St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-09-13

addressed few women twice in prl-
vale session Oh the subject of dress re-
form. Instead of all the ladies agreeing
with her propositions. most of them
were radically opposed to them.
1.-The ladies at Chautauqua were so
indignant with the publication of the
stories about the dress-relorm move.
ment that they asked me to contradict
them. This is the first opportunity |
have had of doing SO.
Not only has the publication of
these fables created much comment in
Chicago. but 1T has annoyed Boston DeO-
pie. The report was that uniform
was to be devised and adopted by 500
women i'll Boston in October.
Il don't think this dress reform can
ever be accomplished. The reformers
have reduced ladies' wearing apparel To
four garments. They do away with
corsets entirely and all that sort of
thing. / am a Delsartean at the head
of the department in the Chicago con-
servatory, and naturally people appeal
to me for advice. think the erroneous
impression many so-called DelsarteanS
have spread abroad that in order to be-
come d good Delsartean you have to
make perfect guy OF yourself and
cover yourself with few draperieS has
done much to injure the cause of Del
Sarte, and has prevented thousands of
sensible people from deriving the bene-
fit of the Delsartean gymnastics.
81 don't believe in Mrs. Parker'S rad
zeal ideas. There are some petite
women who can dispense with corsets,
and il they can do without them, it is
all very we'll and advisable. But the
majority of the women cannot and will
not dispense with them. That being
the case, the GU eStiOn is, What kind Of
corset is most desirable?
Mrs. Parker took up the dress-re-
form matter where Mrs. Jenness- Miller
stopped. Through the failure OF her
magazine and consequent nervous pros
tration. Mrs. Miller was temporarily in
disposed.
'Of course. l think all sensible
women believe in dress reform to GER
tain extent. l don't want to be under
stood as being opposed to a reasonable
dress reform, but | am not radical on
the subject.
Nov, speaking about corsets-they
are necessity, positive necessity.
But with the majority of women cOrsetS
should be selected with the greatest
care. They should be made to order,
in nine cases out of ten, by an artist.
1.-The French women are so particular
about their corsets that they generally
pay S25 for pair and regard it as the
most important part of their dress.
''ln this country woman picks fup a
newspaper, sees an advertisement of
corsetS marked down to so cents, and
tunity for me- she saws. and off she
rushes to buy the bargain. A man
might as well see ready-made clothing
advertised to be sold tor song and
rush out and buy it. whether the trous-
erS came below his knees or the coat
fitted him.
''CorsetS should have very fine bones.
The whalebones should be very supple.
They should in no way restrict the &C
ton of the body.
''These dress-reform fanatics will
claim. that they cannot wear corsets and
move with the same freedom as without
them. But L wear corsets, and L can
perform the great DelSartean waist
movement.
1.-The reason that some women CON-
plain of a backache if they leave off the
corset is that they let the body drop and
depend OH the steel in the front, When
they take off the corset the prop is re-
moved and they collapse. Instead of
relying on the corset these ladies ought
to depend on themselves.
The posing ought to be from the
head and not from the shoulders. Then
women would hold themselves properly
whether they wore corsets or not.
There would be no fatigue.
MRS. Jenness-Miiler is a Delsartean,
though she does not claim to be. /
wish, however, to counterfeit the i'm
preston that in order to be a good
! DelSartean you must be fanatic on the
| subject of dress reform
MANY OF these dress reformerS go
without the corset and look like sack.
| They wear the divided skirt. A more
uncomfortable garment was never in
vented. Mrs. Livermore told me at
Chautauqua that she had tried it, and
others told me so, and | gather that
every sensible woman who has tried it
is of the opinion that these divided
| skirts are the most uncomforta BILE
things in the world. Your legs get all
tangled up in them, and extreme dress
reformers say you can't wear any heels
on your shoes. / believe women's
clothes should be reduced to as few
articles as possible.
IF woman is aesthetic looking and
wishes to dress in an aesthetic fashion
in her own house, it is all very we'll
and she probably will look charming
But how would a woman just the re
verse of 8sthetic-a plain. everyday
matter-of-fact woman-look in a COS
tune Of draperies?
Il have seen some women in Chicago
who have followed these dress-reform
ideas and made themselves look SO ri
diculous that they were laughed at. II
is nonsensical to think that Mrs
Parker or anybody else has made radi
cal dress-reform converts of the women
: of ChautauQua."