The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-04-05
s.SELF-MADE" MEN.
A Fashionable City Tailor Talks
of Corsets and Other Things.

OF COrSetS ana other xn1nSS.
"Wby, there is nothing new in
certain men about town wearing
corset,!' said he, leading the re-
porter t. his plate glass window
that overlooked fashiJpable
thoroughfare, then at the height OF
the afternoon promenade. "They
always have d, ne J, as far back as
l can remember. though Of late
years. with the advent of @'thetes
and dudeism in general, the fashion
has been On the increase. he ultra
dudes nearly all wear stays, but,
bless you, there are others, too, who
are by no means dudes, fOr espec>
tally effeminate, either. There
go two swell gamble arm in arm.
Yes, of course you know them by
name and Teputati0n-every one
does; but what you don't know is
that the slenderer and better dressed
one on the outside wears corsets,
and has done so for years. l ought
tosknow, for order his stays for
him. Masculine corsets are u ade to
order by two large manufacturers
here in the city. I assure you that
there are few daughters or
danes of wealth and fashion with
more expensive silk-wOVen, fine
bOned, gOld-colored stays under their
silks and sealskins Than that man
yonder ,rries under his upper linen.
There, with that richly dressed
lady, is one of the most promi
nent sporting m n about town, who
has worn a corset for years. You
can't deny that it helps him set IF
his shoulder pads to advantage.
You know the handsome actor
swinging his cane in solitary gran
deur on the opposite sidewalk I?
Well, If you don't likewise know
that he helps his general make up,
off stage aud on, by means of q cor
set, 1 don't know why I should tell
you. There 60 three welI-dressed
men together, all customers of mine.
Which would you give the palm to
in point of shape? The one in the
middle. [ knew you would say
that, for it's the solid truth; ana he's
the only one Of the trio that wears
corsets. Now catch on to the brace
Of pinch-backed. long tailed, toe,
pointed dudes following, and note the
difference. They also have corsets.
but you could detect 1t a mile
off, for it simply gives 'em a gener'
ally nondesctjpt, idiotie air. while
in the case OF the bucks already
pointed out, the practice really
serves to set up their shape. Oh,
the dudes dude, corset or no cor
set; while q thOrOughbred's a thor
oughbred, in stsys or out o. 'em.
It's all the difference in the world
"But this is astonishing, we ex>
claimed.
sit shouldn't be anyt ing OF the
Sort" said the tailor, complacently.
Fashionable men have as gooi a
right to improve their shapes arti
ficialIy as women have; and if false
calves, padded shoulders. bran BIZ
ceps and counterfeit chest fronts are
allowable in tire mscuiine make
ups. why not corsets just as well?
Understand, however, that I don't
say I would wear corsetS myself.
[ must tell you little
story about a prominent society
nan whose make.np, so admirably
had he c0ntrived it, l only discov>
cred the other day by the oldest of
acc dents. Understand that Pm lot
lis tailor, or [ wouldn't have been
surprised at all at what happened.
But There was 8 business transaction
between us, and he told me - call
any day at his club apartments to
talk the matter over, without ap-
pointing any particular hour. Well,
| CHANGED to drop in on him early
n the morning. and as his sitting
room door was sjar, ventured to enter
Though l had often
been there before, / thought at
frst | must have got into the wrong
room, for, while my friend is to all
the world big, grand superbly pres
served man Of middle age, the only
occupant Of the room was a bald.
headed, toothless, shrivel-shanked
sort of galvanized anatomy shiver-
ing over q feeble fire in a dressing
gown and slippers. / coughed, and
the old wreck suddenly started up
with sort OF frightened screech and
darted into an adjoining dressing.
room, slamming the door after
him. l hadn't recognized him.
the door re-opsned, and
there stood my big, grand, wells
preserved, middle.aged friend, as
large and self-pOssessed as usual,
but just a little ont of SORTS at the
discovery had made"
"But what was the discovery, and
what mad become Of the shriveled
up old man. ?"
"Why, he had simply vanished
into the personality Of my friend, as
made up, hut whom I had surprised
on deshabille, don't you see? That
was the joke. "-NeD York Sun.