The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-11-12

MRS. JENNEss MILLER SHOWS HOW
QUICKLY SHE GIN DRESS.
A Profitable Loan Of An Umbrelia-A
Half Foster Mother-Miss HarGous'

A Profitable Loan Of An Umbrella
Half Foster Mother-Miss HarGous
Dainty Nest.
Mrs. Annie Jenness Miller addressed q
large audience of ladies, and a few gentle
men, at Unity Hall last night. She
talked about dress for women, and every
woman in Hartford should have heard
what she had to say. Mrs. Miller has q
thoroughly refined face, very graceful
figure, and her voice is exquisitely modu
lated. She said she found it difficult t.
address an audience composed of ladies
and gentlemen upon so distinctly femi
nine a subject as dress for women. il
was a popular tradition that men dfdn't
know anything about women's clothes
yet a mans unerring instinct somehow
always picked out the best dressed woman
in q crowd. 1t wa difficult to talk also
about the subject because peoples ideas
of modeSty varied, and it was difficult u
know just how far to go in the use OF The
mother tongue while treating a subJec,
which dealt so largely with facts.
Dress has two objects, comfort and
harmony. How should the correct dress
for women be made? 1t should be made
absolutely without ligatures or bands.
" AHfO WOa40h otJt
not live without my corsets.' never
wore corsets but one week in my life, and
[ took them off because l could not live
with them. Dress should follow the
lines of the body. Conformity with the
natural feminine shape should be OBJ
served Just so far as possible.
lido not think the time has come yet for
women to wear a divided outside gar
ment. But their undergarm9nts can be
divided, and in this way q good deal or
freedom can be obtained. The garment
worn next the skin should be in one
piece and should fit fairly tightly, and
follow the shape of the form, The next
carmen should be loose and can be made
of almost any material. Against the cor
set, / protest. / don't object to the bone
waist, though | don't wear it myself.
Some women need them. 1t requires no
demonstration from me to convince you
tina the steelS of q corset waQe war every
day upon the most delicate and the most
important organs of the body. Your
petticoat should be divided, and should
be all in one piece. This garment l call a
leglet. The outside dress may be made
almost as you like it. Dressing in this
way you can look just as you are accus-
toned to look, just as graceful and just
as artistic, and you needn't attraction
to dress either. | have TO tell Mr.. Miller
to get up first every morning so that |
shall not have to wait for him. The out
side dress should be all of one piece too,
and it can be SO arranged as to dispense
with all the weight at the waist"
At this point Mrs. Miller left the plat
form and changed her dress. 1t took her
Just two and one-half minutes. The dress
in which she returned to the platform was
one which was especially designated for
school girls, and was loose around the
waist, SO that room was afforded for a
decently long breath. She declared that
if women would dress as they should,
consumption would be wiped off the face
of the earth in twenty-five years. The
trouble was that women were not allowed
to breathe. Their abdominal muscles
were steadily weakened instead of being
strengthened. Mrs. Miller assumed vari-
Gus attitudes upon the platform to illus.
trate her points, and explained each idea
which she advanced infinitely. She laid
special stress upon the absolute necessity
that existed for young girls to be free to
move and breathe, and insisted chat any
tight in the region of the waist or abdo
men was inimical to freedom.
Mrs. Miller then assumed a tailOr-made
street costume, made unlike the rest, and
in two pieces. The skirt was supported
by a light foundation. low neck and short
sleeves, so arranged that the shoulders
and not the waist carried the weight.
During the evening the speaker left the
platform and changed costumes many
times. She showed dresses for the house
and the street, for evening dress and for
morning use. She advanced some excel
lent ideas for stout and for slim ladies',
and showed dresses adapted to such. She
showed dresses suitable for exercise and
work of various kinds for women of sizes.
She was repeatedly interrupted with a
running fire of questions, and vigorously
applauded all through the evening"
HdrsfoTd C0uTdnt.