Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-17
LET WOMEN WEAR TIGHTS.
Miss Newcomb's Second Lecture ON Dress
Reform-Her Ideas.

Miss Newcomb's Second Lecture on Dress
Reform-Her Ideas.
From the Baltimore American
Miss Julia Newcomb delivered the second lee
ture on the Delsarte system Of physical culture
yesterday afternoon at the Y.M.C.A Hall, the
subject being the interesting one Of DRESS :"
DR.. Kate Hamilton Hurd of Bryn Mawr Col
lege made short Introductory address to the
effect that she hoped Miss Newcomb would
treat OF the matter from hygienic standpoint,
and that those Of her audience impressed with
such remarks would convey them to friends
relatives and servants. particularly the latter.
The line Of colored women especially applying
for treatment at the different hospitals and
clinics she had attended, she said, was patheti-
cally long, and it should be taught them how
many Of their diseases were caused by improper
dressing, and how, by attention to the rules of
health in this matter, they could become q
stronger race.
IF we go away back in the Christian era,'
Miss Newcomb began, 1--WE will find that men
and women dressed exactly alike-that is, as
far as the appearance of their outer garments
was concerned. Coming to the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries. dress changed. men dis
cardlng the cumbersome portions for an easier
style, though they retained the gayety Of
colors and jewels now regarded as a woman 9
privilege. But mans attire grew more
clumsy. Even in our own times we can re-
member the stiff corset boards of our grand
mothers. There are still relics of barbarism
among us; savage tribes have barbarous fashions
among their women, but no matter how they
deform and mutilate themselves they never
touch vital part-that has been reserved for
CIVILIZATION" She then pointed out and ex-
planned in detail how the corset injuriously
affected the soft and vital organs Of
the body by weakening and even dis
placing them. and strongly insisted against
their use. There were, she went on to say,
three principles of dress reform that must be
observed, but she advocated no special system.
These are equalization Of weight, equalization
OF warmth and lack of pressure. But while
women wanted dress reform, clothes comfort
able and healthy. they did not desire to trench
on masculine ground-they wanted something
distinctly their own. Coming to the practical
part, Miss Newcomb proceeded to exhibit the
system OF underwear she thought best fulfilled
the conditions Of hygienic and comfortable re-
qulrements. The first a union suit or I'M
dergarment i'll one piece from the neck to
ankles made OF silk. This, she explained,
varied in quality, and. of course in weight for
the seasons. Next came pair of black tights,
to take the place of the skirts: silk vest to
protect the chest. and socks instead of stock
ings. to be worn between the union suit and
tights, thus getting rid of the stocking sup
porter or garter, which latter she considered
unhealthy articles of apparel. Speaking of the
tights, she said they were very common among
the women of the west, though she was little
surprised to find that their eastern sisters
rarely wore them, except for horseback and
cycling costumes. She praised them as one of
the greatest inventions of the age in dress
reform. These four pieces constituted all the
underwear that woman wanted, summer or
winter, and were system of economy in them
selves, as they required neither make nor
laundry, and were free from the mass of trim
mings with which the ordinary style of under
wear burdened its wearer. The dress itself she
advised to be made in one piece 30 that its
weight would be evenly distributed over the
body, and do away with bands. straps and
corsets The fair lecturer laid stress on the
fact that dress reform is now seeking the union
OF the esthetic with the healthy and the COM
Portable, and that every woman should in her
dressing consult her own individuality rather
than the arbitrary dictates of fashion. She also
gave much sound and sensible advice on the
dress suitable for growing girls, so as to make
OF them strong and healthy women. At the
close OF the lecture questions from the ladies
in the audience were invited and promptly
answered.