Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-12-19

PADDING AND PANNIERS,
Why Perfect Figures are Rare
Nowadays.
From the DetroH Tribune.


"What is a perfect figure?" repeated q
popular Henry street mOdiste. well, a
perfect figure is a rarity. There are
many good figures IN Detroit, but should
say very few perfect ones; that is, of
just the required proportions"
"What are the prOportiOnsp,
''Thlrty-siX inches bust and y waist 10
inches chest and IA back is perfect figure
The average good figure is 3S bust with
u waist, or 81 bust with % waist. OF
course | am not speaking OF little ordi-
nary figures, but women 3 feet inche
TO 5 feet Z or inches in height. Now
Fanny Davenport has what may be
called an extraordinary figure. She
measures 26 inches waist, 36 bust, and II
inches in the length of her waist, where I6
is called the perfect length"
"Have you perfect figure among your
customersr'
Il have one, young lady ON Sibley
street. She has perfect figure, round and
proportiOnate, and needs no padding"
padding! Do most figures require
padding"
"Bless youi There is not one in
6fty that is not built up more or less
Some are crooked, others are
hollow-chested, or have vacuums I'M
der the arms, one shoulder higher than
the other, or two high collar bones, and
these defects have to be remedied in some
way you see. No good dressmaker wishes
to turn out work that looks like a crazy
quilt. Half the world would say IL was
the dressmaker's fault instead OF seeing
that 1t was the figure which needed
rounding out. Ladies' often say they Will
not wear a dress, but when they have a
few bad fits they are glad to leave 1t to
the dressmaker's judgment"
(Which is the better. wool or cotton
for padding"
"Both answer the purpose. Actresses
like wool; IL does not fatten out. II we
have 10 build up only some particular
part we use cotton. Some have an entire
harness OF either cotton or wool. One OBJ
lection to wool Is It's warmth, especially
in hot weather. There are few figures so
free from angles as TO do entirely without
some artificial pumpness, but it is very
funny how few women see their figures
as others see them. They usually think
their own forms divine, and the poor
dressmaker suffers for IL, when the truth
OF IL Is that not more than half OF the
American women nave even passably
good figures. The other half are positive
ly bad, and the dressmakers have TO pad
up TO make them atall presentable. Why
the very number OF manufactured articles
for the improvement OF women's shapes
shows this. There Ia always coming
out a hip-bustle dress-improver, or a
hip-extender, or some new kind corsets"
"What kind Of corsets do you consider
the bestr
"a long corset which holds the hip
down without pressure. A corset should
not be worn over the bust, except mere
ly as a support, but II should 90 over the
hips unless the figure 10 very slight"
"Wbst is the best style OF dress for
bad igurep
"Something full, which will cover the de-
feet. A plain 'princess' is becomi ng for an
ordinary figure. A good figure looks best
in perfectly plain dress"
"BOw many can wear plain dress ~
"AbOut hve out OF twenty. OfcOurse any
one can she will consent TO be built up"
ado girls pad more than formerlyW
so, yes. Twenty years ago very few
girls padded. remember young lady
visiting here from the East who spent so
much time padding that young society
was greatly excited over IT,. IL was
said that IL took her three hours to dress
for party. The mothers shook their
heads. and the girls were a little inclined
10 be jealous Of the attention their broth
ers and beaux paid her. A good many
young girls began to pad them"
"Was there as much lacing in those
dayaW