The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-09-26

treatlSe on the Rise ana ali VI Dig
Sleeves. Alas for the future that rele-
gates them to the past! l love the big
sleeve-the sleeve that falls in gener-
Gus outlines like those that Gibson pic
lures so tellingly, something between
full leg O. mutton and the long puff.
Over this 1 say my benediction: May
your shadow never grow less!"
Yes, l love the big sleeve. Not the
huge, stiff balloon, nor yet the fat NUT
ton-leg that looks as solid as its name
sake. I must confess, however, to lit
tie love for the clinging armful of gath
ers that droop dejectedly over the
hand like a/collapsed balloon. Such
sleeve does not fit the modern woman.
1t should be worn by the lackadaisical
fainting female of the early novelists,
the incarnation of the clinging vine.
No, l prefer the sleeve with charac-
ter-one not too severe in its lines,
nor too ornate. The breadth is better
at the shoulders, or little below, than
at the elbows. Wide elbows are wholly
homogeneous. They suggest the narrow
shoulders of the ivy type OF woman
joined TO arms akimbO of the athletic
new bachelor maid, determined to
make her way through the crowd or
die in the attempt.
The dropping bishop. sleeve must be
attached to a stiff cuff, to be strong"
Ito quote the one word now the fad in
art criticism). Otherwise it seems
gasping for starch, and will call for the
tightening of the belt. If a full sleeve
is left to fall from shoulder to wrist
with no cuff or band, the Objectionable
droop is avoided, and you have art,
pure and simple.
The big sleeve that l admire has
certain harmony, a mystery, an artistic
carelessness that is not slovenliness,
and a comfort for the wearer no coat
sleeve can afford.
1t is said that the fashion-makers,
comic-newspaper men and storekeep-
ers have been the only ones to profit
| by the large sleeves. Not only these.
Every woman over-blessed with aver
dupoise has been glad to adopt the
wrinkled corsage and the kindly folds
of the big sleeve. Every woman who
| has sighed in vain for additional flesh
has blessed the big sleeves which con-
ceal the suggested bones, though they
| be beautiful as Trilby's. Most of all
has the big sleeve been a luxury to the
women who have adopted the Jenness-
| Miller system of rational dress. Those
who would not construct their waists
have been nobly supported by the arm
drapery, and they will be the last to
lay aside this custom. Will they, can
they ever go back to the long, plain
tight old coat-sleeve? Rather let it be
consigned to fashion plates for men
there to stay as long as women wear
skirts
AS a basis for artistic gowning the
big sleeve has no rival. Effects car
be secured in the form, not merely in
senseless trimmings. The big sleeves
have often been hideous, / admit, bu
generally when propped up by I'M
wieldy Innings, when worn in a smooth
tight bodice, or when accompanied
by a diminutive waist-measure. The!
have been mangled in the making b!
unskilled hands. They have been mos
wear an outside garment with othe
big sleeves, but they have permitted
greater freedom in dress, greater va
riety of style, and greater freedom o
movement.
: Their chief moral value lies in tn
encouragement they give to the nat
, ural figure Do you think it merely a
accident that the great waist" cam
into the Paris fashions after lon
run of big sleeves? 1 tell you it was
logical outcome of big sleeves, and tn
sanest mode ever adopted. 1t make
for health, for comfort, for the UP
building of women, and through theT
of civilized races. Thanks to the bi
sleeve, the woman with the norma
waist-measure may be comfortably an
charmingly attired. With the tigh
= coat-sleeves, on the contrary, whic
implies fiat trimmings and close fifth
bodices, common sense women we1
always poorly gowned.
In his How to Live on the Hawaiia
, Islands," Dr. Russell speaks wisel
about dress He praises the hOlOk
none too highly, nor does he condem
too strongly the prevalent tight dres
ing I find it more than uncOmfortab
and unhygenic; in this climate at lea
it is atrociously inartistic, because it
not adapted to existing condition
What reason can there be in the tigh
d thick tailor-made gown, its rows al
rows of steels, its skirt that stanC
- alone? How differently people look
J., the human body! Physicians find I
need in it for three or four spinal CO
umns but consider their absence
lie front and at the sides as a provisiC
for expansion of organ freedom of m
ton and unimpeded circulation. II
L. stay maker, on the contrary, finds
providential call for his trade! Fra,
ces Power Cobbe says she believes
women till she sees the fashion plat
. 7 believe in them till [ consider II