Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-16

VM | l EplIF' to be reformed, and
yNhI A.A II the various methods
AWYE of gownmakers at
short range. think
the consensus of opinion is that woman
ought to pay mere attention to the hang
Of her gowns. But the fact of the matter
is no woman thinks that her gown can
possibly hang awry; it is only the "other'
woman, who doesn't know how to gown
herself becomingly. Some women have
very odd conceit of never studying gown
below the waist line. If the bodice Hts
srugly, the gown is acceptable. They seem
to have no ideas about skirts at all. They
may dip in the back and scoop up In front,
drcop at the sides and fly out in the wrong
places; but If the waist sets all right the
dress is success-in the opinion OF the
wearer Even a swell modiste will fool her
dress skirt all depends on the way wo-
man stands
Very few women know how to stand
well. That Is a broad statement, but 1t Is
true. Any woman who doesn't believe 1t
will please get good-sized hand mirror
and place herself before full-length pier
glass, and with a model Of perfect figure
before her study her own ana compa are
comparison. She will find, first of all, that
she stands, not fiat on her feet as the
Creator intended that she should. but that
she either toes in or toes out" bending
the ankles either cut too much or in too
much, and that throws the whole pody
out Of plumb.
Never having been taught to stand prop
erly when a child. the abdomen Is thrown
to the front, and that defect in time grows
to a positive deformity, especially after
donning corsets, most OF Wnicn are SO
fashioned as to foster the abnormal put
ting on of flesh in the abdominal regions.
When a woman begins to get stout she
tries to keep 1t down by tightening her
corset strings. The flesh Is there and 1t
has got to go somewhere. Instead OF 1u.
diciously pushing or drawing some OF 1t
up under her corset. thereby frightening
her waist in front. she puts the corsets on
and draws the string in the middle.
A Bad Figure.
Her bust goes up under her chin the re-
mainder of the fat presses down under the
corset, and the abdomen is increased in
size by just that much. The waist gets
shorter and shorter in front, and the pres
sure of the corset throws the figure back
in the wrong place. letting the back waist
line drop till fiat as pancake in the
back Is the common comparison. This
standing posture throws the shoulders for
ward. Now look at yourself. front. back
and sideways You must admit that you
are about as bad shape as you could
we'll be and not be called deformed. Put
a dress on such a figure and look at 1t.
The skirt flares out aid up in the front be-
cause 1t has got to make room for your
abdomen. 1t droops in the back because
you are so fiat you have nothing to hold 1t
up with. You can study 1t yourself and
see the defects.
: Now, your gown maker will punch and
pull and hector you into assuming a proper
position while she is fitting your dress.
She makes you stand straight, throw back
your shoulders and curve your back. She
has cut your gown by scientific measure
fo1, 10 int dn6 fn n
and she manfpulates you so skillfully that
for the few moments that you are in her
hands she makes a pretty good looking
sort of a woman out of you. Hence 1t is
that the gown that seemed to fit so well
when you were in the dressmaker's hands
turns out sucn an egregious failure when
you don 1t to make some calls. II you
could remember the angles into which your
dressmaker punched and pulled you when
fitting the gown, and could assume them
every time you put 1t on, you would have
she fools you. 1t is a trick Of her trade,
you know.
Now let me tell you some other tricks.
When you go to your dressmaker's. you
stand just exactly as you always stand
when she goes to fit your gown, and don't
let her straighten out a single muscle, for
II you do the gown will not fit when you
get IT away Take your tdn natural th oI0 fr
every point. Stand up in 1t, sit down in 1t,
throw your head back and see II the waist
is too high in the back, making the collar
bind, throw your hands above your head
and see il the sleeves draw on your arms,
look well at 1t sideways and don't take it
out of her hands IL 1t hikes" up bit in
front. or the walking length skirt has a
dip in the back that you can see under the
edges from the too short sides.
Make the Dressmaker Do It.
II you have not the grit to correct the
faults in your figure, then insist that your
dressmaker conform to them. as 1t Is her
business to make gowns to fit the figure
and not figures to fit the gowns Delsarte
and his devotees have q patent on figure
reform. Don't let your dressmaker coax
you into putting on a corset OF her selec-
ton for you to try your dress over, unless
you wear that particular corset all the
time for there is as much difference In cor
sets as there Is in people. And above all
things don't let her squeeze you into gown
that makes life a misery, under the impress
sion that you will look smaller IN II: rat
object Of sympathy. Perfectly fitted gowns
are never tight. tight bodice soon has
started" seams, and twisted ones, too.
If the stout woman would display as much
courage. purpose and strength Of endur-
ance in abjuring sweets, rich food and rat
tening liquids as she does IN Punishing
herself with tight bodices and tighter cor
sets, she would soon be living skeleton,
glad to wear Greek drapery.
firmly believe that perfectly neat, taste
full and attractive dressing, whether Tor
men or women, Is conducive to elevating
the moral tone of society. A good bath
and clean clothing will TRANSFORM asIn "a per
fectly fendish child into moderately re-
spectacle member of society, and there Is
no doubt whatever that perfectly fitted
clothes appropriate to the occasion bring
with them certain sense of self satisfac-
ton, and that, in turn. perfect self possess
sion. Respecting ourselves will command eni1a 40
the power exerted by well-fltted clothes.
Not every woman can AFFORD ford a.. a dress ess
maker, and 1 am not sure that such wo-
men lose much. If they have any knack
for making their own clothes, and If 1t
is incumbent upon them to do SO, they
should speedily set themselves to study all
the artistic possibilities. and how to avoid
the incongruities that the fashionable
modiste forces upon her patrons In the
name of STYLE" In the first place select
good materials for your gowns, something
with "make-over' capabilities. If you do
your own dressmaking you, Of course, have
to economic. If you have children to
dress you may select your gowns with an
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