The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-03-30
BAB GOssIPs OF CLOTHING.
PRETTY woMAN's GOWNS, HER COR
SETS AND HER UNDERWEAR.
What the Coming Woman VIII wear-The
Present Woman is Sensibly Dressed
Dress Reformers scored-what is Good
Society


Among the various notices about reform in
clothing it is rather startling to read an opinion
headed: ''Sl1ns will not be worn - Person
ally was sufficiently ignorant to wonder II the
next generation of women were going to be
sufficiently healthy to sit in their bones and do
without any exterior covering. 1t was an inter
estng thing TO think out but, at the same time,
it seemed little odd, so l concluded to read
the rest of the paragraph, and | discovered it
was the usual announcement that the frocks of
the coming woman would be modelled on hy-
gienic principles that the present woman was
carrying about superfluous weight of clothing;
that the coming woman could wear combination
undergarments, and her clothes would leave no
weight on the hips and as little weight as pos
sible anywhere else; that the corset must go,
and that the woman Of the future would be
healthier and more vigorous individual than the
one of to-day, and that she would not wear
seal or other skin overgarment. Now, this all
sounds beautifully, but it's out-and-out non;
sense, and makes you want to call it what the
London street boy does "Tommy rot.' l sup
pose the coming woman wouldn't say that, un-
happy wretch.
THE PRESENT WOMAN sRNsIBLG DRESSED.
The present woman, all dress reforms to the
contrary is sensibly clothed. AS ourhouses are
heated like furnaces We have learned to wear the
lightest clothing in the house, and to assume
dark garments when we go outside As for
combination undergarments, they ruin the tenn
per of the average woman to get into, they are
absolutely unbeautiful, and the reform corset is
without any exception, the most useless and
hideous combination of bones muslin, and cords
that have ever seen. The woman of to-day
wears her skirts sensible length for the street
In the house she has the privilege of wearing
them whatever length she wishes. Her walking
boots have sensible broad heels, her sleeves are
not tight, and it is considered extremely bad
form to lace A well-made French corset is
thousand times more sensible and more comfort
able, for it shapes itself to the figure, than the
utterly unshapely and unwomanly combination
of muslin and bones that the reformers are try
ing to foist on the general woman. The aver
age woman knows very we'll that If she laces her
nose will get red, and she is not likely to bring
such catastrophe on herself. AS for carrying
burdens on their hips, they are not obliged to
do it; but certainly the good Lord built women
that way, and the heaviest burden that comes to
them to carry is put upon the hips and is nat
ural.
HEALTHY woMAN's DRESS.
a woman l know who has not had single
cold this winter, who did not get the grip, and
every season before has had influenza in every
form, attributes it entirely to the fact that she
has lessened and lightened her undergarments
and made heavier her outside ones. Her rooms
are at summer heat; her underwear consists of
silk vest, pair of lawn drawers, long silk
stockings, a lightweight flannel Shirt silk
skirt, and then her corsets. None Of her gowns
are heavy but when she goes out into the cold
air she assumes heavy fur coat that is really
like that famous one of Balzac's Seraphita
''warm to the soul" We do not want SO much
reform in dress among women as we want exer
else of individual common sense To find ou
the cause of unhappy effects, and to arrange
your belongings in the future so that the cause
is removed, can be done without lectures agains
the corset, against pretty underwear, or agains
all the frivols and frou-frous that tend to max
woman something more than the female OF man
WHY WOMEN SHOULD LOOK PRETTY.
Any woman whose draperies are covered witt
filth, as one of the reformers wrote on mudd
day is slovenly woman, who would be slovenl
under any conditions, and the putting on o
combination undergarments would never max
that woman anything else but untidy and unde
sirable | believe that women should loo
pretty-it is probably frivolous liking on IN
part-but as they are the flowers of the huma
garden, the walking flowers, they should be a
exquisite in appearance as possible, and til
word exquisite" by the by, can describe PEI
fectly fitting cloth costume worn on a rain
day as well as ball dress or a tea gown.
SILVER FLAsKs CARRIED BY WOMEN.
The day of the long smelling-bottle, which til
smart girl used to flourish as a policeman di
his club, has gone by, and the enormous gla
monstrosities, like stray pins, have disappeared
dear only knows where. Instead, tiny silvt
TASKS that depend from the chatelaine, ones
gold enamel or glass duplicating some famOr
ones of the past, are chosen, and, unlike IL
silver ones, are not carried around, but are pl
here, there, and everywhere among the bric-i
brac my lady's tables. The perfume is l
longer the one she herself favors for person
use, but instead some curious pungent odor
selected, the effect of which is to tone one up
spoonful of some liqueur might Od1 Chine
scents are specially priced, but one which Il
chemist can assure the buyer is an old Egyptia
recipe is eagerly purchased, and no matter no
stuffy it may smell or how suggestive of muI
mics it may be is counted of great value.
BEAUTY PATCHES AS RELICS
With the vinaigrettes on the table Of trih
there is also distributed curious enameled box
that formerly held the patches that decorate
some dead and-gone beauty's face. The era
for collecting these boxes is on the increase, al
connoisseurs have found out that the demar
exceeds the supply and consequently initiate
ones are on the market and have to be 'bewar'
of.n a box of Royal Dresden bound in gol