The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-03-10
SiIiOiIiIiG>GiGiGiGiGiII
9 HER POINT OF VIEW 8:
5MMMMMM!MMMM
YYY OMEN are often accused of en-
wv deavoring to conceal their de-


wv deavoring to conceal their de-
fccts--a perfectly proper and
legitimate thing to debut there are
reasons to believe that this trait has
been exaggerated by tradition. There
Is a woman who writes for Il we'll
known newspaper in this state who is
apparently looking for trouble. Some
time ago it was announced that she
would reply to all inquiries CT the sub
ject of dress, and the woman's page
| of the paper would be devoted to this
purpose. 1t is. Those letters and thelr
| answers spread ever the entire sur.
! face of the page with the exception of
| a small space reserved for a young
person with u wonderful figure de-
signed to show of an equally wonder
| full frOck. The vast number of women
who yearn TO know what to do with
their clothes, present ard prospective.
and who write to the ncwsps per person
| for advice is simply appalling. One
would thiVt she would so mad after a
| two weeks experience with this sort
of thing, and indeed she has been Ill.
Her correspondents ask the most puz-
zling questions. but what'is still more
| amusing they go into minute descrip-
| tions of themselves. 1t Is here that
the traditional idea Of feminine con-
ceit and secretiveness Is refuted.
You know it is somewhat generally
believed that woman will call her
friends "stout" or in rare cases that
still more abominable term "feshy,"
| when possessing similar figure she
| will invariably speak of herself as
plump. She will consider her acnuaint-
ances thin" or "scrawny' or 'lean,"
| as the case may be- but always thinks
Of her own dear self as slight or will
lowy. or gracefully slender. She will
condole with friends on their sal!ow
or jaundiced complexion. but considers
her own tinged but with distin-
guisned pallor. She will describe them
as having a cedness and blowsincss Of
countenance which in her own cnse Is
but merely rosy flush of cheek.
All these alleged characteristics OF
fominity are disproved by the letters
to the newspaper woman. Whether
the fact that their names are not pub
lished leads to exceptional frankness,
or whether women are not SO blind to
their own defects as has been believed
certain. it is then in these letters they
leave little to the imagination. They
tell all sorts of woeful facts about
themselves. One says. II am IS years
old and very sallow." Imagine a wo-
man frankly confessing to either cal
amity! Here is another Il am very
fat and have gray hair" How path
etic 1T must be to realize that condi-
tion strongly enough to write it down
! in cold blood. or rather in black ink!
Another states succinctly that she Is
short and has a poor complexion. and
wants to know now to make a plaid
waist. A woman with a dressmakel
in the house, apparently sitting with
shears suspended awaiting the reply
to her anxious query. earnestly desires
10 know how to trim broad-striped
black and white gingham. and Incl
dcntally remarks that she weighs 19(
pounds and has very large hips. The
marvellous appropriateness of a broad
striped girgham dress on n woman
Weighing 100 pounds will surely appea
to every reader. According to all pre-
conceived ideas no woman was evel
supposed to acknowledge to that muct
avoirdupois. After attaining to thc
weight Of $50 pounds she Is believed Il
avoid nickel-in-t -the-slot machines. Thi
fallacy of these old notions, like man!
other old notions, is evident
Another afflicted person states tina
she has waist measure of twenty
: eight inches. and wants to know hov
to make herself sylph-like in form
Now, no woman in the conventional
period was supposed to have a wais
larger than nineteen inches in cir
cumference. That one publicly ac
knowledges her belt to be twenty-eigh
inches long is a big stridge in the di
rection of the Venus de Milo.
Another correspondent desires I
know decollette fashion which vii
r be suitable for bony neck and chest
As a rule. a woman is not suppose
Z to realize that she has bones conspicu
ously present in her neck and chest
as she wears decollette bodices san
pour ct sans reproche as far as he
own consciousness is apparently con
cerned. and takes particular deligh
in so doing.
All of these queries and confession
go to show that women are GROWN
either more wise or more desperate
4 Either they are bravely looking in thei
mirrors to see their blemishes of forr
and feature and endeavor, as far a
possible, to remedy these by dress. q
else they have been driven desperat
n.