The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-07-15

er desires. For slender women light goods
AFRO particularly becoming, while the wheel
woman who is inclined to be plump to ex-
aggeration prefers blue or other dark col
ors that will tone down her cmbonpoint.
Ono athletic New York woman. who
tips the scales ut 200 pounds and rides to
reduce her weight, recently ordered u
bloomcr costume of u bicyclist's tailor.
When it WAS finished, she looked so we'll
IN 1t ana was 50 ovcrioycd by her cmanci-
patton from Troublesome skirts that she
rode 10 miles ut u stretch and took on half
dozen moro pounds OF avoirdupois
Tho tailor made costumes range in price
from $12 to $40, and the only truly man
nish things about them arc the cunning
llttlo pockets. 1t is said that Il woman
Who wears skirts was never known to be
ablo to find her pocket when her skirt was
on, but the pockets in the bloomcr girl's
trousers arc always easy of access and full
of chewing gum.
Ono very sensible feature of the ideal
bloomcr costume is tho detachable skirt
that goes with it, and that can be donncd
III n second after the fair rider dismounts.
linus equipped, the bloomcr girl becomes
convcntionally dressed tho instant she
leaves her wheel, and sho NAV walk IN
and down the street before all men per
fcctly Mt her ease and as inconspicuous ms
any other skirtcd but bloomcrlcss woman
III sight. The detachable skirt is very
light and may he rolled up in tiny bundle
and carried on tho wheel
In New York many women tlcvotccs of
the rational costume arc riding mems diu-
mond framed wheels In preference to tho
lower and less speedy loop framed bicyclcs.
Tho bicycles for men are SO much higher
that skirtcd woman cannot easily mount
them, but the bloomcr girl has no diff
Guilty whatever in reaching tho moro lofty
scat, and her costume leaves her so FREQ
and untrammclcd that the wheel no lon
ger needs tho unsightly dress guard.
Although the bloomcr costume and the
divided skirt seem to closely resemble one
another, the latter is u failure on the
wheel, am told. 1t Is so much fuller
than the boomers that it draws up and
collects In unsightly wad mt tho scat of
tho wheel when the rider mounts
There arc great many bloomcrizcd
young women in Chicago, and they wear
costumes ranging from full, baggy trou-
sers that almost touch the feet to very tight
mems knickcrbockcrs that fit as though
the fair riders had been melted down and
run into them by means of IL funnel One
pretty Chicago woman, Mrs. J. f. McyNil-
llams, whose picture from Tho Bearings is
should omancipatc with II capital T. when
she goes into the emancipation business.
In her first brcakawuy from conventional.
lty, which occurred one dark night when
puncturc had made her own wheel use
less, she donncd her husbands knickcr-
bockcrs. appropriated his bicycle and took
spin through the night shroudcd streets.
Her first taste of emancipation proved so
sweet that She tried again, and at present
her husband could easily mistake her
knickcrbockcrs for his own
This form of costume, however is rath-
or extreme and hardly meets tho approval
OF the majority of bloomer girls. Tho
same statement may also apply to tho
knlckcrbockcrs worn by Mrs. Meta Jean
Bonrdnan, the pioneer bloomcrizcd young
woman of New York. She began riding
in rather tight knickcrbockcrs about "A
year ago and was ut first followed by
crowds Today she attracts very little ut
tcntion, but her costume is almost too
conspicuous to be ndpotcd by many wom-
en-. Mrs. Boardman at first rodo her wheel