Omaha daily bee., 1897-05-16
BOSTON STORE.
r MA1A.
ON II

to bear what we might call the blame, for
let me tell you a little secret. The women
who come into my shop for fitting and meas
ures demand less and less whalebone, fewer
steels than ever before, and some of them
wish they needed>to wear no corset at all.
Par example, look here, If you please, and
here" and the plump little woman laid two
pair of stays side by side. The first was a
shapely affair, measuring seventeen inches
from top to bottom of the front steel, COM
pounded of the stiffest coutille and fifty
choice whalebOnes, six side steels and ten
steel bust braces; three strips Of satin ribbon
and ten whalebones about six inches long
composed the second.
A BABY OF A CORSET
"This,'' indicated the French woman, was
the approved corset, according to the pattern
OF which we made thousands two years ago,
and this Is what we are making for 1897. Let
me tell you, 1t Is sad, but the old corset Is
done for. Your wretched sport In which you
American women find SO much pleasure Is
running our trade. There are just half the
number of stout women to make. for that we
used to have. With golf and bicycling they
are reducing themselves, and you see what
they now demand. The perfect corset for
this spring must be cool and short; very
light, have few bones. and. above all, give
freedom in the waist. Here Is what W. make.
For the golf course, a perfect baby OF a
corset, in which you count twelve bones, and
the length nine inches. Instead of coutille,
silk or satin, a cotton net doub, ed Is the ma
terlal we use. You would hardly call that a
hand of steel in a glove of velvet. would you.
especially as there are only two cteels, in
stead OF six, any longer used in or best
c%orsets. and those must be very thin and
very flexible. The idea OF this mere belt. as
you can see, is but to give the figure slight
support, aud leave hips, waist and arm free
for the grand swing and the great twist
necessary in using the clubs.
RIBBON STAYS.
Sometimes instead of net we employe a kind
OF HAT basket work, made OF narrow bobbin,
and again we build the same sort of little
corset out of strips of ribbon half an inch
wide and running round and round the
waist. Such stays are considered by women
OF experience quite as nice for the wheel, for
tennis and for riding as the golf course. They
are cool and light and pliable, yet we have
patrons who catch cold easily and adopt these:
the new wooden corsets. They have no laces
in the back, You see. are woven OF pure
wool, In one piece, that measures only twelve
inches across the waist line. That twelve
inches, through the elasticity of the wool, is
easily drawn out TO fold close about a
twenty-five or twenty-hve-inch waist, and
this wooden girdle hooks up in front in a
perfectly orthodox fashion.
"The women like them because they are
so easily put off and on. When off they
spring back into the smallest compass and
they really do keep one cooler, as wooden
underwear always does on a warm day. Be
sides. for delicate persons Cf course they are
much safer than the opeDwork ones. All the
corSets I've been showing you here. however.
ar meant for stout women" explained the
voluble little corsetiere. Just come over
here, and I'll show you what the slender
girls and matrons use.
FOR FULL DRESS,
Here is a satin dress corset, eight
inches long. cut In a deep V In front and
so sliced away on the hips that just a hand
ful OF bones and satin remains. There are
one or two hooks in front. and II you Will
kindly observe the big hook we fasten low
down In front. under which the belts Of
petticOats catch, you will see 1t is made OF
gold, with tiny jewels set in II, Now for
evening wear We have still another stay. II
opens but once In the back, and there n
laces. you see. like the bodice OF a ball
dress. Only the long pointed front Is boned
and that heavily, while on the hips. by
what we call the skirts Of the cor
set. no combining pressure Is made there.
means of the laces behind this corset can
be made to 1T every curve Of the figure, and
they have been introduced In behalf Of tho
summer ball gowns that are cut on the early
models.
These are all the stays for occasions when
more or less ceremony Of dress must be OBJ
served. When at home in morning suit. OF