Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1882-03-04
CLARA BELLE WAS THERE.
Among Fashionable Women at the
Charity Ball.

night. that man doesn't live up to his
hugging privileges. There were hun
dieds of wealthy, elegant and reason
ably lovely girls, with their snugly- laced
waists fairly aching in vain for the en-
circlement Of manly arms. The fellows
who did waltz were, as Il rule, miserable
apologies for partners, not out Of their
teens, and altogether such as II high
spirited girl likes to turn up her nose at.
The physically and intellectually solid
chaps were too lazy, or in some other
way disinclined To be affected by the APP
pesuing eyes of the longing sex. II is n
fact that the dancing done in New York
fashionable society depends OH boys to
keep it going Men don't like it,
Women are usually very fond of it, but
custom won't let them solicit partners.
Another truth dawned upon me at the
Charity, and it was that the talk abost
the disabling qualities Of women's
clothes is bosh. l had that day read of
Mrs. Swisshelm saving that, as fashion
ably dressed, we were "unht to stand
erect or walk a block" and that not one
In ten thousand had "room inside her
clothes for the rise and fall Of her ribs
in breathing" Nevertheless, here were
plenty Of tightly -corseted women able
and willing to take violent exercise from
which the loosely dressed men desisted
What does old Mrs. swisshelm say to
that? Their ribs didn't rise and fall
under their bodices, possibly, yot they
had a pretty comfortable. time, and
didn't observe that those who danced
were particular short winded. On the
contrary, saw girl whose naturally
slender waist was all but bitten in two
by cruel stays, and all of whose palpable
breathing was done in the space barred
by the square, low opening in her
corsage, use up three tolerably stalwart
dancers in succession, and still show no
signs of exhaustion.
The brilliance Of the ball was of the
usual sort The proportion of women
who stood the trial Of the full dress and
came out of it looking beautiful was
small, of course, for it takes more thar
mere prettiness, such as would be charm
ing in q street or home costume, to hold
its own in the lightness and baroness of
big public ball. 1t was all very well In
theory, while in fact there was the reg
ular annual mixture of good, bad and
indifferent persons. The Charity is II
good place to study the newest phases of
polite manners, and could not see that
iestheticism had crazed any body. The
tendency, in general way, was toward
sweet innocence, not to say lovely idiocy.
That is 10 say, good many Of the girls
affected wide-cyed, open-mouthed, in
fantile surprise ut everything. You
| wouldn't have supposed, if you hadn't
known this to De an affection that they
had ever before let go of their mammas
apron-strings The downright hum
bups! Yet they are wise as serpeRts,
while downy As doves Men don't like
women who know too much. To en-
rapture the average man, y girl must
pretend to be instructed and deeply in.
terested by every word he utters. 1t
requires girl TO get intellectually very
low down to apparently know less than
some of the fellows whom she seeks to
mash, but she is generally equal to the
task. / observed some cases Of immita-
ton imbccility OH this occasion that
would have caused perfect agreement
among the experts of the Guiteau trial
but they didn't fool me. When q
mature maiden of thirty rounds her eyes
and mouth into big O's of astonishment
over some fiat, stale and insipid remark
by noodle OF twenty it is too gauzily
tnnsparently, luminously thin that it
lets the light right through. / was OF
the same way of thinking when saw a
girl pretending to zealously hide ber
feet after she had put them into number
two satin boots, with velvet tops, Span
ish insteps, Chinese toes and tiny jewel
ed buttons, expressly for exhibition un-
der q skirt shortened in front.
Among my notes al the ball are the
following: Triangular openings in the
necks of bodices were as numerous as
square ones. Amber-beaded sandals OF
pink satin we're the loftiest agony in
footwear. A novel trimming for short
dress was wreath Of roses round the
bottom Of the skirt, just over a lace
balayeuse. Pink was plenty in great
variety Of shades. Necklaces were made
Of tiny wreaths Of fine flowers. Gold
aud silver embroidery was on the toes
of many slippers Lace and embroidery
appeared a great deal in combination on
dresses. Very short sleeves and very
long gloves were the rule when any part
of the arms was barred. A few lilies
were seen, but only one sunflower to in
dicate Oscar-wildeism. A pair of black
silk stockings had imitation bottoms and
buttonholes worked upthe outsides, and
were worn with low black slippers