The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-08-21
AMERICAN WOMEN ABROAD.
Why They Dress Much More CareIesslJ
Than When at Home.

Imam When nj
81 wish that my countrywomen
wouldn't save all their old clothes to
wear out on this side" said a Heidel
berg student, surprised by a bevy o.
American cousins who had Succumbed
to the tourists Indifference to dress.
"lt's deucedly uncomfortable, you
know, after boasting of their dash anC
chic, and anticipating the introduction
of typical belle to your chums, to fine
you have a troop of ragamutfins OF
your hands"
The Heidelberger's ungallantry is
partly redeemed by its truthfulness.
Few American residents abroad have
escaped an occasional annoyance from
the Jagged appearance of a countryman
encountered ION the wing" 1t is curl
GUS to observe how Indifferent the most
fastidious, the veritable slaves to fash
ions behests at home, become in mat
ters of dress abroad. Nowhere on the
continent, perhaps, is this fact so APP
parent as at the fountain head of fash
ion-Paris.
Eternal vigilance is the price of
good dressing" The wise tourist is
naturally prone to sacrifice this price in
the desire to make the most of for
eign outing. What manual for travel
ers does not advise women to wear their
old clothes abroad? Then the Ameri-
can who comes to Paris expecting to
confront a fashion-plate in every Paris
ian encountered is doomed to disap-
pointment; for beyond the Bots at 4
o'clock, the Grand Opera or Comedie
Franchise on gala nights, or the shop
windows, the tourist may look in vain
for the flesh-and- blood counterpart of
the models familiar to her through the
French fashion journals. That dashing,
t1ash-of-color, eccentric com bination
vulgarly recognized as "Frenchy" rare.
ly ventures beyond the stage or the
shop windows. 1t is a relic of the en-
pire. the aftermath of Eugene. A
palmer dresser than the modern French
woman may not be met in the streets
of Paris. pper-tendom rarely prone
nades. Quiet elegance characterizes
the toilets of the French women seen
at the galleries and the exposes, the
only place in which the average tourist
is liable to come into close contact with
them.
Hence, finding little in the toilets en-
countercd to rebuko her passe habili-
ments, the disappointed American con-
soles herself by feasting on the shop
windows and mentally choosing the
treasures she will take home After
all, there is little pleasure in the wear
ing of a Worth creation if not one Of
your 500 dear friends may see you, and
what cares gay Paris for the tourist!
Thus fortified, one soon learns-espec-
tally if one tarries long-to look upon
the most tempting gowns with scarcely
pang of envy ora desire of possession.
With a complacency which would be in
tolerable at home, the tourist resigns
herself to her old clothes, and does not
hesitate, if opportunity offers. to VEN
ture to the most recherche affair in a
toilet in which she would blush to be
seen on her native heath. This almost
inevitable Indifference to dress abroad
has personal advantages, doubtless,
but may not our deserved reputation
there as the beSt-dreSSed women of the
world eventually suffer by the license
in which the Heidelberg student found
such humiliation. -Kate Fields Wash
ingtOn.