The national leader., 1889-05-18
Famous Women in Mems Clothes.

Famous Women in Mems Clothes.
Woman's World, LondOn:-ROsa Bon
heur followed the most liberating of all
callings-the artistic-and was born and
bred out of society, into which she
never cared to enter. In art one must
follow inner light and personal genius
A picture is a speculative investment;
those speculating don't care whether
the painter Off woman) wears petit
coats or trousers. All they look to is
the quality of her work. Rosa Bon
heur had to go to fairs to make studies
for her cattle and to wander afield I'M
accompanied. Hence her choice of the
French laborer's blue smock, cap and
trousers. They protected by keeping
her sex out of the sight and mind of the
rough men with whom she fell in, saved
her from being draggled, and relieved
her of the wearisOme task of trundllng
up skirts when she had to carry paint
ing implements. / never saw her in
male peasants suit, but have seen her
in plain skirt, falling below the calf,
and Zouave jacket over loose shirt,
of the Garibaldi fashion, in gray CASH
raiment seldom changes. Her hair is
cropped, but not to the skull. This tidy,
| descent dress accOrds with the rustic,
sunburnt face of Rosa-a face that tells
of constant mental tension, keen, search
ing perception, hardness of head and
| straightforward simplicity.
Sarah Bernhardt mannish garments
in her studio are part of her play act
ing It may be that she is well aware
she never looked so charming as years
ago in the part of an Italian boy-a
vagrant musician The simplicity of
masculine clothes-made in black vel
vet, and, on the whole, effeminate-
must be pleasant change after the
clinginG draperies, with the weighty
trains and box-pleatings, which make
her rustic like snake In fallen autumn
leaves when she advances on the stage.
l never knew an elderly lady, however
''emancipated," who wore masculine
attire. In general, those who don it
know that it becomes them and are of
an age to make conquests. Nine.
Dieulafoy has mind, beauty, charm and
piquancy. I fancy she looks better in
her dapper suit than she could in the
raiment she has discarded. Not that
shesattempts to bring out the rounded
hips and full gorge of her sex, her pale
tot being loose and long. One sees the
tiny woman in the feet and ankles, the
hands and wrists, the pretty throat and
the small ears. Her light-brown hair
is cut as close as the scissors can go.
She has large square forehead, blue
eyes shot with hazel and a fresh COM
| plexion. The crows feet and lines pro-
claim the thirty six years to which she
owns. What are peculiarly charming
are her smile, her diction and her pretty
way Of showing volition strong as steel.
She is beautifully neat and her cuffs,
collars and cravats are irreproachable.
Nothing could be more Frenchwoman-
ly than the thoroughness with which
she carries out the fiction of an incog-
nito which is no disguise.
It is delightful to see the little
woman, hat in hand, talking to lady.
L could not say to her, "Couvrezvous,
madame, je vous Ell prize" and it was
impossible to treat her as a monsieur.
She was presented to the shah at
Teheran in the masher's suit. He at
first objected, but got over his feeling
when it was explained by her husband
that she could never have got through
her work at Shushan, dressed as q
woman There is no alloy of ''brass"
in this enterprising resurrectionist of
old Asiatic palaces fallen into the earth
mound state. Her spirit is an ire
pressible one. General Sir Robert
Murdoch Smith, who knew her when
she was engaged in her Persian mission
and saw her at her work, says that no
difficulty, no fever, no encouragement
ever weakened her brave heart or
daunted her Madame Dieulafoy was
brought up with Puritan severity, and
was never at dancing party until she
was married. Her first assumption of
the pantaloons was when she was a
bride and to follow her husband
through the campaign of the war;
After having enjoyed wearing clothes
that did not hamper movement, she
could never bear again the pressure of
stays and the clinging of draggled
skirts. Her home is full of pleasant
riches, commodious and handsome,
each room being quite subject for a
picture. But it has lost Zest since she
was in Persia, and she pines for the un-
conventional life, intense interests and
absorbing work which she led at
Shushan.
''MY father is very genial man,
she said, land desires that l shall ex-