St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-08
CURVES OF LONELINESS.
Lines of Beauty Due to the Wool of
the Australian s4ambs.

CURVES OF LONELINESS.
Lines of Beauty Due to the Wool of
the Australian Lambs.
The other night, while watching the bal
let in spectacular piece. reporter turned
to well-known customer, who sat next to
him, and asked if he didn't think the prima
ballerina had a beautiful figure.
Il ought to- was the reply.
"Why?" asked the reporter.
Because she bought much of it from
me-"
Much of what?"
''Of her figure; and could say the same
of nearly every man and woman on the
stage-principals, ballet. and supers."
There was no chance for further CONVEX
sation that evening but the reporter bore
the conversation in mind, and, calling on
the customer the next day, asked for some
points on the art of making up the human
form-that is, for information as to how
much of the human form is the gift OF ma
ture and how much of it the gift of man.
The reporter had known that many attri-
butes of stage beauty were artificial, but
after this conversation he arrived at the con-
cluSion that no man or woman need hest
face OF figure. A thrilling expenditure of
money will place such a man or woman on
par with Apollo or Venus.
How are these forlegs?" asked the GUS
toner, spreading out pair of tights.
Beautiful" exclaimed the reporter, for
the tights were not of the ordinary kind, but
so woven that their lines seemed to follow
the contours of shapely legs. These tights
came in five sizes. They are made of
stocking material like ordinary tights, but
one can tell on feeling them that the parts
which cover the calves of the legs are thickly
padded The padding is of Australian lambs
wool. which is SO elastic that when the
tights are on, the padding stretches itself
over the calves and enlargeS them. No
other portion of these tights was padded.
The reporter was informed that they were
intended to remedy only
DEFICIENCIES IN THE CALVES,
and were much worn by actresses when
their costumes necessitated the wearing of
dresses which only reach to the knee. and
by actors in costumes which showed the
calves such as knickerbOckers or old French
costumes.
Tights for the ballet come in the same
variety of sizes, but are more deliberately
the case. Ballet dancers usually wea.
what are called shape dresses-that is,
short dresses which barely cover the hips.
Consequently more deficiencies are likely
to be noticeable than in the case first men
toned To remedy these so-called calf
and thigh pads are made, the Australian
lambs wool being woven into the stocking
material at the points mentioned. For act
resses who appear in male costume. calf,
thigh. and waist tights are provided. In
these the hips are made shapely and at the
same time so fashioned that the waist looks
small Then there is an arm pad to go with
short sleeved dresses. This is also made of
stocking material, padded with Australian
lambs wool at the proper points.
IT FITS TIGHTLY,
and when flesh-colored ''skin" is worn
overit the wearer appears to have lovely,
plump arm Indeed it should be stated that
in all cases the padded tights form only the
foundation. ''Skins' have to be worn over
them all.
A slim actor need not be afraid to play a
heroic character, for he can be made stall
wart-one-half as big again if necessary.
For him there are padded shirts which give
him a splendid chest, and also arm and
shoulder pads. There are special arm pads
for Roman characters, and shoulder pads
are often used to make the shoulders even,
for frequently one shoulder will be lower
than the other.
The reporter asked the customer if he
could make crooked leg straight, and he
replied that he often cured people of bow
leggedness and made their limbs straight
an operation beyond the skill of the most &C
complished surgeon. Padding out the hol-
lows and judicious proportion of padding
at other points is all that is required. Of
course. there are special ways of padding
for certain lines of character, and the cos
tuner can turn a shapely man into a
hunchback or into fat man.
Then there are special cases in which the
deficiencies are so difficult to remedy that a
plaster cast is taken of the deficient limb,
and a skillful workman set to work to
make
SPECIAL PAIR OF TIGHTS
which will hide the deficiencies shown in the
plaster cast. This usually has to be done
in the case of bow-leggedness; also in case
of large calves and small thighs, in which
case the thighs have to be nicely graduated
As all example of the difficulties he some
times has to deal with, the customer told of
case in which he had to proportion pair of
legs. the calf being ~ u inches, that of the
other IA inches. The deficiency he has most
frequently to remedy for women is the dent
made by the carriers. Actors most frequently
want calf and thigh tights. The reporter
was surprised to hear that the wearing of
padded tights Is as common among actors as
it is among actresses. Nine out of ten actors
pad. Of the women on the stage the ballet
Ion 10 ha rraafoct demand for RIGHTS
as the exercise of dancing hardens and thins
the leg.
Many fashionable tailors send their GUS
toners to this costumer for padded tights.
The demand at time tight trousers were
worn was enormous He also supplied
dudes with corsets. Officers of the Ma
tional Guard often wear corsets. Since
ladies' riding habits have become shorter a
special line of ladies' padded tights are
made for riding.
Verify the human form divine is largely a
question of money.-New York Sun.