St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-03-01
FEMININE FoIBLEs.

The indications are that while gentle
| Spring may not be really with us, yet she is
| hirting around with Winter somewhere in
|, our immediate neighborhood. The slush
| stands ankle-deep on our crossings. undis-
turbed and unabashed; and every woman
| who wades on tiptoe through them clings to
| the. back breadths with grim desperation
| One end is sure to drag unless she grabs one
side with each hand. and. of course. nobody
| likes to do anything SO ungracefu as that;
| and if by some lucky chance she manages to
| keep her gown clear of the slush and mud,
I9there's sure to be a perfectly horrid man
somewhere IN the neighborhood, who snick-
t4efs 10 himself in a way he ought to be
ashamed of.
la -+t+
isadn fact. nine out of ten of the women one
meets these days are holding up their gowns,
for the demi-train is as prevalent as high
| shouldered sleeves and crimps. There is
something about the innate delicacy of a
womans nature that teaches her the idiocy
Of. making a street broom of her gown. and,
| While she dares not affront Dame Fashion by
having the tail of her gown cut sensible
length, she simply can't resist the Clearly
inclination to hold it up. OF course the
fashion is absurd. and worse than that; but it
is the fashion, and the men and the sensible
minority of women. whom the men uphold
theoretically and neglect shamefully in
practice. had just as well leave off carpIng at
once and economic their energy.
~
The evolution of the train on street gowns
is very Interesting study. Four years ago
the back of every gown was absurdly bout
FAINT and waists were Two inches shorter than
they are now. Skirts were the same length
all the way around. Inceed. the tendency of
most women was TO increase the dromedary
look more than the dressmaker intended. and
as a result most of the gowns one saw were
bit shorter behind than in front. All at
once. and of a sudden the tournure went
out-collapsed. Reeds. wires. springs aud
all the rest of the machinery were with
drawn. and as the vast majority of feminin
ity doesn't have a new gown with every
within of fashion. gowns made to wear with
reeds and bustles were worn without, and
everybodys petticoat Topped longer behind
than in front From the lop to the demi-
train was the merest step. and. ere the smoke
of the battle waged on the hustle has cleared
away, the war on tine trailing, dirty. indeli
cate street gown begins.
II
The feminine mind has asserted itself after
many years, and has proceeded to take for
women's attire whatever is pretty and COM
Portable about the masculine garb. The
shirt waist is fixture. and the collecting of
crayats and sleeve buttons is a fashionable
feminine fad. Skirts have side pockets.
blazers open over polished shirt fronts. and
this season nder those same Blazers will be
the prettiest and most fetching suspenders
Imaginable. On warm days with cloth skirts
and silk shirts, the feminine suspender will
be boldly in evidence 1t is made of cloth
like the skirt or of velvet ana is finished
sometimes plainly and sometimes with two
pretty buckles. It's a trife startling just at
first, put it's an undeniably pretty and very
comfortable fad.