The morning call., 1894-07-10
INTERNATIoN AL HOTEL
THE SHIRT WAIST.
Leaders of Fashion in Mems Dress
Want Ii Adopted.

A private letter from Chicago informs us that
there is a noIseless but determined movement
among the leaders OF fashion in mems dress in
that city toward the adoption by men OF The
shirt waist, which makes the girls look so de-
lghtfuly cool IN hot weather and is the most
sensible article of wOmen'S dress now in vogue.
With a shirt waist, plain gown and a sailor
hat OF straw woman is regarded as suf1ici-
emily well dressed for any social function In
summer She need not wear Jacket unless
she wants to- Men, however, except when
they are playing lawn tennis or fishing, must
wear coats ana many conservative men still
cling all summer long 10 The distressing and
super tiUOuS watStcoat
To one alIeady suffering from the natural
plumpness of the middle years" this costume,
IN a spell OF hot humidity. is simply unbearable.
II induces profanity, and II persisted in VIII
surely drive the soberest man 10 repeated Rem
sen coolers deplorable form Of dissipation,
which. Il was hoped had become extinct, but
has lately been revived at several otherwise
reputable clubs. a R5mseG cooler IS, primarily,
composed OF The rud of a lemon. thinly peeled,
disposed in an allurlng spiral form IN prepos-
ter0uSlY tall tumbler, and artfully held 10 place
by a large quantity OF crushed ice. Upon his
singular foundation are poured first an ounce
and a quarter OF unsweetened gin and next a
bottle of soda water. To abolish this kind OF
dissiuatiOn, any dress reform, within +, aSon,
ought 10 be cOuntenaDced by a sensible CON-
munity.
which we make no claim, that q man who is
not positively deformed looks his best when
clad simply in shirt and trousers. Yet he
must 90 to a garden party or other summer
function either In conventional dress or in a
poor apology Tor negllgee, which does not, per-
haps, OYerbu den the thu aud bOny man, but
is torture to the moderately stout when HE
temperature Is 80 degress-and, what with The
development of species, most OF US are mOder-
atey stout, nowadays. There Is nothing quite
so Questionable as a scrawny man. And there
he must mngle with women, the very sigh of
whose seasonable dress is fairly maddenlng to
him. II was inevitable that the men should
rebel.
That the revolution should begin In Chicago
was natural, too. for there tn very flowers of
fashion have always at dinner summer even
ings, or on the yeranda, aiterward, In The
smoking hour, In their shirt sleeves" col
loquIallsm which signifies merely that all OF
the shirt except the sic YES is covered by the
walstcoai. To remove be waistcOat was al
was considered highly improper, for that re-
vealed The uDsightly but Indispensable sus-
penders. Still, even with the wasIcOa 10.
sisted upon, there was in Chicago foundation
for The new reform, so 10 speak. In the survival
of a fashion thai has not been known In New
York since the plain days of the early sixties.
IT Is not, however, merely the removal OF the
waiStcOat, or even the substitution for the
Open-in back shirt, Which still prevails IN
Chicago Of the honest shirt or its summer sub
itute, the neglgee, for which the sanction Of
polite usage is sought.
The TefOrmers are radical. They wish to
dbOlISh aItogetuei tue lndle aHlfI anu 10 SUD-
slltute for IL the shiTtWaist OF the women,
which looks like the same thing but IS not. A
lack Of space this morning prevents a detailed
statement OF The differences between the two
garments, but il is frequently noticed when a
man lounges about IN negigee shirt, that the
garment has tendency TO reveal more OF IT.
If than is actually necessary for publication.
With the shirt waist this is never the case.
That garment never unduly balloons 10 the
back, II we may coin a single word in thus
treating of delicate but important subject.
In fact. we firmly believe that il is all in evil
dence, as tbr male shirt never is, except when
worn on gala occasion by an Indian chief,
cooler garment.
1t is the shirt waist that men want. The
women are gradually adopting mems clothes /;
why should not the men have this one garment
OF hers VIII u the need is urgent? OF course, it
will never become them so we'll, for there is
nothing pretier In the world than pretty wO-
man IN a shirt walst.-New York Times