Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-11-05
FREAKS IN MEMS FASHIONS

|
Winter Styles Are the Opposite of Last
Years
The thin legged man who aspires to
| keep in the fashionable push has hard
| times ahead of him says a New
York paper. The outlook is that skin
! tight, glove fitting trousers will be the
order of things this winter, and every
one knows how ridiculous a man with
a thirteen inch calf looks when he ex-
| hibits it to the world III all its genuine
| thinness.
And there seems to be no way out of
the difficulty for the benighted ones,
deception of using pads. A mans
| trousers must be cut very narrow, and
then if the leg fails to fulfill the expec-
tations Of the garment, he becomes a
| pitiful spectacle. Or the other hand,
| If he les the bull courageously by
the horns and has the trousers made
to fit the leg snugly, no matter how
slender the leg may be, he parades the
| shortcomings Of his underpinnings be-
nings before the eyes of an observant
world in most glaring way.
Many men will thank the fates that
the bicycle fad preceded the skin tight
pants by year or two, as the pedal
exercise has developed thousands of
legs to the proportions intended by ma
ture. But there are scores of unfor-
Inmates who have religiously ridden
thousands of miles for the single pur-
pose of swelling their calves to a pre-
sentable degree, yet have failed
1t has been some years since any
radical change has been made in mems
attire, but the witer OF '96-'97 will make
amends. In 1880 all of the dudes wore
very narrow trousers, and this fashion
prevailed for three years. In 1884 very
wide trousers, with the leg sharply
creased, came in, and this style pre-
vailed until five years ago. Then the
trousers shrunk to moderate size, and
there was not other change until this
fall. The fashionable dimensions now
are 171a inches at the knee and II
inches at the ankle. In a couple of
shrink to II inches at the knee and
1612 at the ankle. This is the next
thing to skin tight trousers for a we'll
built man, and the dudes, who invar-
iably carry every fashion to extremes,
making it ridiculous, can be depended
upon to shave off considerably the fig
ures just named.
The other day there was a meeting
ON Fifth avenue of the important per-
sOnages composing the Merchant Tail
OrS' society. In fact, there were sew
eral meetings, all for the purpose of
deciding the kinds and styles of gar
menus that the rest Of the world must
wear this winter. At the morning
session WaiStcOatS were discussed; at
the afternoon session the mighty in
tellects of the members concentrated
upon frock coats; at the night session
the chairman offered the problem Of
overcOats. Trousers occupied the atten-
ton of the society at the morning ses-
sion of the next day, and as it was the
most important subject on the pro-
gramme, it also occupied the afternoon
session and portion of the evening
session. 1t took three days to dispose
Of all the articles of dress, and i'm
portant changes were made all along
the line
1t was generally understood that the
business of tailors throughout the
country had suffered because of the
lack of changes in mems attire during
the past half dozen years, and to in
fuse new life it was deemed expedient
to make a number of revolutions
Substantial precedent for such course
was not lacking. Less than two
months ago the Prince of Wales was
notified by a committee appointed by
silk workers that many of them were
out of employment because of the stag
nant condition of the native silk trade.
The prince has his own way Of giving
boom to any waning industry, and it
is just as effective as the methods of
deep thinkers. He had a DOZEN silk
waistcoats made, all Of them double
breasted and beautifully embroidered
Moreover, they were fashioned in such
a way that consid silk was used
The vest was made out of a single
piece of silk. This was done by TAX
ing large piece, cutting holes for the
arms, wrapping it around the body to
get the measurement, and then finish
ing it Off
The first night the prince appeared in
one of his new fashioned double
breasted silk waistcoats all of the men
in his immediate SET determined to or
der similar articles of dress from the
princes tailor the next day. Inside of
week the new fashion was known all
over the kingdom. 1t will take some
time before it works down through all
the grades of society to the 'Arrys, but
long before it reaches that point the
silk industry will have it's boom and
the purpose of the prince be gained.
Naturally, silk waistcoats will be in
vogue here, cut exactly like those worn
by the prince They must be hand
somely embroidered, too, and if the
man be rich enough to afford large
lied gold buttons, so much the bsttser
White silk or black silk are the only
colors to be used if one wishes to ad-
here strictly to the fashionable law.
Tailors favor the white because it is
easily soiled, but sensible people will
use the black
An oddly in the way Of trousers is
threatened, but it is doubtful if it will
prosper, except among the Enthusiastically