St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-11-21

essential to the future weil-beng of hu
mainly. is one of The unSOlved problems OF
our age. Reformcrs in this direction have.
unfortunately for a good cause. been made
objects of senseIess and often brutal as
sauits and rldicue They have also as a
rule belonged to the genus crank. and
women and men alike have tacitly agreed
to ignore the good and valuable in their
efforts and 10 unite in condemnation OF
their methods
There is some encouragement in the fact
that thele is all along the line, notable
STIR III the matter of dress reform that has
for its corner stone regard for hygiene
principles Mrs. Jenness- Miller. former
Bostonian but now a resident OF Washing
ton. has devoted many years OF earnest and
almost solitary study to this subject, and
she has at last gwen form TO her ideas III
garments and dlaperies, based upon what
are believed TO be artistic as well as sclen-
tifc principles.
MIS-. Miller urges that fashionable follies
and consequent deformitieS have long
enough held iron sway, and that nature and
reason alike cry aloud for radical change.
If women would be beautiful after the
Grecian model. which is the perfection of
beauty, they must live and dress in accord
is there" she asks, ''abOut this burdenSo ME
aggregation of long skirts worn by women
of every social grade. with endless compli-
catioIs of loops, puffs and weight that IS
death to health ana happiness and to pro-
longed usefulness. that women should CON
tinue in this bondage?" Science objects to
the practice of laclng. steeing and swad-
ding for the reason chiefly that it is incon-
venient, ugly and burden OF sorrow to the
unborn world. Science also proposes dress
without lgatures or bands, SteelS or whale
bone-the essential thing being freedom
from pressure. weight and defOrmity.
Science nd sense abhor pettlcoatS, corsetS
and French heels.
The incredible ugliness of the modern
feminine drapery cannot be adequately de-
scribed. Nearly every woman one sees Oh
the street goes bGbbing along with hustle
grotesquely awry, fact of which she must
be aware for at every tenth STEP more or
less. in her promenade the close observer
shall see her furtlveiy readjuSt it. SStand
in the lobby of theater and note the wo-
men who enter. They are solicitouS for
nothing in this world save their bustles,
and the greater their deformity the more
tenderly do they regard them; but, if you
would obtain the best view of this mon
strosity take position in a building one or
two stories above the ground and lock
straight down upon a procession of passing
women. Nothing else in life is so ludlc-
rouS.
A contemporary offers these ringing
words in support of its own advocacy OF the
reform which Mrs. Jenness- Miller proposes:
The universal love of the ancient Greek
race for all that is physically graceful and
shapely was ia reality popular and mag
nihcent study of anatomy. Strict attention
was paid to grace in apparel as we'll as In
personal bearing, while no people were ever
more ScrupulouS in regard to personal clean
illness. No Greek woman ever dreamed OF
wearing shoes that cramped her feet, with
heels three inches high, or OF COMPRISING
her graceful waist in villainouS corset of
sixteen inches girth, or of wearing mon
strous bunch of jute to conceal the beaut-
full hair with which nature gifted her, or of
fastening an uncOuth, shapeless bundle of
fantastic drapery about the small of her
back. or of wearing long dresses to trail in
the dust. mud, etc. We do not believe that
Greek women were ever troubled with corns
or miSshaped toes.
Modern fashions in dress throughout the
civilized world are for the most part un
couth and devoid OF grace, many of them
having been invented to conceal some nat
ural deformity. If we seek the picturesque
and graceful in dress we must actually go
among barbarians to find them. In Spain.
Greece and Italy, 1T is true, we may still find
picturesque national costume. but every
where the national dress is disappearing be-
fore the innovations of this absurd and cruel
hydra known as Modern Style 1t is the
p0isoner of the body and the demoralizer OF
the soul.