The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-04
ideas fnr dMn1nen.

Summer, my dear young man.. is a per-
ilous time for you. Unless your heart is
or you take refuge on a yacht
of the cruising, roughing variety, forbid
den to petticoats, you are bound to fall in
love-. somehow, somewhere. with some
body. The summer girl is lying in wait
for you the length of the land, and before
you know it she will have you in her
clrtches. Probably your head will be so
completely turned that you will not listen
to the dictates of prudence. but if you
can pause for d moment on the brink OF
matrimony. wondering whether she will
play the role of wife as delightfully."- as
tbs of sweetheart, remember hat there
is no more certain means of determining
her character than to note her way Oh
wearing a shirtwaist.
Now, II you are by way of falling IN
love, restrain yourself; do not yield to
her Establishments and offer your hand
and all your worldly goods until you have
had a good chance to notice the reveal
items of the shirt waist. OF course, she
wears one-is there a mortal girl on this
earth who doesn't? Ask her how many
she has, and, ten to one, when she mas
knotted her pretty brows and puckered
her, lip and tried to count them, she Will
own up to a round dozen, If not more,
in every conceivable material. thanks 10
the dictates of this years f~ashion-ging-
hams, madras. percale. batiste. dlmity,
washing silk, flannel. even veiveteen'
should she be going up Bal Harbor way
where the late September winds are chill
From some of these glorified misnomers
it must be admitted there is not mucn TO
be learned. for while they are artfully
constructed to give an impression OF in
formal dress, after the manner OF the
shirtwaist proper. inside Turk the Innings
and bones and what-nots, destructive to
individuality and apt to make all gfrs
as much alike as so many pins stuck in
a row.
No, the shirtwaist you are to study. my
dear fellow, is that simple affair OF cot
ton or linen, copied indirectly from your
own, with stinly starched collar and
cuffs. a yoke, a front plait, ornamented
by three buttons and ~buttonholes, ana
the whole belted round the waist. In a
rcrgh calculation you very likely see sew
eral thousands of them every day of your
life, and when your attention has once
been called to their prevalence you will
conclude that they may almost come I'M
der the head of a national garment.
The smartest woman of the smart set
wear them cut after the very pattern of
the ill-itting things THAI clothe the
slovenliest Of Stevens, the poorest of the
poor, and as for. the vast multitude OF.
the feminine middle class. If it were not
for it could not exist at all
between May and November. But, like
Cpheiia.s rue, they are worn with a diff
rapro oh Sr1ch q dfffprppopt Side
by side in a crowd you may note a trim,
well-set-up lass, whosesslender waist and
proudly carried head are at their best in
the severity of 1hsss tyle not a detail ne
elected or overlooked and so exquisitely
fresh that it is a pleasure to stare at
her-and for the reverse of the shield, a
limp, loosely constructed young person.
careless about her belt. rejoicing in col
lars of bizarre architecture, not above
suspicion as to whiteness. prone to neck
ties. which might be mildly termed gar
ish.
Inthe first place, the material of her
waist is striking; it is apt to be of
coarse cotton or Still coarser muslin of
4 very lively and insistent pattern, red
and white stripes predominating this
season. in which the thin look like sticks
of peppermint candy and the plump like
spangled banners without the stars.
There are also startling plaids and n.y.
hued flower designs, all plucked APP
parently from the mountainous heaps on
bargain counters, where one shirt waist
differeth from another in price, but not
in glory. The fit is but Indifferent at
best. and you may trust her to add a
collar of abnormal height and fantastic
design in the deluded belief that to- be
conspicuous is to be stylish. If she has
been discreet enough to take refuge in
the neutrality Of a black tie which is
seldom, 1t is sure to be too wide or too
narrow. of the cheapest satin. and put
OF a~trociously.
Then there are the girls who lave
slight. trig figures. who pick out simple
and modest patterns from the hetero-
geneous heaps and are scrupulously nice
about their linen, beside taking pains
in the putting on of tie and belt. In a
spandy clean skirt of duck or crash,
which can be bought for next to moth
ing nowadays ready made, and a 50-cent
cotton waist well adjusted, worn with
the same care that she might give to a
hat, any young woman may be we'll
dressed, and, II she, is, besides, blessed
with that gift of freshness and exquisite
neatness which is a direct boon of the
gods, heads will turn to look at her as
she passes by, and she will hear many
a murmur of admiration follow her.
Where does the character, display itself
In all this. you are asking. my lad, and
how are you to know If she is the only
girl In the world for you by belts and ties
and collars? Why. can't. you see that
the secret lies in the things she chooses
and the way she wears them? A quiet,
modest taste, rare personal ~neatness, or
der, prudence. quick perceptions, a COM
posed assertion of womanliness, all these
you may see expressed in one damsel as
she appears at breakfast on a summer
morning in a simple skirt and shirt waist.
and in another a love of attention, a
lively disposition, careless habits, indo-
lsnce, Indifference, ever vulgarity, If 1t
be latent in the feminine nature, some
how or other comes out and shows itself
in the shirt waist. Look around you and
see II you cannot discover these traits
for yourself. and pick out your partner
for life, not when you have seen her only
in ball dress UNDER the transfiguring in
auence Of music and moonlight on a bal
cony leaning seaward, not as she smiles
upon you unde the shade of a great
fluffy sunshade in the laces and muslins
of her garden party gowns. but as she
comes down early In the morning. in the