Morning journal and courier., 1888-10-11
THE HUSTLE sHRINKs.
Philadelphia Women Follow mrs
 CIeveland,s Lead.

Philadelphia Women Follow mrs.
 CIeveland's Lead.
 From the Philadelphia Rscord.l
 While Mr. Cleveland has been talking to the country about Tariff Reform his clever wife has been talking to poor, disfranchised women about Dress Reform, and the first chapter of her message calls for the aban- donment of the hustle. It is going. Those unsightly things that make the hind part of 8 woman's dress look like the flying jib of a three-masted schooner are out of date, and the great good sense of the feminine gender will stand as monument to it's memory.
 Ever since the "6rst lady of the 1and'' sent forth her great ukase to the effect that t'the hustle must go there has been 8 steady decrease in the sale of that heretofore indispensable (to the ladies) article of wear- ing apparel, and according to present indi- cations it would seem that ere long it will have found an obsolete existence in some re mote corner of the unknown whereabouts. The ladies of this city are not one whit be- hind their sisters in following good advice. In fact, it has always been said that Phila- delphia women dress better and st less cost than any other females in this country. A tour of the fashionable dressmaking estab- lishments in the city has revealed about the same condition of affairs in every case.
 t'The hustle is not precisely the thing any more,'' said the chief modiste in large establishment, s'although they are still worn by many women who disregard the dictates of fashion; but in this one particular I think this class of ladies are in error. Something had to be done about the hustle, as it was being carried to the greatest ex- tremes, and thanks are due to Mrs. Cleve- land for starting the reformation. A lady who stopped here the other day declared that the abolition of the hustle was blessing. You may take look at the dresses of the ladies who are promenading Chestnut street and you will see that large and small bustles are both worn, but the latter is rapidly tak- ing precedence, and by the time the fall fashions have become fully introduced only few large ones will be seen. For my part I think big bustles are very ungraceful, and especially on thin women, by whom they are mostly affected.
 ssThe hustle itself will be replaced by reeds in a short time, many dresses having been made with them already. The reeds vary in size, about four of them being put in the back drapings of the dress. The largest ones are placed at the bottom, and those above gradually decrease in size. The up- permoat one is placed about six inches below the waist-line, and in this way the dress material slants off gradually from the waist, presenting a smooth, sloping surface. It ! is very graceful, much more comfortable than the hustle, which is sometimes quite heavy, and, above all, it is ultra fashions | ble."
 The reporter then took up position at Thir- teenth and Chestnut streets for the purpose of learning how the ukase of Mrs. Cleveland l had been obeyed. He kept tally upon card for one hour with this result:
 
 Bushel-basket hustle 1s Moderate-sized bustle ....................... & SInall-sized hustle .............. ............ g. Couldn't tell whether it was hustle or girl..... 6 Just as the last row had been tallied | policeman came along and said: eff any | body is to stand here and count>of the girls I'll do it-so move on. y