The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1885-07-12
A Symposium on Dress
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The ttlie topic Of women's dress Ia the burden OF
several short and well-written papers by different
writers IN the June number Of the North anertcdn.
The subject Is handled scnsibly, care having evil
IDENTITY been exercised that the discussion shall not
be marred by extreme notions on either side.
Relgnlng absurltles OF dress do not escape proper
criticism and ridculc. One Of the feminine contrib
utors thus states the case against Fashion,
True art created the Venus dc Milo as model Of
perfect and graceful outline. Modern artince cx-
hibiis heads deformed by masses Of false hair uecks
ch0kcd by broad bands, shoulders heightened and
laced to distortion, hips and back exaggerated by
buses and draperies, while the limbs are developed
10 spreading skirts that bear no relation to the
figure. How to dress In accordance with principles
OF health, comfort, and true ait, undergoing
social martyrdoni, Is the practical question"
tant matter to women arc expressed with his usual
grace ana are marked by good Judgment. He con
ss s 81 synR SS rules
relates an instance contraveniDg the idea Of the
changeableness OF fashion, 30 often mourned by
those who are constrained TO follow its behess with
insufficient pecuniary meaus. He Observes:
1.-THE women Of upper Nubia have peculiar way
Of dressing their hair doing II up with clay balls
saturated with castor OILY that Ia as old history.
These women were Pagans once, II the Egyptians
can be 40 called; they then embraced Christianity,
and In turn laid that aside for the religion Of Islam
but In all these changes OF religious practice they
have adhered to the ancient mode of dressing their
hair. This example Of the persistence Of women In
fashion is very Instructive, but It runs counter to
our general theory, unless the theory Is that the ways
OF women are unaccountable."
In Garden etc., has Impressions the subject OF
women,s dress woich are generally shared by men,
VINO Will, without dissent, indorse the following:
al am old-fashioned enough to believe that beauty
Is duty women owe to society, and that the needed
impression OF grace and sweetness and refinement
she can make In the world only by following the
laws of her feminine being. Item square shoulders
In man even II the tailor has TO furnish them)
indispensable to manly beauty and strength; but
when woman sacrifices her slopiug shoulders,
which Indispensable to the lines OF female beauty
by tue present fashion Of building up the shoulders
w Qhl OF nh fd ~
log right away from womanly effectiveness. So
and nccktie, aud jacket Of mannis cut she is sacr
cng to certain novelty and pquancy Of suggestion
the more subtle charm OF fcmintnity. ANY radical
change In the costume OF women, such as dlscOn-
inuDg the sweeping, graceful lines Of the long skirt
indoors, " exceedingly Improbable aud undesirable.
must in time teach women that beauty, and the
healthful development Of woman az she should be,
are synonymous Weighing the hips with an In
t0lerable load OF skirts, and drawing In the waist
that the figure resembles an hour glass, must some
time be considered 40 much violation of the laws
MR. Warner is an optnist on the dress issue or he
would not look forward to the time when "every
woman VIII have inc courage to study and to wear
When that ausplcous period shall arrive for women
the Flora McFlimseys with nothing to wear, VIII
he utterly extinct. And no future william Allen
Butler Will paint In sufficiently vivid cOlOrs The In
tolerable Distress
In our femae community, solely arising
From this unsupped destltution Of dress,
Where unfortunate victims are filling the air
With the piiiful wall Of Nothing TO wear"
Researches IN some OF the Upper Ten districts
Reveal the most painful and startling statistics,
OF which let me mention only a few:
| In one single house on the Fifth avenue,
Three young ladies' found, all below twent two,
Who have been three whole weeks without anything
new
In the way of founced silks; AMI thus left In the
lurGh,
Are unable TO 20 to ball. concert, or church.
"a another large mansion near the same place
| Was found a depOrably heartrending case
or entire desttutiOn OF Brussels point lace"