The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1891-12-05

Thoughtfnlly Discussed For Careful
Readers.

Thoughtfully Discussed For Carefu
Readers.
1t is rather ridiculous sight tha
presents itself to one looking at tn,
audiences in our churches, or an,
I place where womea most do congre
gate during these cool, early winter
days. Their shoulders are uniforml,
and universally high minded, theil
heads seem to have timidly retired
behind aggressive collars-and in
reality no well balanced head car
bold its own against the over-ween.
ing ambition of those collars-while
the summit of the structure is crown
ed with something fiat. 1t may be
Dat and broad or fiat and narrow,
hut fiat it is every time 1t may have
stiff feathers firmly erect, or it may
have curling plumes and soft pom
pons, it may be of velvet. felt or
cloth, but an uncompromising fiat
ness is always apparent
Really, when one considers what a
remarkable sameness there is about
the hack view of our fair humanity,
glimpse of the changing faces and
the varying color of vivid complex
ions comes as sort of surprise. We
are told that the carriage of the head,
the arrangement OF the hair, the
fashion of the throat all Tell their
story of characteristics, but when
there are about two inches visible be-
tween the lowly head covering and
the lofty neck covering. if there are
any characteristics to be discovered
they must be in microscopic quaint
ties. One is prone to suspect stu
pid monotony in femininity when he
stays only in the back seats of syna.
gogues and views it through the me
dunn of collars and hats. 1t is more
than ever true, since things are as
they are. that women must be known
to be appreciated. and considered as
ornaments to society, they evidently
mean that homage shall he paid to
their faces. 1t is undeniable that
this arrangement of fashion for uni
ting the retiring and the towering
has proven universally becoming.
The pretty faces look prettier and
more sparkling in the tailor made
background, and the self same back
ground conceals multitude of sins
when the face is not pretty.
1t is encouraging to see how unes-
sential natural possessions appear to
be in the eyes of medistes or millin-
ers. If you havn't good figure it
has long been an open secret that
your dressmaker can give you one by
discriminating paddings and sup
pressings-a secret learned, no doubt,
with much other useful information,
from the artistic tailors who gave the
feminine world the benefit of long
years of experiments on masculine
subjects.
Still l had always imagined that
a woman must buy her bonnet to fit
her head until recently, when | over
heard some useful and surprising
suggestions from miliner to a pros
peetive customer There was too
much bonnet in the rear, but the lady
was pleased with the front and side
views, and not disposed to abandon
anything two thirds successful. |
thought that protruding end would
have to be destroyed, but not So 1t
was true that no mortal head ever
could be made to fill the vacant space,
but that light had not at the time
appeared for me on the question. The
miliner made it plain.
This bonnet is not to be worn
with your natural hair" and then
she twisted long eight shaped fig
ure of somebody else's hair on the
back of the lady's head, and fasten-
ed the bottom of the bonnet to the
top of the hair in way that babe
defiance to meddling winds, and 10
there was no superhuous amount of
bonnet, nor indeed any supetfuous
amount of hair
There was nothing palmer to my
mind than that the two could not be
made to part company, but should
think that their possessor would have
a feeling that they might retire to-
gether at some embarrassing mo-
menJ. However, the milliner had
found courageous woman, and she
went on her way rejoicing-presum-
ably to invest in more beautiful hair.
~
One wonders when looking at the
and impossible figures
which serve to illustrate the equally
remarkable suggestions of the people
who write the fashion notes for our
papers, how many persons
ever read those articles through, and
how many ever act upon any of the
No doubt some of them
are reliable and helpful, but when
one is thirsting for fashionable in
formation he is not infreqnently in a
position to be unable to recognize its
genuineness. | know one lady, who,
living in the country, constructed a
hat like newspaper model, and wore
it to city. She had the utmost con
fidence in that hat, but when she
found it was two years old she was
discouraged. Doubtless the writer
of the fashion notes WAS honestly do
ing the best he could, but then the