The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1895-09-03
ARP ON STYLES.
These Balloon Sleeves Strike Him
az an Upgainly Fashion
Hssee He Is Opposed to Mother Hubbsrds
% the One Hand. and Toe
Much Tigth Lscing
on the other.


they don't follow it near, they do afar
of. Woman seems to be built that
way and l reckon she can't help it.
TIE men have been fussing about IL for
ages, but it don't do any good. Some
tay that the devil is at the bottom of it,
and that fashion is woman's besetting
sin and is the DEVILS trap that he sets
to catch them, but l don't believe 1t.
I've noticed my female folks making
these big sleeves and know they have
had no bad effect on them. They go TO
church all the same. and to the mis-
sionary meeting, aud the Sunday school
and sing in the choir, and are just as
kind and industrious at home as they
ever were. Now the big sleeves were
really right pretty aud becoming until
they swelled them out of all reason,
and now they are horrid. For about
a year the style OF woman's dress has
been prettier than for many years be-
fore. 1t fit her person and showed the
graces of her form and movement, but
this balloon sleeve business is deform-
ing her some. l don't think it will
last long. But I will compromise on
most any fashion except hoop skirts. l
never was reconcilcd to them and new
er will be. ] remember when they
came into fashion, and they were quite
decent and well behaved, but in course
of time they got bigger and more wider
and spreadier until a man didn't have
much showing on a sidewalk or the
street ears. and woman with a full
grown litter on couldent get into
church pew with any grace. She could
not lean M against the counter in a
store, but had to stand off a foot or SO
to keep the litter from rizing from
horizontal to perpendicular. That
was away back before the war when
George ID. Prentice was running The
Louisville Journal, and he wrote such
n sarcastic poem about them that the
ladies got ashamed and reduced their
circumference. But they came buck
again few years ago, though not to
such an cxtravsgapt extent. / was u
young man when they first come and
the rage was so infectiye and universal
that poor folks who couldent buy them
got the boys to make them OF white oak
splits like they made the cotton baskets
But they were right cool in the summer
time, reckon. They looked very cool
when there was a breeze
This balloon sleeve is no new thing,
though I don't think they were ever
quite so large as they now are. The
Phrophet Ezekial took a dislike to
them about 1000 years ago, for he says,
'.Wo 70 the women who sew pillows 70
Al 60,
reckon. But Isaiah made clear
sweep of all kinds of fashions
that prevailed among those Hebrew
women. He proclaimed curse upon
1.-THE tinkling ornaments about their
feet and their cauls and round-tires
| like the MOON" and the chains and
bracelets and mufiiers and bonnets and
| head bands and tablets and EARRINGS
and changea BILE suits of apparel and
big ornaments and rings and nose jew
els and mantles and wimples and curl
ing pins and glasses and hoods and
wells.
Pretty hard on them, wasn't it? The
poor creatures dident have much left
not even dress to change in whei
company came not ring nor a noss-
j gay
; | remember those "round-tires like
the moon," like the new moon when i
is about three days old. ! wore ont
when I was sweet sixteen. l wa.
as trim and pretty as girl anC
had to act girls part in play on tn,
stage on commencement night. 1 wa'
TO be a fashionable young lady and
Bill Maltbic or Jim Alexander, I've
forgotten which one, was the dude
Some of the girls made me a round-tire
which was then called hustle. AL
the women wore them, but / think
mine was trfle larger than the aver
age 1t held half peck of bran and
made my hindgear stick ont foot. AS
/ wriggled about with my long train
dress rude boy slipped up behind me
and dropped a quid of tobacco on the
hustle. which caused much laughter.
That hustle was as big as q big mans
arm and tapered down at both ends,
like the horns of the moon. Some wo
men wore them nearly as large and the
| hump behind would have made a com.
forta BILE ceat for a small boy. Some.
times the stuffing leaked and you could
track the girl all around town by the
bran she dropped. a town hog would
keep fat en- It. Sometimes they came
united and dropped off, which wa,
very Notifying. One day l picked up
one in the store where l was clerking.
/ hung it up in sight, but l never could
find the owner. But in course of time
bustles went out and when the humps
came back again they were not made
lev that kind of round tires, but made OF
stiff grasscloth that was crimped up and
gave more graceful slope to the dres
sing. 1t was kind of dorsal epaletts
and was sometimes made of religion:
newspapers, such as The Christian a.
Work or The Evangelist.
don't believe that the aides lace a,
much as thew u ,ed TO. ! haven't seen
but one girl in long time who excited
my fears, and am still concerned fol
fear she will break in two right at tn,
coupling, or become uncoupled some o
these days. good helthy, sized wais
is absolutely necessary to a healty wife
and nobody but an idiot would MARI,
woman with a drt-dauber body
Nevertheless, like to see women fixee
up nicely with corsets on. In fact
with anything on save Mother Hub
bards.
| Speaking about these old-time wri
tiers who were so hard upon women re
| minds me of q phillipic of Nath,n;a