St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-13

\ ny otdJo VI COlOCto lOI
Il: /. y
| MI men. The little in
AS formation the leading
EAnS article contained was
| @AEX credited to an Ameri-
ERAIA2 can interviewer, and
EHAC only American men of
| NEX8 fashion were accused
| ZzNNNH.s or having weakness
for this feminine ne
| cessity, says the New York Sun, The
fact that many men wear corsets has
been known for some time, but the
| statement that the habit is confined to
Americans is entirely new and utterly
false. 1t Is, and always has been, diff
! cult TO get any positive information on
this subject from the persons who make
the c0rSetS or the men who wear them.
The former are reticent from business
point of view. while the latter vehe-
mently deny that they wear stays
because they are ashamed of it,
which is to their credit. There is
large business done in this line,
not only in this city, but in many for
eign cities. Many Englishmen wear
corsets,a land these gentlemen suffer more
Inconvenience from this source where
they are far from home than from any
other. The places where men can buy
corsets are limited in number, and
knowledge to themselves. A stranger,
therefore, has to rely entirely upon his
own resources. A Well-known manu-
facturer OF cOrsets, Oh Broadway, was
recently visited by a dapper little En-
gllshman, who was only about five feet
tall, and he carried a cane and wore
high silk hat, a surprisingly tall collar,
red necktie and pair of white leg
glngs. He was not shy about his needs,
as an American would be, but mincing
up to pretty young saleswoman, said:
CAM get corset here?"
'FOr your sister,"
'tNow exclaimed the young fellow.
lifting his eyebrows in surprise; ''for
myself"
You will please" said the young
woman, drawing herself up until she
looked seven feet tall, mot attempt to
joke with me. You will find the book
keeper In the office''
The poor little dude would have been
panied If it were possible, but as it was
not, he was only astOnished. He spoke
to the manager, and was informed in a
frlgid manner by that gentleman that
the firm had not yet found enough
idiots in this country to make it worth
| their while to construct corsets with
the front the same shape as the back.
well, can't you make One?" he
asked.
mo, sir, we can't, and that set
ties it,"
The firms that make corsets for men
have only one difficulty. 1t is that of
procuring clerk with tact enough to
hold customer when he gets him. In
this country men like to appear maseu-
line, If they have
ANYTHING MANLY ABOUT THEM.
A clerk must not smile when he is
artlessly told by a customer that he
wants to order corset for friend who
is precisely the customers shape and
size. and who is too modest or too much
engrOSSed in business to attend to the
matter himself. Sometimes the friend
in the background is described as being
an invalid, and as being in need of the
corset to hold him together when he
coughs. None of these statements de-
ceive the clerk, but he goes to work at
the order just as if he believed the Gus
toner, frequently making pathetic in
| quiries regarding the precise physical
condition of the ailing friend
There are three classes of men who
| wear cOrSetS-thOse who wear them for
their health or physical comfort, the
| idiots who wear them with the idea that
| it improves their shape, and the dudes
set upon their backs without wrinkle.
The first are usually very corpulent
men, to use the expression of a fashion,
able tailor, who would wabble too much
without them. The second sort are the
supplemented fellows who believe that
slim waist causes the breast to bulge
out, and that this, with pronounced
hips, indicates surprising strength.
Some of these men are so slim that their
waists any way could be Spanned with
the hands, but this is not considered,
and they wear corsets that are drawn so
tight that they look like sausage with
a string tied around the middle. The
men who wear cOrSetS for the sake of
their tailorS are usually of that con-
temptible class known as Washers.
Who has not seen in his walk on Fifth
avenue, or on that part of Broadway
near Madison square. a man with hor-
ribly small waist, buiging hips and
breast, and coat that sets across his
shoulders as smooth and WrinkleleSS
and drawn as though it was stretched
across a wooden model? 1t is safe to
bet every time that the man has a corset
between his shirts, and that he isn't fit
company for any modest girl.
When man begins wearing eorsets
it is hard to tell where he will stop. If
he begins careful inspection of his
person he is apt to grow very diSsatis-
fed with the handiwOrk Of nature, and
attempt. in his clumsy way, to improve
upon her. He will end, probably, in
making himself look like freak or a
monstrosity of some kind. Many mau
of good shape has begun In a simple
way to improve himself in the matter of
physique and ended in becoming a
monomaniac on the subject. A we'll
known tailor not far from the Hotel
Brunswick said that he had never seen
corset Oil any OF his customers, but he
knew very well that several of them
wore this article. Corsets are not
known by this name among the men
who wear them or by the Eianufact-
JrerS. The masculine corset is called
the compressor. Or the ''patent elastic
supporter" Military men are fond of cor
sets, it is said, and many of the regi-
mental Swells consider one of these ar
ticlcs necessary adjunct to their ward
robe. Many of the eOrSets worn by men
are made in Germany, where they are
i'll great favor among the officers of the
German army. 4 great deal of trouble
their corSets made in rich and flowery
designs. Some are made of brightly
eo!ored silks and trimmed with rich lace.
A woman is more apt to learn whether
man wears a corset than one of his
own sex. Especially is this the case
when the man is waltzing. Whalebone,
1t is said, will creak audibly when any
undue strain is brought to bear upon It.
a man with tightly laced corset is
bound to be discovered by the woman
he waitGes with, provided she has sharp
ears and is not in love with him. There
are inen, and plenty of them, who adopt
other frivolous methods of appearing
well. An idle man with very thin legs
will not hesitate to wear a false calf If