Evening star., 1898-02-26

chief the little dressmaker stood up. Bill
lows of fiowered organdie flowed about her
You get an advantage among women when
you are the only one standing, and if you
have in your right hand a large pair of
scissors your position is the more impos-
ing.
LAS between ruffles and drugs she an
nounced decisively, give me ruff1es, my
dear girls
The little dressmaker has a habit of
calling everybody under forty girl. 1t is
soothing and makes us all feel that she is
a wise woman.
Drugs" she concluded "are the root of
all Illness
Somebody ventured that perhaps illnesses
were the root of some drugs, but the little
dressmaker pooh-poohed the suggestion.
Il shall take Starry for my example.
You won't mind. will you. dear?' she said
sweetly, and Starry, who sat In a corner
poring over fashion plates, nodded as
cheerily as If the one thing in life she
wanted was to be held up as an example
Of evil doing to party of women.
Relies on Drugs.
Starry" continued the little dressmak-
er, gesticulating, IF she has headache
takes phenacetine; if she feels nervous she
flies to bromide; at night, II she doesn't
fall asleep at once, up she jumps for sui
phonal. Drugs are like dark clothes they
mean depression. If Starry would take, in
stead, a bicycle or, what is more in my line,
chiffon sash or q dress all dancing ruff1es
she would need no more medicines. Our
grandmothers in white muslns and blue
ribbons couldn't have had nerves II they
had tried"
The little dressmaker doesn't go about to
houses but she had broken her rule for
once because the spring rush has not begun
and she was asked by big family of girls
she has known from childhood to take hold
Of their thin gowns.
rs 1t true asked the shrimp. to change
the subject, that blouses are going out, or
is it a false alarm" The shrimp is
young thin girl all ears
ut is true.' said the little dressmaker,
who settles every doubt If specially
You can't keep blouses If you have small
sleeves"
Big Sleeves and Blouses.
with big sleeves and blouse" she
continued, measuring of yards of insertion,
you are independent, more or less of
lines; begin on lines with tight sleeves and
YOU have to continue with close-fitting
waist, tapering under the arms. The wings
we women have to have, to keep us healthy
and good-tempered, will be on the skirts
this summer. ThaNis how and why we re-
turn to ruffies."
But" objected Starry, not unwilling to
get even, the last time sleeves were small,
skirts were skim tight almost
Yes, said the little nressmaker serenely,
that was the struggle with the aesthetic
craze" With her hand full Of bright-col-
ored velvet ribbsn she entered upon dis
course:
I'm the sixties-of course you can't re-
member-we had small sleeves or wide
dropping ones. never standing up on
the shoulders: skirts were hooped and
ruffied. In the seventies we had small
sleeves; skirts we're ruffied and punched
and hustled. We had the polonaise
and the pull back Ugly fashions all
of them, but wholesome enough. The
first nervous prostrate in our town was
curiosity; she had been a school teacher.
Then Oscar Wilde came along. I have
picture of the Princess of Wales in 1880;
that amiable lady looks as If she had been
caught with thin clothes in thunder show
er The esthetes made point of clinging'
draperies that sent them to private hos
pitfalls. We did not cling in this country
SO consistently and lankiness struggled
with 'bouffant' effects behind. The .bouf-
fant' idea succumbed somewhere before
1880 Swathing draperies wrapped us In
gloom for year or two and then. to coun-
teract them, sleeves sprouted skyward.
Sleeves and tennis and golf and few
other things have raised our vitality amaz-
ingly, and given us better compilations.
That's why for the past few years we have
worn larger variety of colors and brighter
ones. Now that sleeves are gone, 1t Is on
the bright colors and the rufties we must
depend. 1t takes strong-mfnded woman
to wear for any length of time straight
black dress and keep we'll"
Tight Skirts.
Starry looked dazed. But" she inquired.
why are skirts 80 tight then, and getting
tighter"
Skirts" pronounced the little dress