Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-01-06
HAVE A DAINTY FOOT.
The Feet Should Have ms Great At
tention ms the Face.


1t ls safe to aver that there is no more
important part OF the toilet than that which
concerns the feet, although II seems usually
to receive the least confederation. Why 20
little care should be deemed necessary In
the treatment OF those useful appendices,
whose duty 1t Is to labor so arduously. is
difficult to determine; but the fact remains
that the average woman takes little or no
thought Of their delicate construction until
they begin to rehel-as they must sooner
or later-agalnst their long continued abuse.
Poets have sung and novelists have raved
about the dainty feet Of their respective
herores until we have come to regard
small feet as lrreiutable evidence OF refine
ment and arstocratlc birth. Falacious rea-
sonlng indeed is this. and responsible for an
incalcuable amount Of self-innlcted torture,
silently endured for the sake of that most
potent Of human vices-personal vanity.
The desire to possess small and pretty
feet IL as natural to the usual run Of women
as tho air they breathe, but to seek to
obtain by artificial means what nature has
denied seems unworthy reasoning being.
And yet 1t Is the rule and not the exception
to so squeeze and compress these unfortunate
pedal extremldes that they become a source
Of constant pain and annoyance, instead OF
serving the purpose for which they wers
originally Intended. So extensively Ia the
custom practised that woman whose feet
are innocent OF corns. hunions or other I'M
slightly excrescences is o rarity In the world
OF fashion, while even among the lower
classes the tight shoe Is becoming far more
general than It once was.
Speaking generally. the foot OF little child
ia ab solutely perfect In shape and proper
fi0ug gpnrua n uifV TINT the approach
| Of womanhood should be the signal for the
commencement OF the torturing process, dur
| ing which the pretty dlmpled member is
| gradually transformed into the mOnstrosty
| which the fashionable foot too often Is.
| Although we realize that the classic model
Is no recognized standard OF beauty, 1t Is
| possible to preserve the natural contour
| Of the foot and still render 1t lovely TO
modern eyes. We marvel at the cruelty Of
| the Chinese mother, who arrests the growth
OF her babys feet by encasing them In
! spllnts and bandages, but we ignore the
| fact that the Western mother is but a shade
leza cruel who thoughtfully permits her
! growing daughter to wear a shoe that Ia
too small. or that Is in no sense adapted TO
| the shape Of her foot.
Too much attention cannot we'll be given
| to tho footwear OF young girls, since much
| Of the comfort Of their after life depends
upon the care which they receive during
their early years. Readymade shoes should
| be studlously avoided. for in the majority
| OF cases they are constructed upon lines
| Numerically opposed to Natures plan, while
| individual pecullarltleS can. OF course, re-
celve no consideration whatever. The sole
| Of the ancient sandal may be taken as O
model OF the required shape. since 1t fol
| lows all the graceful curves OF the foot and
allows free play Of all the muscles.
The danger attending the use Of lll-htting
shoes. as well for grown persons as fol
| children, cannot be overesumated. II the
| foot is naturally large II is the most ar
| rant folly to attempt to reduce Its size
| since compression Is inevitably followed
! by more or less serious def0rmlty. while
| not infrequently It is attended by disease
Shoes that are sharply pointed at the toe
! should be avoided by wide-foote1 women
! for not only Ia the resplt-ylewed from what
ever etandpoint-un oplably ugly. but the
shoe will always q or split after II
| has been worn a few "a. High heels, too
tend to permanently ,iden the ball OF the
| foot. owing to the full weight Of the body
being thrown forward, while they are O
fruitful source Of enlarged toe Joints and
lngrowing nails, to say nothing OF greater
| and lesser evils.
1t Is scarcely necessary to say that no large
or lrremedlably lll-ehaped foot should be
| encased in a colorod or otherwise SNOWY
boot. In this case black should be adopted
upon all OCCASIONS aud always in die softest
| and most plable of fabrics. Aggressive
decoration In any form Will Invariably at
tract attention to the size or deformlty Of
the foot and should therefore be avoided
Long skirts, though a disadvantage In many
| Instances, are decidedly advantageous IL
| this, inasmuch as they eau always be re-
lied upon-particularly II they are wei
weighted and beaounced-to cover mul
| tituda Of elns."