The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-30
WOMAN AND SHORT SKIRTS.
WITHOUT ,EM SHE Is IN FETTERs,
WITH ZEN SHE CAN SOAR.

S1irs n. Marquette Lindiey. VIE Doesn't wear
Long skirts, Doesn't Finch Hor waist, Nor
wrap Herself In Hands, talks to Sisters
or the Brooklyn Health Culture Ciub.
The Brooklyn Health Culture Club met at II
Picrrepont street yesterday afternoon. A largo
number Of the 100 members were absent, but
the discussion was a lively one. Mrs. Z. @.
Lumsden, who called tho meeting to order, re-
quested DR.. o. +. McCune, vice.President, to
take the chair. The proceedings were informal,
and the subject discussed was "Short Dresses
for Street Wear" Tho frst speaker was Miss
E. Marguerite Lindley. She wore q jaunty
tailor-made gown which escaped the ground by
fully six inches, and sho was prepared TO speak
in behalf Of the short skirt from long personal
experience. Among other things Miss Lindley
said:
Shortening the skirt for street wear appeals
to every grade OF society, to men as well a.
women. Many women still lack the courage to
put on short skirts, but they feel that we arc
organized for the benefit OF the health OF woman,
and that appeals to them.
1.-THE Now York Rainy Day Club deals direct
ly with the short skirt. The rule is not to wear
q skirt less than Eve inches from the ground or
moro than eight. Tho gown I am wearing 10
six. You SEQ 1t has q princess back. and they
arc all tho rage in Paris, I hear. The weight
comes from my shoulders. I have no bands
around the waist. and 1 feel as free and as COM
Portable as q man. We bind and pinch ourselves
in our clothing and then cry. We are free But
We are not. Who took our freedom from us
1t was not man. because II he had designed our
gowns we probably wouldn't have worn them"
Man put stays on woman" interrupted q
member Of tho Board Of Directors.
well" said Miss Lindley with q laugh. "
accepted the confinement eagerly"
I'm tired Of hearing women boast: I did 30
much work. and my back ached Gil the time
Let them cut of their skirts. take the tight
bands from their waists, not do 30 much work,
and give their backs q chance to get well. Tho
inartistic effect of woman reaching around to
grab up her trailing skirts ought to be enough to
make her discard them"
Mrs. Peckham, the next speaker, has pretty
brown eyes, and they snapped mischievously as
:" When we look back to our nursery days We
about the old woman who went to the market,
'her eggs for to SELL A man cut OF her petit
coats, and furthermore he cut them of to her
knees. l think when most people hear Of women
talking about adopting short skirto they expect
to .! sse a fTe agS \ YinS a, OF dn ass ltf his 1la w !" aaisa
TT Is said there was a timo when men wore
skirts and the women, who had to do all tho
manual labor, dressed more nationally; As man
became more civilized no laid aside skirts and
IuTntu tntm ONtT 10 u MOulcu.
"Is 1t the rule Of this club to wear skirts three
inches from the ground r. asked a visitor.
..Asd | f1 can 'p sp enHFu from experience, added
Mrs, Washburn. II shall not go back to long
Women arc ready to adopt anything that is
the style" said DIR. McCune. 81 can't Imagine
why any woman wants to wear q dress that
touches the ground. It jars her back violently.
hurts her head, and tells on her nerves. II you
must wear long skirts, wear short underskirts
THAT wouldn't do for their summer dresses"
interrupted the secretary.
Adapt your dress to circumstances, said Or.
skirt. and they had q good time. too. for they
were not fettered. Underskirts. to my notion.
are an aeomination; Every inch on the bottom
We must make our skirts narrower II We
make them shorter" said Mrs. Peckham, We
can't make EN- short when we have 'em six
a short skirt concerns the binding. Last winter
/ rebound my walking skirt six times. This
winter haven't had to perform that unpleasant
"Of course when you don't use your skirt for
q street sweeper 1t doesn't wear out" calculated
BY this time Miss Lindley rose again. "Noth.
ing helps out in comfort like the absence of
bands around the waist" she said. If women
count up the folds they carry about their waists
ali things. avoid this multiplicity Of unneces-
and blood currents. and interfere with our cir.
c%u!etionaa Let US A. make sISei fashion comfortable fort
digest our food when our stomachs are 30
pinchcd and pressed with bands. l wonder that
any woman lives and is able to walk around.
We wouldn't II we weren't 80 tough. From the
waist to the knees women wear four times as
much as Is necessary, and they go almost naked
from the knees down. Is 1t any wonder that We
have congestions, tumors, and all sorts OF