The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-08-13
the DRESS OF WOMEN.
agitation in the Past and of the
Present on the Reform
NJ Lines.
MI. Gladstone Approved Flowing
Grecian Draperies, Opposing
the Boomer.
Dross Reform Runs Counter to tho Cur
rent Of Fashion and Makes Progress
Worry Slowly.

It Is not at all improbable hat Mr.. Glat
stone told ono of the women dress reform
ers that he liked the old Grecian drapcrie
better than the existing conventional fem
mime costume, for that is the judgment O
most men of aesthetic taste.
The expression of his opinion on this sui
ject, however, is of no practical Importance
extraordinary and manifold as his abilitie
may be. Fashion is q domain in which tn
greatest of the leaders of men are power
less, and where even the principles of Ts
thetics do not necessarily hold sway. 1t i:
4 field, too, in which the restless reforma
tory spirit of this period has expended it
self fruitlessly, though the effort has beer
long and ceaseless.
More than 40 years ago Amelia Bloomer
began an agitation for tho reform of the
dress of women on both aesthetic and sani-
tary grounds. She did not content herself
with mere general suggestions, but adopted
and advocated a particular costumedevised
and first worn by a daughter of Geirit
Smith, one of the early abolitionists. Her
example was followed by Mrs. Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone and others of
the women's rights revolutionists But
the Bloomer costume, as it came to be
called, did not receive feminine favor, and
soon even those who were self sacrificing
enough TO make the experiment of wearing
it in the face of public derision We're glad
to discard the ugly garments and to render
renewed submission to the imperious die
tates of conventional fashion.
The costume did not satisfy the taste of
Mr.. Gladstone for flowing Grecian draper
les, but was devised for the very purpose of
getting rid of them as obstructive of the
free movement of women, and the reform
dress recommended at Chicago only lately
is constructed on the same general prin-
ciples. In each there is Il tunic reaching TO
the knee or a little below, and then come
trousers or leggings. Both bear some sort
OF resemblance to the present feminine
bathing costume, except that they lose its
grace and beauty by concealing the contour
of the lower legs with baggy coverings in
stead of revealing it with close fitting
stockings. The new reform dress was in
troducea into the women's convention at
Chicago and excited much curiosity as
worn by two or three of its courageous adj
yocates, but we have not heard that even
they have ventured to wear it habitually in
public, and if they did so probably they
would provoke no less derision than Mrs.
Amelia Bloomer and her ~reforlnatory asso
ciates excited q generation ago.
Al lbuSSClls VIZ NChldll WHO reported
the remark of Mr.. Gladstone, has devised ;
new costume on her own account. 1t is de
scribed as Il gown which Seemed to fall
entirely from the shoulders looking rs i
"she had hung a bedspread upon her bach
II a table spread upon her front" Ap
parently it is IL modification OF the Mothe
Hubbard dress, which was in vogue severa
years ago in various parts of the Union, bu
as town ordinances were passed forbiddins
the wearing OF that garment on the grount
OF It's improperly and no such objection i
made to Mrs. RGssell's baglike gown w,
infer that she has corrected the defect, j
defect it be, of revealing the contour of the
feminine figure in its unapproached beauty
AT any rate, it has no likeness whateyc,
to the Grecian draperies, of which Mr.
Gladstone approves with so much GOOD
taste. 1t has not the cincture and does no,
exhibit any of the on tsnes of the figure, but
conceals them almost us thoroughly as does
the hideous dress worn by Turkish women
in public. Evidently it gets rid of the ne,
cessity of corsets. But there is a difference
Of opinion as to the injurious effect of
these, and some such support was worn by
women even nthe classical period to which
Mr. Gladstone turns with so much delight.
The dress OF the women represented in the
Ianagra statuettes and in the gems exca-
waited at Mycenfp is not radically different
from the feminine costume Of today.
The history or fashions, as shown in the
superb French works which picture the
costumes OF all ages, indicates that under
clvllizatlon the dress of women of fashion
has followed the same general principle. of
construction and has been continuously in
accordance with Mr.. Gladstonc's taste for
tlIVyInp Il RI npJrpE and nf ,opi,,n> ,r;tl L.. , l..
reform dress now recommended. The treat
ment of the draperies and their decorntio.
have varied greatly and capriciouslY, but
draperies have always remained as the main
feature OF the costume. Unhappily the
tendency has been away from the simplIci
ty OF the true art, and now, as Mrs. Linton
has sad IN a recent magazine article, the
har!ng epanlets are o distinct and inexcus,
able deformity since they conceal the beau
tiful line at the shoulder. Otherwise tho
present feminine costume is graceful,
though q few years ago it was of much
greater beauty.
The dress reform starts out counter to
the whole current of fashion in feminine
dress, because it is devised with sole refer.
ence to utility and without prime regard to
beauty. 1t is intended for women enamel.
pated from the restraints of the past, and
working in the employmcnts Of ~civiIiza.
ton as competitors of men. Unouestion-
ably for that purpose flowing draperies,
whether they be Grecian or Partisan, are
not desirable. Perhaps the reform dress,
with its short tunic, is more appropriate,
but it is not so graceful, and it is not sc
generally adapted for the best display of
feminine beauty or the concealment of fem.
mime physical defects. Hence women will
have none Of it. They may be cmanci,
pated from much else, but, thank heaven,
they are not en%ancipated from the desire
to make themselves pleasing to behold
New York Sun.