The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-04-17
SEEN IN A SLEEPING CAR
ABOUT LES DESSOUs OFOLD FASH
IONABLE MEN AND WOMEN.

| come TPlngS one Sees Aboard a
Pullman Car - The Undergarments
That Are Used In England and
Japan-Lingerie of the Empress of
Russia.
tCoDvrfoht0
NEW YORK, April 16.-There Is no more
expressive or comprehensive term 10 the
whole of the French language than les
dessous II is difficult to give any exact
translation thereof into English. But it
may be said TO include every article of
feminine and masculine apparel that is
worn beneath the outermost garment. Les
dessous are worthy Of special attention and
| interest, because they afford the surest in
| dication of the character, Of the social
station and of the refinement Of the wenrer
Indeed there is almost nothing that may not
be correctly interpreted from the cut, from
! the texture, and, if may be permitted to
| add, from the condition of the dessous.
| How many men and women are there in
every rank of society who could afford to
remove their outer garments without hav-
| ing to blush for the state of those that are
underneath! Stand at the corner of Broad
| way and Twenty-third street on a muddy
! afternoon and watch The women tripping
! across Fifth avenue. Here aud there the
raised skirt reveals a daiuty white or silken
! petticoat, but in the majority Of cases the
| spectacle presented to our view is far less
| pleasing. Indeed 1t seems that the richer
and more gorgeous tho outer raiment, the
! worse is that which is worn beneath and in
! the inverse sense, the simpler the dress, the
more cared for are the dessous.
A few minutes of observation at this par
/ ticular corner of Broadway invariably calls
| to mind the parable in which the Pharisees
| nv co. al
fair to the eye as far as external appear
| ances are concerned, but within, alas
Nor are my remarks in any way confined
| to my own sex. For men who are so fond
OF dlscoursing on the smaller or greater de-
| gree of the feminine dessous de toilette, and
who find 50 great an attraction in the deli
| cately fashioned skirts and hosiery of the
stars of the opera boutfe and OF the ballet,
are themselves, as general rule, even more
| negleCtful about their own dessous than any
| of our sex. or course we have less opp or
tunities of observation than they have
| But let a dainty and refined woman
| cross the continent in a sleeping car
and any illusions which she may have
| had with regard to the eternal economy of
| the male toilet will have vanished forever.
| What more dreadful than the morning pro-
cession Of dlsheveled and unkempt men,
| mostly in sbirtsleeves-and what shirts
to that particular end of the car where q
/
/ times a solitary towel, does service for them
| all.
| Man is at his worst in every way when
| travelling, and, l for one, have never under
stood the object of inaugurating married
life with a railroad journey, which only
! serves to bring out all of his worst ami
least attractive points, both physically and
morally.
There are no people in the world that pos
sess so high degree of self-rospact as the
Japa ese. They are at heart the proudest
race under the sun, and their excessive cour-
tesy which, to foreigners, appears at first
sight extravaganza and servile, is dictated
not by an exaggerated degree OF considera-
| tion for the neighbor, but very profound
sense Of self-respect.
II cite them, it is because the Japanese
| especially those of the uncultivated classes
| and they constitute the ma jority-make q
practice of wearing all their finest
| and most costliest garments inside and those
| Of inferior quality and condition outside
| The kimonO, or flowing robe that is
| worn underneath all the others, is usually
OF the finest and most expensive silk,
| whereas, the two outer ones are of cOar, er
| and more common material. 1t is q pc
| culiar form of egotism aud OF consideration
| of the good opinion Of ones self rather than
for that Of the outer world, which | should,
! however, be glad to see become more uni
versal among civilized nations. At present
! it Is confined to the minority. The ma jOr-
| ity, am sorry to say, are generally cOn~
tent il the surface presents a satisfactory
appearance, and are altogether indifferent
so what there is beneath. Nor does the mi
nority which l have just referred to consist
exclusively of women and men of
wealth and leisure. For at Paris and in
the French provinces l have often seen a
little bourgeoise tripping across the street
bare headed and clothed in the simplest of
black wooden dresses, but displaying the
most immaculate and dainty petticoats and
hosiery.
| have alluded above to the texture and
to the cut of les dessous, i'll the case of my
own sex and of the differences to be drawn
from them as to the social position and char
acter of the wearer. Thus exceed
ingly fine. elaborate and costly
| dessous, bordered with lace and in
tersected with broad insertions and ribbon
bows, usually indicate that the fair one who
| wears them belongs either to the demi-
monde or to that class of elegantes whom
the French describe as cocodettes, and who,
lille they belong to the smart ana more
rapid set Of society, ape the fashions of the
| half world, instead of originating modes of
their own. l have had the opportunity Of
examining at least dozen Of Partisan and
| Viennese-made trousseaus for imperial
| royal and prtncely brides, and on each &C.
casion have been struck by the extraor-
| binary simplicity or the linen, which
while beautiful as far as make, text
ure aud quality we're concerned, was abso-
lutely devoid OF any kind of snowy orna-
mentatiou or even in NEST cases of embroid.
| cry. Fine batiSte, hemstitched by hand,
and with monogram surmounted by a
| crown or coronet, for day wear, and equally
fine batiste, chaste!y trimmed with Valsn>
ciennes lace, for night robes, is the usual
fashion of the real grandemonde. The
Empress of Russia inaugurated last year a
new kind Of lingerie, which created quite
Juror, perhaps because, In spite of its ap-
| parent simplicity, 1t is very costly. 1t is
made of the finest and sheerest of nettle-
| batiste, and is button-holed with pure gold
thread which washes without being tar.
| nished; but even in this case these elegant
articles of underwear are nothing to look
at" and an uututored eye would not dream
what their cost really is. While dealing
with the dessous, why should l conf1ne my
self entirely to apparel! For the absolute
and minute care given to the entire person
is even more important than raiment. l
dare say that some of my readers will hold
up their hands in horror at the bare idea
that there are people Of social
standing who neglect the observance
| Of that particular virtue which is
recognized as ranking next to godliness
That such neglect, nevertheless, is far more
widespread than one might think will be
shown by the perfectly true anecdote re-
! lata IN h1yo n ba laa1ino NIv