The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-15
A CHANGE IN FASHIONS.
Little Girls with No Skirts and Wom-
en- with Short Ones.
New York Evening Sun.


The latest summer fashion in little girls
clothes is to dress them like little boys. 1t
is so much simpler, safer and Wholesomer,
say the mothers, while the children are
loudly in favor of it. o. course, it is only
very little girls that are so appareled;
youngsters, say, three to five years OF age.
1t is merely a. question of knickerbockerS
instead of skirts, the same materials beng
used for either garment while the accom-
panylng blouse bodice IS ldentical IN elthe d
case. With close cropped head ana no
clinging, dragging, impeding skirts to both
er with, a little girl this summer stands
every chance of just as good time as a
little boy She also stands every chance of
gaining just as much health and strength
and other life essentials that her skirts
however short. have long kept In the dis
lance, if not positively denied Of course
the custom by no means prevails at the
fashionable resorts, but ii there IS one
thing more evident than another ABOUT the
fashionable resort this year 1T is That IT is
no longer fashionable. The quiet farm
houses the unpretentious seaside inns and
the secluded mountain camps, where
Everybody" goes nowadays, the boy
dressed little girl is to be found galore. The
sheer sanity of the fashion ought to be uni
versally appealing. Like the foundations
of everything else the foundations of
physical health are largely laid during the
first five years of human existence, ana
they are rendered dOubly secure when there
are no skirts to contend with. The boy
dressed little girl has at least flVe years
start of her who has all her life known
nothing but skirts. One cannot but contrast
the present fashion with that of half
even upon a summers outing to make
little girl look just as much like little
girl. as possible, the result being short
wasted garment that reached clean to her
boot heels and that must have depressed
her spirits-as it oppressed her BODY: 1t
was really pitiful to see the little Things
when so badly handicapped. Many tumble
that has left its lasting mark was the re
suit of those Wretched long skirts tQr tIlf
fashion is that it isn't always easy to dis
tingush the small girl from the small boy
but this is chiefly where strangers are con-
cerned Parents and nurses and playmates
and those most interested seem to nave
no trouble There is everything In being
accustomed to it, though a father VINO re-
Gently made his first appearance at re-
sort where his family have been all sum-
mer, cordially greeted three of the four
small boys that rushed to meet him put
entirely overlooked the other, while ne IN
quired, where's Ethel?" why, right here
don't YOU recognize her?'' cried the mother
father as he surveyed the knickerbockered
figure before him, II supposed she was
some little boy friend you'd i6 picked up d
recent arrival at this same place how
many little boys there are here. Among so
many children it's really curious that there
shouldn't be single little girl"
The skirtless condition of the very little
girl is not the only thing Of It's sort that
Womankind has to- be thankful for this sum-
mer 1t is astonishing to find how many
women of all ages and sizes travel in their
bicycle suits nowadays, not merely when
iourneying by rail to some good place for
hiking, but in regions where it isn't even
worth while to take their wheels along, and
often upon trips where it is just plain trav-
cling, with no intention, of settling down
anywhere. So common has the attire be-
come for tourists that it hardly causes a
stare Looks of envy from the long-skirted
women are about the only demonstration
that it calls forth And, oh! the comfort
convenience and independence of such a
costume. In g short skirt the traveller can
defy rain, WEAKNESS, warmth, heavy satch-
els and pretty nearly every other i'll that
tourist flesh is heir to. There need be no
question about the elegance of the garb.
A few inches less of skirt in no way inter
feres with fit or finish and as a matter or
fact, most such suits are the smartest of
the smart, bearing the irreproachable tailor
stamp. 1t is noticeable that the wearers
are invariably women distinguished by an
expression of rare good sense. They are
not the strong-minded or radical sort at all,
but they are plainly women with minds Of
their own, mad pretty contented minds, too.
And who pray, has a better right to be
contented than she who has solved the
problem of how to be comfortable, though
smart %