The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-06-03

many women send their measure to Paris
and have the corsets made to order there.
There's something about French corsets
like French flowers and wines. that the
peculiar little angles and arcs and cores
cut in this corset. and fitted in together
like mosaic. You could never
find anything in America like that. and the
reason is that it was basted and fitted like a
bodice on live model. Every large fac
with the different sizes. They stand about
II the fitting rooms, dressed only in long
plain gowns of soft silk, which do not at
feet the fit in the least. They stand while
seam is taken up here and let out there,
gore sharpened, an arc widened. OF course,
corsets, when fitted on women with idiosyn-
crasies of figure must be changed in places,
but even with no alteration siley catch the
figure" as we call it, fit in to it instead of
pulling it in to them, because they are
made on a hesh-and-blood model, who can
You can see and criticiss the At Of the COR
set on the model before buying it, II you
like. and have it reftted to yourself be-
sides. OF course to generalize, the popu-
lar shape is the long wasted, high
busted corset for slender women, the
women. The length Of the waist makes
them little uncomfortable for stout peo-
pie, but their adjustment is SO perfect that
they really do less harm than a looser cor
set which does not fit. We have as many
sizes and half sizes almost as there are in
shoes to accommodate different people. and
the thinner the figure the greater it's charm
for us, for We can build out and develop it
according to our ideas of symmetry. which
may not be in accordance with Greek mod
els, but are true to New York styles, and
that is where We live. You know. The most
popular color is black, without any doubt.
The tendency is to obviate the necessity of
be either too tight or too loose to please
your dressmaker, to spoil the fit of a per-
feet dress, and be responsible for the de-
fects in faulty one. OF course something
in q color must be chosen to be proof
against soil, and black is the favorite
when you see lady with one of those
glove-itting, kiss-clinging bodices that
looks as if she had been poured into it in a
state of solution it is safe to surmlse that
she has nothing under it but fifteen dol
lar French corset and a silk gauze shirtlet
without any sleeves and a strap for shout
der. It is almost safe to wager money on
the color of both garments being as sable as
perfectly astonishing to see how ladies'
ideas have changed with regard to silk un-
derwear in colors. Once it was an insult
to offer it to them; now the queens of the
deml-mOnde have hard Work to keep up
with the most conservative ladies in bizarre
effects in undergarments. When a pretty
woman takes off one of the light, dainty
dresses SO much in favor and reveals a sup
ply of garments entirely in black, with
black lace drawn up in sombre ribbons, the
effect is indeed startling. It requires
skilled maid to keep the outfit in order,
for the expensive garments are
never sent to the laundry. When the
corset isn't black it is pink. Can't tell the
reason. Simply a caprice; though, of course,
all colors are sold as we'll as the rich bro
caded affairs which are SO extensive and
look as if they were made of the remnants
of some sumptuous court dress or queen
mantle.
''Now, the typical New York woman's fig
ure ia extremely slender, very delicate as to
development at the bust, long wasted, and
willowy. It isn't tight lacing that makes
two-thirds of the women on Broadway so
slim and pretty. It is the Lord Almighty
working in one of His happy moods. By
and by this woman may get stout, but if
she is truly American she is not likely to.
She will pay any amount in reason or out
of reason for corset that fits her and that
is dainty in it's decoration. Frequently she
brings her husband along with her, and
then we can sell any expensive novelty we
have in stock. He doesn't know much
about the shape until she gets it on, but he
is sure to select the most beautiful material
and elaborate decoration.