Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-03-28
WHAT THEY MUST WEAR.
A Noted Doctor on Woman's Dress
From the London Telegraph


DR. Richardson delivered lecture yester-
day at the London institution on health and
dress. The lecturer said the character of
dress stand so closely to the character of
the person who wears il that it is hard TO
touch the one without introducing the
other. All kinds of sympathies are evoked
by dress; political sympathies are on the
mostintimate relationship with dress; social
sympathes are indexed by it; artistic sym.
pathies are part of it. Proceeding then to
lay out the plan of the lecture, he begged it
to be understood that it was altogether
apart from his purpose to deprecate good
duty of every one to cultivate good fashion
and that every woman ought to make her
self as becoming and beautiful as she po.-
sibly could.
Corsets, Wristbands, carriers and tight
shoes were specially denounced. Tne dress
should be loose, and the weight of il should
be borne by the shoulders. In mems
modern dress this was fairly accomp lished,
but in woman's dress, oragging from the
waist there was produced such waste Of
physical power that if women We're free as
men they could never approach to the
posili IN of men. Jas active workers until they
had emancipated themselves from this
physical bondage.
The reform he suggested in the dress of
women was that it should in all prac tical
details have the same advantages, and
should be in fact the same, with the ex'
ception of the exterior robe or gown. The
long dress for women, which even tres
passed slightly on the ground, was the
most becoming for them. This should play
the same part as the outer coat of the man,
the rest of the dress being the same, except
that it might be made of rather lighter ma
terials. The great surgeon Cline, when
once consulted by an anxious mother what
she could do to prevent q girl from be-
coming deformed, answered, "Let her
have no stays. and let her run about like the
boys" He would endorse this wise rule,
an i would add, 'Let the mothers of Eng
land clothe girls precisely as they
clothe the boys, permitting ;Knicker-
one distinguishing, marks, of loose flowing
gown, and the girl will grow into women rs
vigorous, as healthy, and as well formed in
bodysas their compan ions of the stcrner
sex" In the next part of the lecture the
quality of clothing was considered, and
the amout at various seasons. The necessity
ofspecisl care in adapting clothing to
season was illustrated from the physiology
cal rule first discovered by the late Mr..
Miner, that the body, Independently of
its own, underwent two pounds of waste
mencing toward the close of Septem Der,
and the increase in the first weeks of
April. Warm clothing ought to begin in
September or early in October, and ought
not to be left off until the close of April. For
underclothing next the s<iD he strongly
recommended silk, and with that light,
feecy flannel. Thick heavy flannel, and
every material that absorbed and held the
watery exeretions from the skin were at
INN hah al {h aoy haH
and realy no necessary connection with
warmth. For outer garments in cold
weather those that were light and Heecy
were best and furs were excellent. After
describing the dangers that occur in cold
seasons from sudden changes of dress, and
the flimsy dresses in which young ladies
go in andiout the heated ballroom during
Indictment weather, the lecturer touched on
the ventilationof dress. He criticised severe.
ly the permanent waterproof which shuts in
the rain that distils from the body at the
same time that it keeps out the rain which
falls from the. clouds--s distinction with
difference not in favor Of the wearer of
the permanent waterproof. Then he dwelt
on the color of dress, contending that the
Lancet was quite right in stating that the
white color was the best even in cold
weather, while it was admitted yithe best in
the summer season. The objection to white
of.Icourse, was the readiness with which
it showed the dirt, an objection which was
strictly an advantage in healthy point of
view, but which would be met practically
by modifying the color to GRAY. For all
ordinary occasions light gray ought to take
the place of black for outer covering ofthe
body. Black was in fact, of all colors the
very worst and those poor ladies who
thought it necessary sfterI bereavem ent
to immerse themselves for months in Grape
were indeed to be pitied. After the suit
tee it was almost the saddest of miseries in
hicted nv sOcietv on the ALREADY misera bile