Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-08-09
THE DEcoLLETTE DRESS.

THE DEcoLLETTE DRESS.
1t is fact gloss it anyhow as may, that decent
women dressed indecently our country and
onr century as they do in fashionable life today.
Would that some enterprising Journal might take
the moral census of this subject as substitute for
prize baby competitions guesses on Nelly Bly,. We
should like to throw down the gauntlet to the women
of America. "Defend these mmoralities! Speak up
Tor yourselves If you can do not believe that two
reputable women IN the land would dare publicly tol
defend the styles of undress which now disgrace our
sex. The time has come for such protest against
this abomnation as will sme woman to the dust for
shame. What is to be said Enter any fashionable
drawing room and look for yourselves What is said
Think of it, you highborn ladies-think of 1t!
In the most decorous city in our country, a lady
representing what may be deservedly called one of
the best" families in the State, herself middle aged,
queenIy, home loving maron, the wife OF an affection
husband, the mother Of grown sous and daughters
wears her dress-but my pen shrinks from writing
what this high bred lady does This case, which re-
presents of Others oflmportance because the
offender unconscious Of her oense, and so far in
other respects above it, There is life of concealed
dishonor, no intrigue, shoddy brthrisht, no fast.
andloose views OF duty. The woman is otherwise i'm
macuate. How explain the ethical enigmai Are our
ladies morally insane, or mentally Do they not
know what they are doing9 And if not why not?
How shall we characterize the too low corsage with
some nothing for sleeve? The lower bodice with no
sleeve at alla Nudity covered by transparency And
what is known as the V-back9 They are below ex
cuse, as they are beyond explanation. What moral
mania bunts the senslbities that ought to fix the
standards OF nations What dementia deters the
womanly" from pleading US on" at least so
far that the simplest instinct of feminine modesty-
that which covers nakedRess-may keep stroke with
the moral development Of the age? Let it be said
that gay women always have dressed improperly
What of it7 Is that any why they always
should!
TIE BLOOM ON THE CHEEK OF MAIDENHooD.
There is an lndescribable expression in the eye
every fine observer knows it-whch distinguishes
modest girl form matron. Look for it in the eyes of
girls today. 1t missing often; it is replaced
by another unwelcOme, worldly wise, unpleas
antly experienced, that shrink with a sense of
having lost the most precious thing in grlhood 1t is
not purpose to prove here that the lax theatrical
view of life is largely responsible for this, but only to
ask, by the way, how far il may be responsible Bet
ter like the Puritan lady, to shut the eyes when the
ballet comes Better a simple, serious. unworldly
ignorance of the low and vicious coming in the name
of the high and cultured ;bet:er thousand fold the
instinct of modesty which cannot coarse sight,
than the cool, Indifferent ungrlike familiarity with
criminal suggestions which is the fashion among
us.
1t is to be feared that the very excellent parents
who compose select circles have no more ntelli
gent idea of the amusements affected by the "set !"
with whom their sons and daughters dsport them.
Selves than they have of the entertainments of fac
tory holiday, a fremens picnic.
A lady reared in the traditions of high birth and
gentle training of generation ago, has certain ex
quisite innocence, herself like ideal girls, which
prevents her from approaching the pers of her chill
dren. She who would have thought it moral lapse
hand; she whose lips never touched by man un.
til she gave them to her pghted loyer she who went
to her husband as unmarried ideal in dream
does not readily perceive accept the conditions OF
lowered moral standard. Is it not enough to be y
lady? Is not my girl the daughter OF her mother |?
Read your girls eyes, you lovely lady OF the Brah.
man BIRTH and sweet soul. Question her. She NAV
return you the clear, heavenly look of the heart of
your own high youth, and Heaven bless her! Far be
it from me to mutter and croak, if a modest maid
were an extinct curiosity. But, if she has passed
from under your shelter and beyond Your standards
if she has been what call "gay;" if she has tossed
good deal in the foam of young peoples frolics if
she has had some mock OF chaperon, at all
if she has sat in the parlor alone till midnight with
young man once too often If in Short she has drifted
on the current of existing social streams her
question her-Elisabeth Stuart Phelps in the August
Forum.