The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1878-10-10
The Dress of Women.

The Dress of Women.
Important rumors come from Paris
that before the cold weather is upon us
we shall be gratified or irritated by es.
sential changes in the shape of gowns
for women. For long tine now the
dress has been worn very tight, and it
can not 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 par
TALLY serves the ends of both beauty and
utility, it seems pity to discard it, I'M
less something very much better is SUBJ
stituted. The rumors are to the effect
that the pannier worn in the time of
Marie Antoinette, and which causes a
far more graceful enlargement at each
side of the hips, is to be evolved for mod
ern use. i9s -3 ~
There may be no foundation for the
rumors which so agitate the world of
mantuamakers, or rather, whiclrfashion
reporters represent as occupying
the thoughts of the beautiful craft at
whose head the great Worth stands, but
they are significant as showing the
"tyranny of fashion, about which a
writer in the Cornhili Magazine troubles
herself, and at which social satirists and
social reforners have SO long beaten
that it has become pretty threadbare.
But the English essayist says some
things worth listening to. Her purpose
is to inquire whether the civilized world
can not by some gigantic struggle and
common protest release itself from the
thraldom of modsrn fashion, and obtain
degree of the quiet and fixity in the
matter OF costume which has blessed or
cursed the Chinese for a thousand wears.
She seeks for "some peaceful haven,
safe from the ceaseless perturbations of
this disturbing influence, in which those
may lind rest who are now dragged re-
luctantly with the current of fashion, or
for such as, affecting to deny 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 mascu-
line fashions now change but little, and
coat, provided it is not too much in
lured by use, may be worn for years.
The alterations in its shape are trifiino.
and man need not make himself an
object of.remafk by neglecting 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 him
self in the same garments Just SO long
as they do not present Shabby appear.
ance. The costume is nptsvery expens-I
i've, it is easily put on, it is inyariable.
and it may be worn for a great length
OF time without giving him look of
oddly, something offensive to the or
binary modern idea. Once he has ar
raJed his manly form in black swal-
loW-tail coat, black trousers and waist
coat, clean shirt, properly blackened
boots, and white crayat, he is dressed
for any society, and looks as well as the
next man, provided nature has gifted
him with a figure on which the tailor
can make clothes hang effectively. And
even If he is rawboned and awkwardly
built person, he gets on well enough.
ana has no occasion to trouble himself
about his garments.
But how can women, of whose atten-
ton and money so large part is spent
on the mere fashioning of clothes, be
relieved from the oppression which now
weighs SO heavily on them? This il the
question asked by the writer i n the Corn
hstt heUieaO, and her answer is that ssthe
haroor OF refuge to be provided one day
for that cultured elite among women
who are beginning to feel the TYRANNY
OF fashion intolerable, must be one from
which beauty is not banished, but where.
on the contrary, it finds its securest an.
chorage in use.n That is, when women
have once found fashion of dress which
is becoming to them, they must, If thew
would be free, stick to it, in spite ii
Worth and his satellites, and content
themselves with such changes Of color
and ornament as their individual tastes
prompt. 4.
The cost of woman's dress, as repu-
lated by tyrannous fashion, has, in truth,
become very onerous No lady who has
not great deal of money to exoend on
her clothes can now afford TO 90 into
society with any frequency,
while a man can put in an appearances
at balls, parties, dinners, and receptions
daily and nightly without heavily in
trenchlng on comparatively small in
come. Yet women are now and must
always remain the center and the mold
ers OF the most elegant and refined So
ciety, and wealth, as we well know,
can not always confer on it's possessors
grace, wit, or cultivation. Therefore.
1t IS a great misfortune if fashion shuts
many women out Of a sphere in which
thay could exercise a beautiful influence.
and which by nature and requirement
they are well fitted to adorn.
The later fashions not only freauentIv