The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-18
A California woman's Judgment upon the
New York Women or Fashion.


To rms EDITOR OF THE sUN-Sir: The Horse
Show brings forcibly home TO us an unpleasant
truth: north Of Mason and Dixon's line we have
not developed an aristocratic type. Southern
women, by virtue of their descent from English
ancestors Of birth and breeding. added TO gener-
atoms Of luxury, are lndubitably aristocratic In
outline and bearing: but the New York woman
Of fashion is merely swagecr-a combination
produced by an expensive dressmaker and her
own answering determination to acquire an
"air.' She is swagger without being hiRh-bred,
self-conscious where she would be naughty,
and her repose Ia mere lounging.
have studied this type for several years, and
last night / was struck anew with two Of its
fatal deficiencies, its lack OF nose and OF cheek
modelling. 1t is not too much to say that in all
that tier of boxes there was not one good nose.
Only one girl had a nose Of size. and hers was a
proboscis. She could have supplied three of her
mcagre sisters; the others. without exception.
had little puEs or an irregular piece OF flesh and
cartilage that cannot be classcd. One Japanese
looking little beauty" had a queer peaked
affair that seemed TO point derislvely at her
bang. Another woman OF middle age. who is
never spoken OF except as "one Of the most
beautiful and distinguished ooking women of
America" has a minute application so unfOrtu-
nately constructed as to give her the effect OF
one whose fate it Is 70 stand constantly on the
NNEc u " fFNtIs InlN uIIlh IN HDNblultlN
without beauty. Her face is large and common
and c~olorless. her " languid ewes with a wicked
sparkle " are as nearly expressiCnless as eyes
can be got. She Is merely an astonishing news
paper production.
One Of the women most frequently cxtolled for
beauty has the face Of the Partisan CoCotte. One
can see IL by the dozen on n spring afternoon
driving to the Bots, its other extrcmities banked
in flowers. She il tall and has a charming
grace. and two or three generations have done
much for her. but the coCotte suggestion Is par
amount. Last night she sat with her legs
frankly crossed, IA model of elegance for the
gaping throng.
Another is as good n type OF the French SOU
brette as YOU will ever see In n Partisan theatre
n small. dark. bright. wicked little face, its own
er as smart, as a great milliner could make her.
Another beauty " has merely a bright. good,
attractive face; not q line there conforms to any
Another has developed n Burgundy
and large knobs on her cheek bones.
This Is merely q stuay. and n truthful one. |
ten about this much discussed type for once.
The newspapers are responsible for the false
impression regarding the fashionable women of
New York. To describe n beauty makes inter-
country Is part Of its history. and current history
should be treated with the same impartiality
as the more easily focused past. As n mat
ter OF, bare, fact, there Is hardly. a beautiful
hardly one that in profile or modelling of
cheek and chin, or in repOse and dignity OF
bearing. suggests three generations behind her.
good American. for the New York woman OF
fashion is to-day accepted abroad as the flower
OF American civilization. The blue-blooded
woman is beautiful, the cosmopolitan
californian woman Is beautiful, but the New
York woman of fashion, without her bright
complexion and hair. her admirable grooming,
her superb gowns. and acquired air could
only be described by the most damning OF adj
GERTRUDE ArHERroN.