The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1878-08-29
The Dress OF women.


dress has been worn very tight, and it
cannot be denied that 10 all good femi-
nine figures at least such garment is
more becoming than some of the styles
it replaced, and inssmuch as it partial
ly serves the ends of both beauty and
utility, it seems pity to discard 1t,
unless something very much better is
substituted. The rumors are co the
effect that the panier worn in the time
of Marie Antoinette, and which causes
far from graceful enlargement 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
mantumakers, or, rather, which fash
ion reporters represent as occupying
the thoughts of the beautiful craft at
whose head the great Worth stsnds,
but they are significant Is showing the
Tyranny of fashion," about which
writer in the Cornhill Magazine troubles
herself, and at which social satirists
and social reformeTs haye so long beat
en- that it has become pretty thread
bare. But the English essayist says
some things worth listening to. Her
purpose is to inquire whether the civ
ihzed world cannot by some gigantic
struggle and common protest release
itself from the thralldom of modern
fashion and obtain degree of quiet
and laxity in the E1atter of costume
which has blessed or cursed the Chi
nese for thousand years. She seeks
for "some peaceful haven, safe from
the ceaseless perturbstions of this dis
turbing influence, in which those may
find rest who are now dragged reluct-
antly with the current of fashion, or
for such as, affecting to defy it, are
wallowing helplessly in the trough OF
dowdyism."
The cost of a woman's dress, as
regulated by tyranncus fashion, has, in
truth, become very onerous. No lady
who has not a good deal of money to
eXpend on her clothes can now afford
to go into fashionable society with any
degree of frequency, while 4 man can
put in an appearance at balls, parties,
dinners and receptions daily and
nightly without heavily intrenching on
comparatively small income. Yet
women are now and must always re-
MAN the center and the mouiders of
the most elegant and refined society,
and wealth, as We all know, cannot
always confer on its possessors grace,
wit and cultivation. Therefore it is
great misfortune if fashion shuts many
women out of a sphere in which they
could exercise beautiful influence,
hfah hxyy, M
they are we'll fitted to adorn.
The later fashions not only frequently
and radically change the form of femi
nine dress, but they also so make their
law that the material of which it is
composed is cut into hundred pieces,
thus preventing any subsequent altera-
ton of the shape of the garment. 1--WE
do not leave even to the moth its
proper work, but begin with our own
they are made. Our dama>ks and bro
cadcs are all hacked to death, cut re-
morselessly through leaves and flowers,
and the stalk joined irreleVantly to
the heart of the rose, and the mutt
lated bud to the thorn" Then comes
the " trimming" which involves the
chopping of the rich stuff into bits,
the whole work requiring a great out
lay of time on the part of the seam
stress, and the result being the de
struction of the material for any except
present use, whereas in the old days q
gown SO expensive and SO elegant
could have been brought out year after
year, and perhaps handed down to
another generation.
This English protestant against the
reckless tyranny of fssIon and corrup-
ton of the art of dress sees no other
way of escaping from the thralldom and
curing the evil than that of following
the simple principles of dress as estab-
lIshed by the Greeks, and which even
now govern the costumes of the Orien-
tai peoples. 1.-THE dress of the Indian
ayah, in which a scarf eight yards in
length is made to form, without pin or
thread, garment incomparably grace
full and convenient, and that of all
ranks In ancient Hellas, offer extreme
typical examples of this employment of
easy means to admirable and varied
ends" She then proceeds to indicate
the character of the dress with which
she would wage war against the modern
fashion autocrats. The garments should
be adapted to the lines of the human
frame, the weight falling where IL is
least oppressive and every organ and
muscle being allowed its free develop
ment, so that the advantage of the
wearer would be first subserved. They
should be put together according to
established rule, and so as TO receive
character and not impose it on the per
son. They should be easy to wash
where the material admitted of such
publication, and should not occupy an
undue space in wearing. keeping, or
carrying about. Finally, the dress
"should be removed from vulgar COM
parison by association with some great
and enduring monument of the past,
associations whose revived presence
wodld be felt as an impulse of higher
life throughout the whole sphere OF
culture"
Such a system of dress was actually
in use by the better class of Britons for
400 years. 1t was given them by Ro-
mans, and, with but slight alteration,
was the dress of ancient Greece. II
consisted of the tunic or chyton, fas-
tened on the shoulders, and with zone
at the waist through which the gar
ment might be drawn until the con-
venient length was attained, and so as
to dispose of the folds in graceful
lines. Over this tunic, which could
be made in ba'f an hour, the Grecisn
women draped shawls or scarfs, As
suited their tastes or fancy.
She contends that this dress Is not
only more graceful and convenient
than that at present worn by wo
men, but that il is also more modest
and becoming, and that with the help
of shawl, square or long, according
as 1t is used as cloak or a wrap, il
affords sufficient protection against
the rigors of the weather. The dress,
too, can be made as rich as the purse
of the wssrer will sffOrd, aud its sim
plicity and freedom adapt 1t thorough
/ ly to the necessities of working women
II is easy 70 wash, easier 10 pack, its
length can be regulated at pleasure,
and It's beauty 10 beyond dispute. i
would not subject the weaFer to
Invidious remark, for the general our
line and hang Of the shawls or stuffs
thus arranged makes 90 near an ap
proach TO that obtained by cutting and
goring, the piecing ana igatures oi
the present mode, that an eye nnin-
formed of the facility of the means EN-
| ployed would be slow 20 discover them