Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-15
CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT FASHIONS,
- Time Coming when women win Wear
Trousers and Men Petticoats.


Trousers and Men Petticoats.
ss T Is CURIOUS HOW MERE ARBITRARY
u fashion controls ideas Of propriety in
dress, said . society woman to . star writer.
"A few years ago il would have been considered
outrageous to wear on the street q gown open
In '-shape at the neck, as one sees the style
adopted now. When was little girl il was
not at all the thing for . woman to exhibit the
shape OF her figure in outdoor costume. the
custom being to disguise IL with shawl or
shapeiess coat. Atpresent the tendency seems
progressively the other way, and the
dress nowadays outlines the form with
faithful accuracy only modified in cases BY
pads. Observe any female pedestrian whom
you see on your walks abroad and you viii
notice that her lower limbs are 90 clearly de-
hned beneath her tight skirt that she might
almost as well appear in tights. In fact,
women OF fashion have pretty generally adopted
sort OF tights instead Of pettiooats.
LEsLEss WOMEN
"A generation ago women had no legs. At
all events they were not supposed in polite
society to possess them. The shane below the
waist was concealed by wide Akirts, and MANY of
them. hoops coming after to assist the disguisc
A lady was never, under any circumstances,
which is at present quite the fashion. Bot you
will find the change of sentiment in this regard
most striklngly expressed by the bathing suits
at the seashore. They show the legs to above
the knees, and no one discovers any iupro-
priety in the costume. Sometimes even stock
inSs are not worn. though that is exceptional.
so 1t would appear that fashion has rem
dered II consistent with propriety for lovely
woman to exhibit her shape to public view. 1t
Is all matter of convention, YOU see. II il
were the style for people to wear nothing but
aprons and breech-clouts, owing perhaps to a
sudden shift of the earth's axis and a conse-
quent change of this climate TO q tropical one,
the thing would quickly come to be regarded
as entirely natural and as Y matter of course.
Now that the female Of the human species has
come to be Familiarity recognized as a biped. it
would seem to be only question of time when
the VIII adopt trousers in some form.
WILL MEN WEAR PEr7IcoArs2
"Who knows but that the male sex will re-
sponsively adopt petticoats2 Perhaps the fact
has never occurred to you, but it is true that
men, whenever they want to be particularly
fine and imposing, wear skirts. Judges in the
courts are attired in them, deriving dignity
from the costume. Clergymen. too, wear SKIRTS
when ofiiciatins-that is, those who belong to
churches which regard ceremonial as of inn
portance. the garb lending impressiveness to
their aspect. The pope Of Rome himself
Is appareled in long dresses as well as
all his Cardinals. Even kings and po-
tentates In general in old times appeared
on all occasions Of state in flow
ing robes, ofttimes upheld in the rear by pages.
You will find. If you care to look up the mat
ter, that under primitive conditions men have
hrst donned skirts and women trousers, or
garments suggesting these types. Later on
they have changed about, and now perhaps we
are on the edge of a new exchange. If women
must have dress reform, should think that
they would do well to follow the lines ind;-
Gated already by the becomingness of their
bathing suits, which with coquettish caps
would be as pretty street costume as possible.
IL you want a demonstration of that fact take
notice of the dresses the chorus girls wear at
the comic opera. 1 once heard Q girl who
lauented her plain features say, IL it was only
the fashion to walk on ones head would be
belle: When a system OF dressing is adopted,
as it inevitably will be sooner or later that dis
plays the lower limbs in some degree the
hemely young woman with a pretty calf and
ankle will stand better show"