The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1888-07-22
A Washington Woman's Clothes.

"OoiA "hO al" 10 dltidSio
attention on drive or promenade, as
much by her magnifcently pro-
portioned figure as by her fine
color and beauty of feature, is the
The wife of senator Davis of Min
nesota. Mrs. Davis, in addition to
being one of the most beautiful
women at the capital, has enjoyed
distinction of being one of the
best dressed. Not because her
gowns were imported and the en-
bodlment of small fortunes either,
for, to tell the truth, she is her
own dressmaker, designing, cutting
and fitting all her own gowns, and
requiring only the services of
seamstress. AS about everything
else, she has her own ideas as to
woman's dress, and she carries
them out herself.
She begins her reform at the
very foundation, her underclothes.
First she does away with that in
descrlbable garment of uncouth
shape and no fit at all that usually
covers the female form divine from
waist to knee, and likewise with
benumbing garters or harness like
supporters, by wearing closely
woven silk garments, something
like tights. These cover her from
toe to waist, fits as closely as her
skin and are in delicate shades of
pink, blue, salmon and cream.
Those intended to be worn with
low shoes are dyed black up to
the calf Of the leg, the rest being
cream colored. Over these are
worn muslin trunks daintily
trimmed with lace or embroidery
and about twelve inches long. on
the hips. Under the glove fitting
corset is worn a low-necked, short
sleeved vest of silk. Then comes
skirt and corset cover combined.
1t is cut princesse shape (as in
deed are all Mrs. DAVIS garments
worn over the corset, so that
the weight is on the shoulders)
and is of muslin, tastefully
ornamented. The waist has very
little trimming, and what there is
is perfectly fiat, to prevent the un-
slightly bumps and ridges so often
seen marring the finest tailor ct.
As l said before, all her cut Prin-.
cesse, whether dinner, ball, recep-
ton, street or tea gowns,
are all built the same way, but
they don't look it by any means.
They are draped and trimmed and
folded in diverse ways, but they
are all alike in one particular
they preserve the symmetry of the
figure, something that the basque
and overloaded skirt never do.
Although Mrs. Davis has all the
weight suspended from the
shoulders, she yet insists that she
shall not be faligued by carrying
around any more than is necessary.
None of her dresses are lined ex-
cept those made of such material
as will pull out at the seams, and
these are only lined in the waist.
Her skirts are never lined. They
are faced with three or four inch
wide rubber facings, bound with
braid, and have as footing some
narrow plating or puff.
Another healtE-destroyer that
she avoids is the hustle. She
doesn't even own one, yet if you
met her on the street or in a par
lor yon would never suspect the
absence of it. She arranges the
back drapery of her short dresses
so as to avoid its CONSPICUOUS ab-
seence, and the sweep of the
trained gowns is all the more
graceful because it IS not there.
Nor does she use whalebones or
need them, having no pointed
basques, etc., to ruck mp. Even
her riding habit is a departure
from the conventional. 1t isl
Princesse also, of elastic jersey
cloth, and has a double skirt, and
fits her as if she were poured into
it. No one has suspected that
she was not dressed in the same
burdensome manner as her less
progressive sisters Washington
Corr. Neao York World.