Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-07-15

UHI I'M that you arc always De-
IH III ing lectured and scolded
" and ridiculed about wo-
mems clothes Every woman has to
bear the whole burden Of all the clothes
that women ever wore. from Ewes apron
to the train that sweeps the streets to-
d.
10 matter what women wear. there's
always something wrong about it-or.
rather, Where's never anything right. II
Is always ridiculous or inartistic or un-
suitable or uncomfortable or woefully
injurious to her health. And usually in
ths<1es of most of her critics it Is all
i've ofthese things at the same time and
allthe time.
II the future is to DO judged by the
past there is small hope that poor, perse-
cuted woman will ever have any rest
from her clothes critics. haven't the
least doubt but that when she gets to
heaven three-fourths of all the other
angels viii insist that she ought to wear
goggles and green shade over her eyes,
% that they won't be injured by the
brightness Of her halo.
Now, life is worth living only because
it pays, only as it furnishes more hap
piness than unhappiness. And it is true.
too, that the sum total of life's happi-
ness is made up mainly Of little things,
Of inconsequent pleasures which one is
allowed to enjoy in pesce without inter-
ference from other people.
And If a woman enjoys pulling her
corset strings very tight and engineer
ing train through crowded streets and
over muddy crossings, why shouldn't
she be left in quiet enjoyment of her
pleasure?
II she gets more happiness ont Of the
consciousness of possessing q 2O-inch
waist than she would out Of the habit
OF breathing from her diaphragm,
why surely that's her affair. And il
jefferson and Adams and Hamilton and
Washington and all the rest Of the ia
theirs of the republic knew anything
about it. she has a perfect right to
squeeze her diaphragm to the point Of
suffocation if she wants to. For didn't
they declare, on their honor and their
drawn swords, the right Of every human
being to the pursuit of happiness?
II woman thinks that she catches
moro happiness by chasing after it with
her skirts tied hack, or in high heeled
shoes. or with q hump on her back,
the inalienable rights Of mankind give
her perfect liberty to do 80, and ordi.
nary human regard for the feelings Of
other people ought to give her the priv
lege of doing so without being followed
by crowd of scolding. ridiculing critics,
who think they know moro about what
will make her happy than she does her.
self.
1t can be taken for granted, too, that
woman does get more happiness out Of
her clothes. no matter what the fashion
than she does discomfort. For they are
q pleasure loving lot. are women, and
they are pretty sure to choose. both
in clothes and all the other things Of
life, that which they will enjoy most.
Men may not always understand just
where and how the enjoyment comes in
But that is because they are not women
and do not have intuitive perceptions
Besides, it is not at all necessary that
they should understand. They car
simply take it for granted, because it i!
as true as geometry that when woman
wears shoes and gloves that are tot
small for her, tight corset, a sheath
skirt or q train on the street, or any
thing else that they think is uncom
Portable, she does it solely because sh'
is a great deal happier in doing so thar
she would be In doing otherwise.
And certainly in this free land of ours
in as innocent a matter as the fashion o1
her clothing. it would be no more thar
ordinary considerateness to stop worry
ing and lecturing and ridiculing her
and allow her to choose her own happi
ness in her own way.
It is a mistake to suppose that womer
wear any particular kind or cut o.
clothing because fashion makes it neces
sary.
Fashion has lost her grip in these lat
ter days, and q woman may wear, ant
does wear, pretty much what she pleases
And as for the corset and the slende
waist-those two everlasting texts of TIT
scolders and ;ecturers-they really ar
not worth lect,Iring about any longer
The corset has fallen into state of in
nocuous desuetude, and the slende
waist is back number. The people VIII
rage and imagine vain things abou
women COMPRISING their waists AM
running the forms which nature CAV
them. to say nothing Of the injury Il
livers and lungs and such things-sucl
people are behind the times.
Slender waists-that is, any slendere
than lie bon Dieu meant them to bear
mainly confined to French and Englisl
and a few American fashion plates
where the publishers continue to MS
them for the same reason that the scold
ers about women's clothes continue &
scold-because they've got into the habi
of il. When those same styles Of dres
get transferred to the graceful bodies g
American women they cease 70 look q
they do in the fashion plates. Ye'
might search Broadway from end TO sB'
on fine Saturday afternoon, or Fift'
avenue on Sunday noon. and not aee
solitary figure that does not look entire