Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-08-02
9ai1g eagle
: WOMAN AND HOME.
THE GEEAT VIRTUE OF TOLERA-
TON FASHION HAS LEARNED.
nIodjeska's Sympathy Brought Down the
House--(iarments That Drag the Life
Out of q Woman-A Girl That Wasn't
Afraid Of Rattlesnakes.

House--Garments That Drag the Life
Out of a woman-A Girl That Wasn't
Afraid of RattIesnakes.
The most striking as well as the most ad-
mirable characteristic of our present fash
ions is their variety, the wide range OF choice
they offer to those who desire to be fashion
ably dressed, and at the same time to wear
costume that shall be adapted to any spe-
clal pecuiiaritaes of face or figure The time
Is not very Tar back when. at the beginning
OF season, fashion would promulgate one
iron law for all. II the mandate read that
bonnets should be small and skirts plain, the
largest and homehest facernust be surmount-
ed by tiny construction Of straw or velvet,
end the figure, no matter how tall and atten-
nated, must be clothed with long severe folds,
guiitiess of apght in the way OF rufiie, founce
or trimming. Any departure from these
rules caused the daring fnnovator to assume
an outre appearance If crinoine were
worn, it seemed almost immodest to appear
abroad in a toilet that allowed the motion Of
the lower limbs to be seen in walking; a
broad brimmed hat, when the round turban
was in vogue, would cause the heads Of tho
passers by to turn. Altogether, SO narrow
and stringent were the laws that the an
uouncement that this or that was "the fash
ion" mot fashionable, or favOrite style, but
the fashion, settled at once the proper garb
TO be worn, and made its adoption impera-
tive by all who desired to avoid being con-
.spicuous or eccentric.
Of late all this has changed, and greatly to
the advantage and satisfaction of many,
who, previously forced to follow fashion
blindly, lest by failing to do they should at
tract an amount Of unpleasant attention,
now find themselves able to rule their toi-
lettes in harmony with their own ideas Of
taste. and the special characteristics of face
and figure with which they have been en-
dowed. 1t is no longer necessary for the tall
Juno hike woman to wear any number of
Eruiffes and houtces and oversdrts, lest their
tabsencs should make her unpleasautly con-
spicuosBi Ia society nor need the thin, lank
lspinsfer whose bones are obtrusiVe abandon
lher becoming fAi4ls and furbelows because
such vourmno,ls draperies arc quite ''ont of
style" Fashion has learned the great virtue
Iof federation. The simple and obvious fact
which she has ignored SO long, that so greatly
lido women varyf in face, in figure, in coloring,
depression, movement, that no one style Of
fdres can be suitable to more than a certain
number, and that to force the same manner
eof costume upon all Is to attire many unbe-
coningly and TO mako some appear posi-
ltively grotesque, has at last been impressed
upon her. She has abandoned her tyranny,
iand in widening her domain and granting
liberty of choice therein she has conferred
benefits upon all womankind, which they
cannot appreciate too highly or be too
sgrateful for.
1 IL is possible today as it has never been be-
fore to accomplish that adaptation and in
dividualizing Of costume that is and ought
to be, the principal and most important
secret OF dressing well. Every woman should
realize that her neighbour costume is no more
likely to be suitable and adapted to herself
in material and design than it is in fit. Fer
dress is a part Of herself; it is no extraneous
thing Ike II bathing suit, or the oisilm COW
ering she must adopt in order TO pass under
the falls at Niagara, a thing of a moment, to
be thrown aside after transient purpose is
served; it is something she can never appear
in public without something that people will
always associate with her in their minds, will
judge her by and form their opinions OF her
according it is well or i'll chosen.
This is it should be. Individuality in
dressing is emnently desirable as individu-
gality in any other form Just as a poet
would scorn the idea of writing verses quite
in the style of some one else or a painter be
mortified if told that his technique was pre-
cisely like that of So-and-so, SO ought an in
telli&ent woman 10 be shocked at the discov-
cry that some one elses gown would be quite
as suitable and becoming as her own; that
sho could, without detriment to her looks or
loss of attraction, array herself upon occa-
sion in one of her neighbours costumcs.-Har- |
pers Bazaar