Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-18
THOSE PULLED BACK SKIRTS.
Some Views of Contributors Regard
Ing Current Fashions.

Some Views of Contributors ReEard-
Ing Current Fashions.
When M. L. c. wrote to The Star object.
ing to the way skirts are held up by the
women at the present time he apparently
stirred up the community. The Star has
received a number of communications which
indicate the interest taken in the dispute.
Il. NJ g." writes in defense of NJ L. c., as
follows:
with great trepidation tackle the SUBJ
5ect of those pulled-back skirts; but 1 don't
Ike the fashion, nor do I like the way in
which writer in your columns who objected
to 1t has been handled A man may have high
ideals of modesty and delicacy without nee
essarily being Miss Bette, and If in this
degenerate age a man be found with any
sense of modesty at ALL for heavens sake
let him be encouraged There is no doubt
that good women know just how much to
reveal and just how much to conceal; but
why should good women have to think upon
that subject at all? A woman can dress at
tractively and still be an ideal of modesty
and refinement l have even seen some on
bicycles who were not, according TO my no.
ton. so far away from the correct thing,
although l don't like female bicycle riding.
one thing Is certain, and that is that since
the advent of the female bicycle rider fe-
male delicacy has not risen to any appre-
c1able extent and the laXity brought about
by female bicycle riding is now making 1t
self manifest in other ways, the pulled-back
skirt being evidence Of the fact. The ten
dency of the age is toward the broadest lib
erty In dress and action, and this tendency
INDUCED in by weak-minded persons pro-
dCces deplorable results. The man who has
a properly appreciated wife, sister who is
dear to him, or daughter of his own, does
not relish the idea of their exposing them
selves, whether it be the fashion or not;
but L regret to admit that there are too
many of them who like to see the wives,
sisters and daughters of the other fellow do
1t. Let the women count the full measure
OF satisfaction they derive from the knowl-
edge that a coQuettish exposure of their
shapely figures has sent the glow of warmth
through the shiVeriDg frame of some dried
up old roue, or turned the head of some
fresh young profligate who will ever after
size them up as what his mind conceives
them; and then let them decide whether
they Will follow bad precedent because 1t
is the fashion, frown 1t down and compel
the fashion makers and fashion settlers to
confine their fashions within the lines of
decency and modesty always"
Grateful to NJ. l.. c.
n. H. B. also thinks that NJ. L. c. should
be commended, and writes as follows:
Il am certain that every woman of good
taste and refinement will thank N. L. c.
for his timely, sensible and manly utterance
in your columns. 1t is painful enough to
see respectable women making themselves
srotesquely conspicuous by the hideous
head structures of the past and present sea-
son. but it is an outrage on all laws of de
cency when they adopt styles originated by
the fallen women of Paris, and compel all
who walk the streets to view the erect.
Some years ago the police arrested every
woman south of the avenue who appeared
in public clad in a Mother Hubbard gown,
and that was a decent and modest garment
compared with the sheath skirts Of the
present with their shameless exposure and
the burden of filthy and disease producing
accumulations that they scatter in every
place they enter"
+. d. A. takes issue with the views of the
original critic as follows:
"Dangerously Near squeamisbness."
while NJ. L. c. In his fashion criticism
in Mondays Star disclaims all pretensions
at squeamishness, Judged solely by is ar
tce that would certainly be considered
the nature of his complaint His sense Of
decency has been shocked by the outline of
some wOmens figures made more apparent
by the present mode of carrying their
skirts. His case is certainly pitifui; his
sense of decency must suffer acute agony
when the wind blows.
But it IL not exactly self-evident how the
case is going to be remedied long as wo-
men wear skirts of pliable material and
not OF tarred paper or rubber mating I2S
NJ. L. c. would probably recommend and
have the good sense to lift their skirts off
a dirty street. 1t might be a good scheme
for NJ. l.. c. to institute a dress reform
movement advocating the wearing of flour
barrels instead of skirts. They could be
readily held up with green suspenders and
could be worn two rows high by tall wo-
snen. while nail kegs of all sizes should be-
come popular with little girls. The outside
of the flour barrels could be decorated with
wa paper, decalcamanias or landscapes
by the great artists, which would afford an
excellent opportunity for the exercise of
taste and good breeding"
An Indignant Protest
"One of Them writes in indignant pro-
test against the assertions of Nj L. c. as
follows:
The person for whom you printed some
comments in Mondays Star, headed
Dangerously Near Immodesty," is dam