The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-07
GAlTSOF NEW YORK WOMEN
ruFY sCORN THE mon UP-SERENE-
ny, STYLE or PHILhDELPHIANS.

Tb AIlIb VT ~ ACF.LN III N,
-,,ythlrl street the Place to SEQ Tn
s,,ies az walking by W~onien-Self. Pot
,c,sInn Tint seems Entirely UnconscIou
Il, IN, chief New York Characteristi
xov York women walk better than they die
oo yenrs ago. II a man happens to have an,
,r,i1uatcl opinions on this subject 1t is tim,
br hin, h. change them. The tired feeling
,shirh rartninc'h especially unto spring viii
,r,se il hard for him to stand AT tho entrance
nIs,n,o TweAty.third street shop for half an
bopr and watch the women passing. but II he
consists he will get a composite mental photo
cropb NJ their gait which ought TO be trust
worthy
Tirsf. though. he will nnd out what II is to be
s,,zy. He will feel as II he we're at the centre
ofo great human pinwhecl or standing still
.ro,p 3nnumrrahln dancers. all doing ladies
rhoips anil Il "a main lefts and chdsSezs as II
,hsir lives depended on II. 4 few mon ore
mixed M IN tho aides chains. and II the man
looking on could take time to observe them
,nd,hcIr WAYS he would find them interesting
as interesting as the women who are in, but
,o, al, tho lower Broadway tide. But the
chances are that he went take that time. Ger
,,inly not il he once begins taking snnp obser-
vatioEs II the way the women walk.
"Wavs would be a better word TO use In this
case. A Philadelphia man recently took an
afternoons rest from the mad rush OF Quaker
Cry existence and counted up the distinct
rarietie. Of the feminine gait rs it may be seen
op Chestnut street. He noted the swing, the
swagger. the side-step. the lope. the spring,
rho ~vriCgl"' and others. But" he said IN
triumph. the walk OF the walks nowadays is
tho 'bob-up-sorenely.' Up and down.. up and
down. like n jumping Jack. goes the maid. her
49,. t. ia t1a rNt,, rI, DID,.
way 1t spurns II. and she rises In tho air as IL
all the glorious spring that is abroad in the
land was pent AT tho sole Of her boot and
pushed her upward
Allowing something for the exuberance OF
the Philadelphian emancipated from toll. there
II here a plain indication that the prevailing
Chestnut street gait resembles that Of the little
lambs which skip SO gayly. This sort OF thing
NAV g in PhiladeIEhln. hnt il is a pleasure to
hopping airily along the corridors Of time.
Maybe the eel skirt. has not yet reached
lew advance issues OF that funny feminine
fashion. and the women wearing them are the
ones who proceed IN a wriggle. as noted by the
man with tho afternoon of. This seems
But the sheath skirt is universally worn by
New. York women viii, any rretensions TO
behold II a brigade of eel skirted women
should attSmr, to emulate the bob-pp.serenely
WAN OF inc quaker lily lNmpS. II inc long.
tight skirt gets TO philadelphia in. the course
ottime. it is safe 70 nrophesy that the b2b-up-
s%erenEly, gait vii, go its ]nmping-jack way
phia. though some people have said it was.
Twenty-thiri street can show Just as many
different kinds Of a walk as, Chestnut street
New York women lope and some wriggle. In
fact, there is every variety OF locomotion repre-
s"nted. even to the very stout old ladies'. who
humber along So like the automobiles that II is
always q surprise t. find that they can go for
almost endless variety OF gaits. there is really
one which Is characteristic Of the great major
it, Of the women who make up the procession.
This is what may be vaguely termed the self
The reporter observed at, least half a dozen
variations Of the one type the other day: There
might be a cash girl out on an errand. Her
r.tty hat was tipped over her nose, her hair
She was ho!low-chested and round shouldered.
s sna 81 IhIt t siTs 81 bo GSo1 az bar = knoWn a. PIE,
with her, and her walk showed It.
There were other .l6,year-olds. in better
clothes and literally in better form. but their
the cash girls. There we're the portly danes
whose figures. alas! had not been trained up ,
IN ~ s The wax ,G1 th ,Sa should go; It i not . necessary {
.urance with it. 1t isn't easy for a portlv i
d &c to arPSsar %T5stiring; She has herself
were only in a hurry, And there were many. !
many other yves. al apparently quite at ease :
and sure Of themselves. ,
But the walk which struck the reporter as l
NE one most characteristic of the crowd was q
OF a certain aplomb which Is the q
opposite Of all that is provincial. 1t was >
the proof OF the very highest form OF self v
possession the point where self possession
pas become SO habitual as to result in ahso- q
ute lack OF -cit-cOnsciousness. Not all the z
women had this perfect aplomb bv any means; a
almost all Of them had some of 1t. e
ne women walk better now because they .
nod themselves better. II Is really surprising J.
see what a difference there is in this respect v
between the Younger women and the older d
mes 1t isn't Simply the difference between =
'olth and age. either. The younger gener- Z
'tlon Is learning som ethinR from it's calisthen- I
cs, It's ,delsartean exercises. it's physical Gull e
ute. me prospects are that the proportion OF /
,u%tono6iIH figures among the old ladies' ofthe I
llture viii he considerably cut down. The )
>ew York woman to-day has q good carriage II
.hd a good walk. Although hampered by a K
which Is so long that 1t makes one think 0
Ia oabys first dresses, she walks with q n
deai OF freedom; her chest well a
u. her chin in, and her back straight. t
ne never was much given to saunter- >
hg' ana she does not saunter now. Neither n
y an down, serencly or otherwise. after the q
ashlon Of Chestnut street. She has a walk p
rec rom Alteration. May he II isn't full Of h
ne super; expenditures which Is more appro- W
10 the house than to the street anyway, Cl
! anybody is looking for n gait which u
'onld make people saw. There goes n woman )
TDH the greatest city in a great country let It
jl stand and watch the best class OF New y
Urn women as they walk in this year Of self a.