The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-04
"SiIk-Lined" women.

New York Evening Sun.
Women and economy appear to have
parted company for good and all these days.
Never was there time when it was so hard
to conform to the simplest dictates of fash
ion unless one be an individual of immod-
crate means. The long skirts are one in
stance of it; silk-mounted frocks are an
other; bodices opening III the back are a
third. Yet the dressmakers declare the first
to be inevitable if one would be fashionable
the second indispensable to a gown of any
pretensions while the third-well the pa
iron may have her corsage fastened in front
or at the side if she insists, but in so doing
she eschews the smartest and most original
designs. All the best Partisan models hook
across the shoulder this season, and in a
way only to be opened by Il maid. The
many women who are maidless, but who
nevertheless have a natural yearning for
the best Partisan models in dress, are more
common than they have any right to be-
perhaps, but they know full well that to
faSten for ones self a bodice opening in
the back is not only next door to impossible,
but it means ruination to the bodice. The
gymnastics necessary to effect successful
reconciliation between hooks and eyes upon
a bodice back may be healthful exercise, but
they are fatal to the fit and the set of the
corsage. For all reasons it it is better to re-
serve such maneuVerS for the gymnasium,
and in the blue serge suits made especially
for them Meanwhile the maidless woman
has recourse to all sorts of sUbterfugeS to
get her bodice back fastened. In addition to
the normal qualifications, a maid-Of-all-
work is nowadays asked, can you hook
bodices up the back when required?" The
tips that the hotel maids are amassing-
thanks to back-buttoning bodices-are klon-
dilian. There! l know what that's for,
said such a maid, as the bellboy summoned
her to Come to Room r. and right away"
Three years ago twas to stuff the ladies'
big sleeves in; this year it's to tasten their
dresses what open up the back" Silk
mounted frocks have, from positively their
first appearance doubled the cost of many
a costume, but now that it is decreed that
they must be of the brightest and lighteSt,
and hence most perishable colors, their ex-
pense mounts up indefinitely. Half dozen
wearings and the violet silk-lined gown
shows wear and tear that practically ex-
cludes it from the wardrobe of the dainty
woman. The fashionable lining for any
kind of coat this winter consists of dead
white satin. Sometimes it remains unsoiled
for fully three wearingS. The long-skirted
of comfort, but suitability. Any one with
the slightest sense of the homogeneous must
realize how violated is the Sartorial fitness
Of things by using dress skirts for street
sweepers though not every one who has
fallen victim to the long skirt may indulge
the way, that the cab drivers have always
reaped a harvest because of the long dress
skirt, and that they look forward to the
winter as sure to be one of the most pros
porous on record. The popularity of the all
black tailor-made suit this year means extra
outlay, there being nothing the original cost
of which amounts to more, aside from the
fact that it lasts so short time. 1t is good
bye to economy among women everywhere
and every how, for the present at least.