Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-07-10
QUEER BATHING SUITS.

Imagine, If you can, the anxiety OF the
thousands of New York women who mean
to battle, and who know how hard it is not
to be hideous while doing it. They are
racking their brains upon devices for max
ing themselves at least presentable, if not
bewitching, in wet clothes. A good pro-
portion of them will give up the grave
problem and appear, when the time comes,
in the ordinary loose blouse and trousers,
in which no mortal woman can look other
wise than decidedly unenchanting. Once
drenched, these garments droop in man.
ner that utterly puts to naught whatever
shapeliness the woman inside may possess.
But there are many who will not give ltup
so. The fashionable dressmakers are beset
by their customers on this subject, and the
outcome is considerable novelty in designs.
1t should be borne in mind that, if a
woman be perfect in bodily outline and
brazenly audacious, she can without much
trouble conquer the difficulty, for
she has only to dress herself in tight
fitting garments of the usual flannel, OF
in loose ones made of cotton (which when
wet will cling to her skinl and she Will
reveal herself thing of beauty A start
ling bathing costume OF this improper sort
was shown to me by the designer, a Fifth
avenue man-milliner and he says that he
has already received orders for more than
thirty substantial duplicates. He is a man,
and a woman therefore | dared not ask
him to be explicit in telling me about the
character of the prospective wearers, but it
stands to reason that they cannot amount
to much. The costume was displayed for
my benefit on living model-one of those
perfectly formed creatures whose good luck
in that respect yields them $40 per week
for standing to order in dress making es-
adjustments to try things on. The body
garment was ostensibly single blouse OF
pinkish gray flannel, but it was really
most artful continuance. Instead of being
straight and shirt-like, it was cut in to fit
the waist almost tight, SO that when wet it
would only have fulness enough to
wrinkle a little, while really fol-
lowing every curve of the figure. A belt
encircled the waist. The skirt was very
short-not long enough to fairly sit down
in-and here another clever deception was
introduced The material was, as slight
concession to decency, left just long enough
at the front and back to cover the actual
body; but at the side it was cut away well
up on the hips. The trousers were moder-
ately full around the upper legs, but
tapered off rapidly to the knees, where
they became skin tight, over the calves,
terminating at the ankle. Thus the effect
of tights was produced from the knees
down, but without changing the material.
Tine feet were left bare. The sleeves were
moderately tight from shoulder to wrist.
There was no trimming or plating any
where. The girl looked nude, yet she was
completely covered with the cool, gray ma
terial, and the cut was such that wetting
would not render it bedraggled or baggy.
It's style was what the boys call "gallus, :"
and warranted to wash. There was some.
thing else about this costume that it is
quite necessary to tell of. Corsets are
hardly ever worn under bathing dresses, be-
cause wetting of the flannel of the outer gar
ment reveals their presence, and no woman
would like to have it known that she
bathed in them. On the other hand few
are so lean as not to fall out of shape with
out them. Well, to preserve the shape of
the wearer of this costume, corset has
been made OF fine wire, Melted in large
meshes and fitted neatly to her body. This
odd corset was perfectly pliable, yielding
to the movements of the flesh, yet main
tanning graceful outlines. The girl was
put into variety of attitudes, to show me
how apparently untrammeled this wire
work Enclosure left her figure. 1t was,
am bound to say, a great success. Of
more respectable bathing costumes, the
prettiest are made of two or three differ
emit colors of soft flannel. The shapes are
about the same as before, but there is
new use of bright hues, and tendency to
use trimmings profusely. A putting. sus-
tanned by fine wire or hair-cloth, is en-
ployed to some extent, and has the ad-
vantage of sustaining its shape when
wet. For misses, up to the age of
II, bare legs to the knees are deemed
permissible; but the objection to this is
that, like bare arms, they soon tan and
even blister in the sun. Those women who
stick to decent costumes for bathing may
console themselves with the assurance that,
at the best of the resorts, fragrant disregard
of the proprieties will not be allowed. It
is strange, but true, that / never saw so
much that was Objectionable in this matter
anywhere as at Ocean Grove, the great
Methodist camp meeting resort down be-
low Long Branch. Girls who were almost
adults, disported themselves on the sand
and in the surf, with legs barred to the
thigh, and even women's knees were naked
ly visible. More than this, it is the GUS
tom of that economical resort to 60 from
the residences to the shore ready dressed
for the surf, and so avoid the expense of
hiring lighthouses. To meet a party of
females in the street, clad only upward
from some point bewixt hips and calf, was
somewhat shocking to an unaccustomed
stranger Nothing wrong was intended
Of course and the practice was simply an
indicationof freedom from restraint. New
York Letter.
ANEsrHErIc. The new anmsthetic,