Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-01
American Women Pre.eminent.
THE BEST DRESSED, THE BEST LOOKING, AND TIL
MOST STYLISH

THE BEST DRESSED, THE BEST LOOKING, AND THE
MOST STYLISH.
From the st. Louis Globe Democrat.
American women are accustomed to being
called the best-dressed women in the world.
and in a certain way and to a certain extent
this is correct. They have more money and
more leisure than the women of any country in
the world, more freedom in the use Of both,
and, not being so much hampered by circum-
stances and traditions, they can draw from all
sources and collect in the sum total of their
dress something of all other women's best.
In other countries-though there is no longer
in society" the distinction and division created
by purely national costume-there are differ
ences quite perceptible to trained eyes, which
show both the influence Of temperament and
the controlling nature OF circumstance. The
German women, for example, have an exqui-
site perception of color. They excel in color
combination. They produce the loveliest en-
broidery in colors upon linens and other fabrics
for household uses; but they do not put it into
their dress-that is, there is nothing of it seen
In the ordinary dress of the masses. There are
two reasons for this: One is their poverty, the
other public opinion which condemns the
worklngman If she shows any evidence of will
lngness to attract attention by the gaiety of her
attire. Ii she is above the rank of the peasant,
and must be seen upon the street or in public
in her efforts to earn her daily bread, her dress
must be black, or absolutely neutral, to pre-
serve herself from the remark, or at least from
the inference, that she is frivolous.
The workingwomen of France are bound in
very much the same way, but they have ac-
CURED more pecuniary independence; they
control almost all the retail business of the
country, and If they had the taste for which
they receive the credit. would have worked
out beautiful ideas. But at this moment
France is very much like America, it receives
its ideas second hand, and only imposes GER
tain sumptuary laws through the wickedness
OF its men, who procure whatever is made at
tractive to their eyes and imagination. In
England it is different. Englshwomen are
type by themselves, and with the energy of the
Saxon and the tenacity of the Briton. originate
ideas and create conditions which influence the
rest of the world.
The American woman is French and English
when she is not wholly Irish or German, while
the Austrian woman is French and German.
and In her independence and activity is con-
| slant reminder of the American. But the
American woman has a little of all in her dress
She will wear lace like the Austrian, practi-
cal walking dress like the Englishwoman. all
the draperies and caprices of the French demi-
monde, blends colors like an Oriental, and
loves fur like Russian. Sooner or later
moreover, she gratifies her tastes. The girl
who dreamed dreams in a cotton sun bonnet
wears $4,000 worth of lace in London draw
ing room, where, as an American, she is the
equivalent of a duchess The woman who
spent half her life cooking upon a rickety
stove in log cabin is a serene old lady in her
later years. who takes her niece to Europe and
wears sealskin coats and India shawls worth a
small fortune.