The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-21
WOMAN AND HER WAIST.
SHE CAN'T GET ALONG WITHOUT
CORSETS, AND THEY MUST FIT.

Stays to the Existing Costly Affairs
Something Like $15,OOOOoO
Spent Annually in Our Country for
Them-A Bride who Paid $50 for
Pair-Some Peculiar Measure
ments-Buying a Corset.
From, the Neg York Sun.
The vanity of our grandmothers deposited
in the legacy of their daughters chrysalis
of a corset called stays, consisting of two
thin. stiff boards stitched between bands of
strong thick cloth. and held in place by a
series of tapes from this has fiuttered forth a
dainty girile of delicately tinted satin,
firm yet elastic curved into lines of beauty,
bordered with a fluff of lace, embroidered
and tossed in quaint design, and laced with
a silSc2 band. In spite of the hue and cry
raised by the agt tors of dress reform, the
continued condemnation pronounced by
professors of hygiene, and the prophecies
dire promulgated by doctors of medicine
and Endorsed by anatomical savants CON
corning the wearing of this much-abused
article of dress there never was time when
more money was lavished on corsets than
now, not only on the fineness and delicacy
of the material used but on the shape and
At as we'll. Four or five dollars 10 spent
on the curve Of gore, and some two or
three is squandered On the extra thick
ness and breadth of the whalebone used.
In consideration of tho Sl5 ,000, 900 spent
annually by the women of the United States
Tor corsets, manufacturers and inventors
have put in the marke: a bewildering array
of varied styles of corsets, ranging in price
from 25c. to as many dollars pair. Indeed,
woman recently bought by auction
one-half dozen pairs of corsets for 75c.,
while one of a Broadway firms custom
ers pays between 500 and $50 for single
pair.
In all the large establishments in the city
the information elected concerning the
average price paid for corsetS tends to prove
that the majority of women pay from SO 10
SIS for this one article of their attire which
is renewed from two to six times a year,
according to their relative amount of super
abundant flesh which this cunning device
issupposed to hold in place Fleshy women
buy new corSets because the bones, aud
often even the sticks, are broken but thin
women rarely wear a corset out, but change
on account of the soiled condition Of those
they have worn some time.
AT well-known corset place ia Broad
way one may see "a case of custom-made
corsets whose cheapest variety spoils so,
embroidered satin and lace leaV, little sur
Plus from $50 Little girls of Z years old
are brought there to be fitted to chidreu's
corSets, and sometimes little boys are sub
mitted 10 the indignity of wearing a girls
corset, which they resent at times in an
original and energetic manner. However,
when once fl ted, children are as a rule com
Portable in these little close waists, which
support their clothing SO perfectly. The
fhpSa I'M Ia
Corsets consists in fitting the corset to the
form and not tie form TO the corset, and
ladies claim that they can wear much
tighter custom made corset than regularly
manufactured with tar less discomfort,
which is, as all women must acknowledge,
TIE acme Of vo;nan's ambition 1t i, some
thing OF an undertaking to be flttel 20 a
corset, a. the operation is slow ami some
what tedious. A lady must remove her
dress and corsSts in one of the little crimson
curtain alcoves OF the pleasant parlor aud
be fitted as best she may to one OF the cor
sets in STOCK. Over this a careful and exact
measure OF her wa st, bust, hip, under
arm, LEM tn Of back and froGt, section
bust, and over arm are taken, and she fe,
dresses herself and gees away, only to
come again in few days and go through "a
similar operation, while the half-fniShed
corset Is tried on, Smoothed, slopel, taken
in here and let out there. whaleboneS ad-
Justed and fastened in place, ana every de
tail made as perfect as possible. Then she
is excused. only to reappear when the cor
set is completed and try it on once more to
be sure that all is satisfactory. Thee cor
sets are so comfortable that one scarcely
minds them if worn loosely, but the temp
tatlon is 50 great to tighten them because
of the little discomfort experienced through
the even distribution of equal pressure
brought to bear tha5 lalies do continually
tighten them, until sometimes they come
back IT, have them made smaller. I.aiies
sometimes order two corsets, one for the
street and one for home wear. The
former consists of the high bust, long waist,
English tall0r-shaped corset which gives a
peculiar, long wasted full-cEested. broad
shouldered effect, which the tailors try to
produce; and the latter is an easy, comfor-
table affair, with a low bust and short
waist, which though usually smaller in size.
Is far less tiresome To wear Fine satin
custom-made corsets, trimmed with Va
lencennes lace, come as high as S23, and
a decoration of hand embroidery in
sprays on the bust increases their value TO
SOS
Interesting statistics of peculiar measure.
ments ars found in the archives of the
establishme, t, among which the compare
son OF a f-inch waist measure with that
OF a l6-inch is striking; another peculiar
measurement being 65-inch nip measure
with II inch waist measure and an ordn
airy bust.
In other institutions OF this kind similar
reports are given Of the increased attention
women pay TO everr little detail in the fit
of their corsets, which tendency may be
attributed TO the growing interest taken in
the development and perfection of physical
beauty ami the simplicity OF adornmen, on
the waists Of dresses reveals the complete
ness OF their fit and the physique of their
wearers. ihs girl with pretty face suffers
by comparison with the girl with a shaptly
bust and a slender waist in the eyes of geni.
tlemen, whose admiration II mus loo ad-
mitteG without question women endeavor 70
Oh, ain, and 70 wLose exactions they Weld
most unquest.one1 and loyal submission ina
matters o. dress.
A bride in this city recently paid $50 a
pair for the co'ssts in her trousseau, be-
cause through some slight deformity which
did not Inconvenience her at all. her form
lacked the symmetry OF outline so Inuca
desired, and these cosets, by their various
adjustments and ingenious contrivauce.
remediel her defects to a marked degree.
Brides are the mos5 particular of all PEG.
plen said an attendant in a corset parlor.
"Ihey must have everything so dainty and
always to match something and metimt q
perfume powder has 10 be scattered all over
between the outside and the lininy. and
they can't quite decide what pattern OF