Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1882-10-11
NO. 46
English and American Ladies'
nrnAl

J Mrs. Scott-Siddons is quoted a
having said: "An American servan
viii tie on her veil in a natty, gracefu
way that an English duchess know
nothing about" Mrs. Siddons will
not be charged with an over-stralne;
regard for the Yankee. or a wish t.
favor them at the expense of her own
country "omen. la thus placing the
servant and the duchess in contrast
she was simply emphasizing a truism
which was less fact at that time
than it is at the present hour. For
among all civilized people the English
women are the most addressed, and
seem to lack the natural gifts, the self
reliance and ability of choice and Sc
| lection which are the Unborn attributes
of American women. An English
nursery set off against a nursery in
this country may be taken as type in
miniature OF the taste in dress and all
that the term involves in the differ
ences which characterizes the women
of the two nations In this country
little girls find constant satisfaction
and congenial employment in arrang-
ing and adjoining their dolls apparel
Left to their own iptuitions, and ham,
pered by little or no pupildge from
their elders, it must be owned that the
taste and ingenuity which they dis
play are often simply wonderful An
English lady who passed thirty years
of her life in her native land, and who
has lived in this city half of that time,
once said:-"The homes OF American
girls, so far as | am familiar with
them, are schools Of art in dress adorE-
ment, and whether their taste and
skill are natural gifts, or acquired by
observation, | do not pretend to say,
bat there is nothing to compare with
it in our homes in England" Con !
slstent with this admission is the al |
most universal tone of the English |
press and OF most travellers who visit !
our shores from other lands. That |
English women study comfort and |
provide themselves with rich fabrics |
and costly adornment in dress, is past |
dispute. A dowager or duchess ar
rayed in gorgeous silk, satin or velvet |
attire, with the complement of green
gloves and yellow ribbons, and shod |
with broad, heavy, loosc-iting boots,
is hardly a pleasant, though it is
recurring, picture of taste
in dress among the wealthy classes in
English life. If the wearer has any
idea of the contrast of colors, any per-
ception of the shocking incongruities
which the tout ensemble of her costume
presents to a cultivated eye, nothing
is seen of it in the ease and self-satis-
faction of her demeanor While the
fact remains that American women are
the best dressed ladies in the world, it |
is also to be remembered that while
they, with vast majority of their sex,
yield to the current of prevalent fash
ion, it is not blind or slavish sub
they think for themselves,
and stoutly, on occasion, assert their
own Individuality, and refuse to sue
cumb to the dictates of fashion, mo-
diste or milliner. Their natural or
cultivated good taste, VIII ch includes
the lines of beauty Mr.. Beecher made
himself merry over recently, is gener-
ally all-su6icient in doubt and emer-
gency. Their glory" is to dress |
tastefully and becomingly. Their "hal-
lejuah'' is the acclaim of successfully |
purpose.-Ne,o York
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