Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-02-13
CLOTHING FOR GELS.
Sensible Suggestions Concerning Useless
 

Sensible Suggestions Concerning Useless
 Emery.
 Manufacturers of clothing have done very little for girls at that age when the child is mer ing into womanhood and is yet neither child nor woman. During this age the girl is rapidly grow ing, and for several years it is almost impossible to keep her in clothes, so quickly does she O tgrow the carefully prepared garments which have been made for her. At the stores there are
 arge sizes of children's clothes, and small sizes of women's clothes, but very little else to choose from. With boys this is different; there are distinct styles set down for youths, who, in the words of the old rhyme, are neither men nor boys, but hobble-de-hoys." One thing is certainly true of a girls dress at this age, when she is usually in school. 1t should be simple and only sufficient for her needs. The soft round prettiness of growing babies tempts mothers to be eXtravagant in providing dainty delicate muslins carefully hemmed by hand, but whatever tempta- tion there may be. in gir, in her teens it is idle to give up to it; as, however gracefully she may develop into woman hood, she is at an age when she is growing more rapidly than ever before, and is not lik 'ly to wear out any thing made for her, but to grow out of every thing. The underwear of such a girl should be ample to allow for her devel- oping figure. and should be made of do- mcstic muslins rather than of more dainty materials. She should wear a warm outfit of wooden underclothes ext to her skin and comfortable corded waist made like a woman's waist. On no account burden down a growing girl with cOrsets. Let her de- cid herself, when she has reached the years of matur ty, whether she desires to wear them. A great many we'll dressed women of fashion are leaving them off, so it is no longer an Outre thing for a woman to do so. The corded waist will give her all the support she requires. and will allow for the greatest activity of movement. Make all her muslin underwear as severely plain as possible Avoid the vulgarity of a cheap-l1amburg ruffie of embroidery. Linen ruffies plainly hemmed is all that should be used, and even these may be dispensed with. If the girl is going to school the washing must be done in the general laundry of the school, where it is not possible to do ironing in the careful manner in which it is done at home. The English mother, who considers first the we'll being and health of her child be- fore its appearance, makes the simplest garments for her grow ng girls. The greater part of the underwear and all the bedding in English families is not
 ironed, but pressed through the mangle. The washing is done in the most thor ough manner, but there is no time wasted in dampcning and elaborately ironing these pieces. Sheets that are thoroughly dried in the sun or in the drying-room and mangled are much more sure to be free from dampness than those dampcned and laboriously l ironed. In cases of severe sickness | wise physicians often order that the sheets and clothing of the sufferer shall be simply pressed without dampcning, in order to be
 certain that they shall be thoroughly dry. Il is pity that such a genuine labor-saving machine as the mangle is not in more general use in this country. The outer dress of a growing school girl should be extremely plain and made in loose ample style. The fashionab ble
 blouse dresses, the pretty zouave jack cts are all samples of simple youthful
 bodices. A plain, full skirt is the best choice at present till girl is at least sixteen. A single simple hat of felt, trimmed severely and plainly is all that is necessary, and a warm jacket for
 winter and a light one for summer are | the essential wraps to provide a board i ing-school miss A warm, thick wrap
 per made of blaplSeting and comforta-
 ble felt shoes are important additions
 to young girls wardrobe.-N. Y. Trib. une.