman's dress, as regulated BY
tryannous fashion, has in truth, become very
onerous. No lady who has not good deal o
money to expend on her clothes can now
afford to go in to fashionable society with any
frequency, while a man can put in an appear
ance at balls, parties, dinners, and receptions
daily and nightly without heavily intrenchine
on a comparatively small income. Yet wo.
men are now andmust always remain the cen
. tire and the moulders Of the elegant and
refined society, and wealth, as we well know
cannot always confer on It's possessors grace
wit, or cultivation. Therefore, it is a grea
misfortune if fashion shuts many women out
Of sphere in which they could exercise
beautiful influence, and which by nature and
A requirement they are well fitted to adorn.
!, The later fashions not only frequently AM
radically change the form Of feminine dress
but they also so make their law that the ma
terial Of which it is composed is cut into
hundred pieces, thus preventing any subse
quent alteration Of the shape Of the garment
, 'We do not leave even to the moth its prope
work, but begin with our own hands to fret
our garments before they are made. Gu
} damasks and brocades are all hacked to deaf
!, cut remorselessly through leaves and flowers
!, and the stalk Joined irreleyantly to the hear
Of the rose, and the mMtilated bud to til
@Ethorn." Then comes the "trimmin gu whic