Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-04-22

SN&1~lLg,Wp hand-to-
dr. e ssmak-
ers, who always provide the wrong thing.
The ref0rmer, armed with her divided
skirt and its accompanying necessities,
waves them wildly in the fsce Of society,
affirming that till women have accepted
these garments as the only solu-
ton of the dress problem, the
ouly road to the higher moralities
there can be no salvation. Between these
two extremes marches the great army of
the middle class, an army made up OF the
"sversge womap," whose title has be-
come the synonym for the worst-abused
class in America. The fashionable wo-
man fiuds dissolution because she has
money and forms part of the spectacular
life daily more and more desr to the
rich American. The ardent reformer is
forgivPnI little over impetuosity, be-
cause II is at least amusing, and we must
make the most of such amusement as Is
left for weary generation.
The average woman comes under reith-
er head, She is simply the embodiment
of original sin, RESPONSIBLE directly or iu-
directly for all evils in church or state;
presched a., snd to, and for, till. II che
followed one hundredth part Of the pre-
cepts laid down for her guidance not one
short life, nor ten, would suffice for the
undertaking. Yet even now she cannot
be spared, and it is in the house oi her
own familiar friend that the new blow is
struck, and her defender and sd-
vocate asks snd must answer, sis
the average woman overdresse3?" 1t is
TO this form that the question comes at
last. For it is impossible to deny that
the fashionable woman sins beyond re-
demption on this score; IS Impossible as
it is to sfirm that the energetic reformer
can never be counted as one of the Of
tenders, and thus once more the burden
rests on shoulders well accustomed to
such load, and it is the patient, long suf-
fering, most teachable, most enduring,
average woman who must serve as Illus
tration and AFFORD such reply as csn be
drawn from the facts before ones eyes.
What are the essentials OF dress1 The
question began with time, yet the answer,
same-beeusy, comfort, suitability. No
be counted as fulfilling the mission of
in minutest detail each one, her mission
right, and will lead, no matter what bat
teries are brought against it; but one
must first learn what constitutes beauty.
In these borderlands one restricted to
reply in fixed lines cannot wsnder. But
when one seeks to under
stand what overdressing may
-futp 0-t Tn
for palpa5le measurements, and these are
given when the three requisites Of any
dress are laid down. II is because the
love OF beauty is inherent in all humanity
that instant protest is made when angles
are offered US in place Of curves, and all
flowing lines and grace Of drapery denied.
The fashion plstes may seem to hold de-
nial OF this statement, but the fashion
plates are happily rot the sum OF growth
in this knowledge OF beauty. We are
learning it in spite Of fashion plates, and
gradually evolving tie costume that, with
slight notifications, ia likely to hold Its
ground, this being no fixed and unchang-
ing form, but combination best adapted
to the wesrer's sense Of what is most
dttipg. Women have learned to study
their own figures and their own color
ing; to settle ds fnitely on what harmon
ICES and best emphasizes both; and thus
it hes come to pass that the American
woman Is now, if high authority may be
trusted, the best dressed woman in the
world. Her skirts may still be too heavy,
her waist too small, her sleeves too
tight, but this is the tyranny Of fashion
from which she more and more emanci-
pates herself IS time goes on. The day
will come when every child will be
taught the laws Of form aid color in
their application to dress, and any VIOLA
ton be held as an offense against
society, to be instantly frowned
down. When thst dev comes the three
essentials we have specified will enter
into every dress. Il is equally certain
that for many that day is already here.
Common sense is one portion OF the aver
age American woman's Inheritance. l.
may be seriously OVERLAND with preJu-
dices, it may be hampered in Its action
py fear Of Mrs. Grundy, yet every COM
munity has to-day its representative
women, leading more and more In thelr
train, and calmly ignoring the merely con-
ventionsl. These women are not over
dressed whatever glory ofcolor or richness
OF materisl may enter in into the compo-
sition of their costumes, for with them II
is no question of something to be worn
twice or thrice and then turned
over to the dealer in secondhand gar
ments. 1t is only for evening festivitY or
gay lunch or afternoon tea that any de-
Walton from an almost fixed uniform Is
allowed, and here the very woman pro-
nounced overdressed may have worn the
same costume. with slightest variations,
two, three-nay, even half dozen years.
Tailor-m made gowns have brought about
the revolution sighed for many years ago
by sensible women, and it is only here
and there that one sees silks and velvets
on the streets, their appearance there in
dicating the wearer is either underbred
aud ignorant, or is wearing out her old
dresses preparatory to coming into her
real kingdom and tasting the delights OF
a simple compact, we'll made suit. The
shop girl, who follows always close
behind, Is learning this, and chooses
now suit Of cheap material, be-
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