The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-01-14
a pEtEN E OF pEcoI.ErrE.
To he Editor OF he Eagle.

To he Editor OF he Eagle.
Anent the articles seyeraliv arising
from your Wind aud Women. | notice a
cowardly silence or at most. faint disap-
probation OF the deeoIette dress Of the
modern society woman. Now, if there IS
one thing the men and women, outside OF
society, are united or. il is the objurga-
| ton Of that reveaimeut of rose tint dim
pies and marble lovliness OF the region OF
the maternal founts And, furthermore
there Is ouly one thing that will cut short
hypercritical harangue on the Gecolette
evil and that IS the sudden annoaneem ent
to the haranguer. that by stepping I'M o the
next room he can see a creature Gecolette.
| He or she viii always stop It IS not be
coming for d man 10 call iecolette vulgar,
| when he will ''break his neck to see it The
next instant II is not becoming for a
woman To criticize decolette because the
world usually associates a scTawny neck
and knotty vertebre with the woman who
does the eriticing
think the argument of vulgar:ty can
successfully be challenged. 1t Is really a
matter of education We are not to sup
pose that the African explorer Is
Kept IN perpetual Hush by the
native feminine sausculotte And
we are ali cognizant of the fact
that only the most abandoned OF Turkish
women win show their faces to man. If
you are travelled you well know that the
neat Hullander girl has abbreviated skirts.
discovering the dainticst OF cotton-clad
ankles and Cal ves-that the American viii
first marvel at, then admire and ulti-
mateiy. becoming used To them, cease to
see al all. 1t Is, tiren, only matter of
education. We all recognize that one OF
those Holland skirts fitting about the
streets Of Wichita of a Saturday afternoon
would be disastrous to traffic and de
moraliZiug TO police regulations.
The logic of style. which has resulted in
the low cut dress of today has not reached
derance of artistic necessity The should
ers, the rounded arm, and alabaster
bosom OF feminnity, is pre-emInently the
paragon of beautiful and artistic lines IN
the human form. Now, we are TO suppose
that some primeval woman added a little
color TO her mantle TO attract some OBJ
durate lovers eye She found that a
scarlet scarf tucked beneath her dimpled
chin frightened her handsome face and
lent cunning TO i sparkling eye. And
there were wizened old eossips in those pre-
adamital days, in all likelihood, who called
that bit of color, vulgarity. So woman
has added to her dress and taken from and
amended and fashioned-every new
change being evolved in the face OF the
cry ''vulgarity." But this day and age of
the world, with its cultured development
os nj M mn
than colors or draperies and woman I'M
derstanding that demand and knowing
the limits of legitimate dress, has displayed
those parts constituting the paragon OF ar
tistic grace, mentioned above. In some
manner, it is the millennium OF dress.
Do you doubt thisY
You have probably wondered through an
art collection and admired the sculptured
aud cold graces of a Venus de Milo or the
Greek slave. Can you deny the superior
ity of a living statue-a bosom glowing
IN its own warmth and rising and falling
with gentle undulations IN time with the
tinkling Naturalization of golden
necklace, pendant from a perfect neck?
Is not the living more artistic thar the
stone. OF course. God is greater artist
than Titan.
Women. all intent on pleasing man,
which Is primary, and obtaining admira-
ton for herself, which is secondary. under
stands that man, now grown to artistic
estate, asks more than colors for his optI-
cal pleasure. A woman, decOlette, knows
her beauty is enhanced. Beauty is not a
crime, no more than laughter. II pleases
man. Not in bad sense. Do you want
any better proof of this than Cymbeline's
devotion to "A mole?
"Oh, some one says. but what about
our boys? Won't decolette corrupt our
youth?" Are the youth of Holland. of
short feminine skirts, any more easily cor
rupted than the youth of America where
the present dress train leaves the street
sweeper without job. The youth who is
not to be corrupted must be chained In
solitary confinement, without ever casting
eye on woman. For old Socrates, wise old
man. with no foolishness about him, said
to Xenopheu one day, when he had come
to Socrates for remedy TO resist tue
charms Of beautiful Grecian:
And so, Xenophen, said Socrates,
you want a sure cure against the wiies OF
woman? There is only one. Whenever
you see a beautiful woman, Aenophen,
turn and run for your life" ARRAY.