The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1878-06-25

From the Toledo Blade.

!
tage. When told Mrs. H. L. Owen ]
would send her one, had no idea 90
many would want il, and as / have the
paper to buy aud many duties 10 claim
my time, find It moro than / am able
to do, 20 send to all. / have some
other patterns that will likely suit
many better than the Que have been
sending (that being quite plain) and i
/ will send To ali who send me shells or
! geological specimens, or tidy patterns.
! III had the timo aside from that re-
! quired for the performance Of my du-
4 ties, would gladly send all my pat
| terms, because know from experience
/ how much benefit is 90 be derived
/ from adopting a physiological dress.
I Please do not thiuk this a particular
''hobby' Of mine, for do not think ii
I is ia dress alone that we disobey na-
ture's laws, or that the popular manner
Of dressing causes all our suffering. /
only think il one great cause, which
could be easily removed by using n lit
tie common sense and independence.
There are three important things to
be done, II we would dress BEAUTIFULLY.
First we must have the weight of our
clothing come upon the shoulders.
Few women have any idea how much
better they would be, or how much
more able to 60 about their household
duties, II this Que thing were attended
to properly. People are "haTping"
about what a sickly diseased nation OF
women we are becoming, and for one
think that the wonder is not that "we
are what we are" but that we are no
worse. fancy even our "lords OF crea-
ton would degenerate In physical
strength and beauty in an equal de-
gree, II they went around, year after
year, with their waists compressed, 4,
their circulation impeded, by elastic,
their number-seven feet squeezed into
number-three boots, and carrying, be-
sides our burdens of ovor-work and
worriment, about one-fourth the weight
of the body, in clothing. To have this
weight of our clothing where it should
be, we must have IL comparatively
loose. The undergarment can be made
all together, and the stocking fastened
by an elastic to the waist. The but
tons to which these are fastened can be
sewed on 40 the seams, or n fold or so
of muslin stitched on the side at the
waist, so the button will not "tear out. ="
Skirts can either be fastened mp by
putting sleeveless waists TO them, or
10y pinning them TO straps; large safe
ty pins can be used for this purpose.
Those that will wear overskirts, and
will have not only them but all their
clothes heavy with trimming, would do
we'll 10 have them fastened to a waist,
instead Of depending, as so many do,
on their hips or corssts 10 keep them
up." The most healthy and, think,
the most becoming dress is the Prin-
cess; il is cut all together, aud can be
made to ft Deatly without being tight,
and for those that wish it. can he drap-
ed beautifully. Although j have fail
ed in all my philosophy TO dream OF
reasonable reason" Why women should
more than nen, have the motion of
their limbs impeded by long and heavy
skirts, still / do not advocate the ex-
tremes some of our wouldbe refOrmers
go 10. We are a conservative people,
aud naturally resist any great and sud-
den changes; but there Is a better way
even for those who have not the
strength 10 60 against popular opinion
enough to carry out the principles Of
reform through ell things. Yet let me
say here, that II seems 20 me that, after
one is thoroughly convinced thing Ia
right, IL ought not 20 be hard 70 live
out ones convictions; and though |
wish sincerely that our women might
dress differently and so avoid much
suffering. the gain anything is to bring
US should not be the frat motives IN
Il =. n
His laws as surely IN our physical as
our moral or intellectual natures, and
consider that we sin as deeply in our
knowingly violating them, that | would
like us all TO come to clear knowledge
Of the importance Of understanding
and obeying them. Until we learn 10
hold these laws sacred wherever We find
them, and until we can esteem beings
that He made in His own image, too
wonderful TO be deiormed by blind
allegiance TO fashion, we will not, L
am afraid, ba able 10 come out of this
bondage. This then Is one very i'm
portant thing % see 10, that all our
clothing, whether long or short, plain,
or heavy with trimmings, should be SO
arranged that the weight may come on
the shoulders. The next thing 10 see
TO is that there be no compression any
place. We should be able to expand
the whole chest fully, without feeling
the slightest compression. You need
not necessarily look anything but neat
and pretty, because you have not cor
sets or tight dresses on. n waist, lac
ed until out Of proportion with the
width oi hips and shoulders, cannot
appear beautiful TO any good judge of
artistic proportionment. Trim your
dresses il you want TO, and can do so
without feeling that the time aud
means thus used have been wrongly
employed. but do not deform your
selves. Throw away your corsets n
you have not already done SO, and II
You wear oyerskirts, basques, and all
trimmed, support them well, and do
not have any greater thickness about
waist than possible. Gore the under
skirts almost or entirely plain. This
"a one principal reason / consider the
princess dress the healthiest; so many
Of rs you know have terrible backs.
backs that grOau and moan under just
our ordinary duties, and one great
cause Of 90 many weak backs is that
tie way the most OF US dress, We have
more upon our bodies than elsewhere,
and the greater thickness Of all our
skirts and oil comes over the muscles
Of the back, keeping them unduly
heated, and heat is always debilitating
/ believe the rule is % keep the tenn
perature 81 the body as even as posi-
/ BILE: hut II there must be more cloth
ing one place than another, let il be on
the limbs. Iustead Of following this
rule the most OF us Keep the greater
amount on our bodies: and, this, to-
gethcr with other unphysiological hab-
/ its, tends 90 produce congestion IN or
gans often already overtRsked, while
I the limbs, hands, and feet, are left pre-
portionately cold. My letter Is already
/ too long, but want TO tell you how
dress about my work; for ! am enabled
/ to do more. and with greater ease, than
/ 1 could possibly do IL went around
with my skirts hanging about my waist
I getting in the way Of my feet, and /
unable 30 breathe deeply OF this pure,
cool air of these summer mornings.
make my work dress OF calico or any
wash goods, i cut IL all together like
a wrapper, only my pattern has five
pieces in IL, and buttons behind. The
'front.' Is cut like the POlonaise. so much
worn a year or so ago, and cut II
long enough for the dress. make my
work-dresses 10 reach within about
four inches Of the ground. 10 the
front put darts 90 ft, and the hack
cut over my Princess pattern.
| . -. e...t. "A a. t.ctg,.,,