The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-08-07

triet People Take the ~hirt-waist Nan as
Matter Of Csayse-some Incidents
Frg- Er Sew YORK sun
E-a man with the nerve 20 80 about his
l.sr..7 lH a neRiige shirt, leaving his
s.at ana wa.stcoat az home, has appeared
.r Nev York He looks genuinely COM
s.--aH.e. New York has been little be-
r.. .a this matter OF ueglige shirts For
. long time Z, has been the proper thing
.. vasr them without The coat az certain
summer resorts, where merCifui women
have consented 20 forget conyeutionalitles
and allow the men 20 60 about thus attir- /
e. AZ these places. Do Is said, the con-
s-a.s.au OF the women has worked wonders
Frn the men. Never. say the women, ,
have men been 50 consistently 'goo3-tem-
r.-aI and 30 willing 10 10 as they are .
ta.. as since they have been allowed to
leave on their coats. II IS the old story
o. keeping the brute man comfortable aud .
sou can get anything you want out OF
him.
And so the "sh.r-- waist man" has be- T.
come an accepted fact az some summer
-.-Jg,s They call him the "shirt-waist
man." but that is a misnOmer. He Is no
more the shirt-uaist man than the man /
Who wears his coat over his neglige shit. |
he wears the same old style Of neglige
.llrt that has been worn by men IN the
summer for q long time, the only addition
C. The present year 10 the style being a
succession a. pleats down the front, which
docs aot add any to the style or beauty
%. The garment and does detract from its
con- fort As matter Of fact, the plain
a.g..ge shirt with soft bosom and cuffs
attached. IS the most attractive garment
10. worn by the men who are beginning
10 leave of their coats In the street.
There are some summer resorts where
'he sH!rt-waist man Is strictly out OF il;
where the man who comes around in
ege shirt without his coat IS mo gen.
-.-usu." but even these places will have
10 yield IN time II there is anything in
signs. The neglige shirt worn without the
coat !s about the most comfortable thing
that the summer man has yet found. and
now that it has become established it Is a
pretty safe prediction that 1t will not give
up us grip without d fight. So much for
tie summer resort.
spread Of the Fashion.
i IS in the city that the strongest signs
.'ot the perpetuity Of the shirt waist man
aye 10 be found. You can commit a grea.
EHIF crimes In the dressing line al a
sumner resort without subiectlng YOUR
SELF 10 more than passing criticism. Elan
mel and duck trousers and knee breeches
we're worn at summer resorts long before
any one venturesome enough TO sally
forth 10 business in them could be found
lT the city. But the shirt waist man IN
e. fl = FTafv q fn.a III
Tie shirt waist man at the seashore and in
he mountains. lie isn't TO be found ev-
erywhere, Of course, and one mustn't
think that every one he sees coatless and
wearing a neelige shirt is the real thing
IN shirt waist man. If that was the
criterion, shirt waist men would be found
Giving coal carts and ash wagons and
they would also be found in the corps en-
pOycd by the city and directed by Mr..
Maggie In fact, shirt waist men would be
found everywhere and there wouldn't be
anything odd about the new style
The shirt waist man belongs in a class
hv himself. You cannot find him every
where. but before the summer is over he
probably will have spread himself out
over quite a bit of territory, and it wOulI
not be surprising if he was found even in
brooklyn and Harlem. The best examples
OF the new creature are 10 be found down
g. the financial district
Down In Wall and Broad streets there
are shirt waist men galore in the middle
O. The day They 90 TO luncheon that way,
they attend 10 business that way, and
they go home on the surface and elevated
trains that way. Some rude people stare
al them, but they are Indifferent to that,
because It really ought 10 be expected. 1t
Is truly a novel sight to see men, young
and olG, merry and dgnifed, walking and
riding around town and dining at high
priced restaurants in what the uninitiated
would call their shirt sleeves" There
is enc restaurant down town in the CEN
Ter Of tie Wall street district which is
r.tr0riZgd by many bankers and brokers,
ana during the three or four hot days last
week the dining-roOm was dotted with
Ilea IA ucElige shirts and minus -heir
coats In the wOmen's restaurant, which
is supposed 10 be very exclusive, and
where The slightest infractiOn OF the rules
0 dress make a man ineligible, the shirt
waist man is de rlgueur.
called "Miss Nancy in Philadelphia.
To call q man a "shirt-waist man"
seems TO convey an impression Of effemin-
ary In Boston, where the shirt-waist
man is increasing with great rapidity,
and ln Philadelphia. whore he Is strug-
Cling along toward recognition, the print
ID accounts OF him are more or less Of a
-a..ng nature He IS held up as an OBJ
.-.r OF rdicIle and is accused of being a
Miss Nancy. Maybe that's what he is in
Boston and Philadelphia. Ii isn't what
a- i- here In New York. On the contrary
l- is the young man OF muscle and parts
.u the metropolis and If YOU don't believe
Oh TUuNrrUu CBF4a dow and l4nph "A
a.m- lie is The young man Of business
and athletics, as well as the man OF
years and experience. AS a matter of
Tact Il isn't entirely q matter of style
here az all. L is more a matter of COM
TORT 4 great many people have found an
excuse Tor the comfort they have crayed
Tor years in what some folks in other
Giles have chosen 70 make a fashion,
There were as many as q dozen young
men IN negise shirts without coats on
ito T0ar garden Of popular theater In
..s u-'y the other night. They attracted
.t-c attention al ilTst, but after awhile
people forgot 10 look at them, and IL is
u.-----l u any one gave them thought
-..I lIaT They looked very neat and
... ..E'aa.r. and the absence Of coats
'.. saHek me uHeQucated eye over
i.... In The ail-nIghI restaurants, on
-.-.- Broadway there is also sprInk-
..- OF slLIL-UAlst men every night now
d. was difficult al first for the roof gar
.. l.o. a. and the restaurant men TO get
20 shirt sleeves" but. OF course,
" Rad 10 90 IT, The woman who OBJ
-..- t. the new style because she does
Io' a.aw 10 is a new style, and regards
u as .u atiTCut 10 have man without q
- dining near here is put down as a
Ia. r.ue' along Broadway.
Having started IN 20 educate the public
~ ..- matter Of comfort, the shirt-waist
i.. .- not going 10 be discouraged by
t' little setback. His idea seems 10 be
.H secure as many converts 10 his cause
@. .b.e The shlIt-WGist man was
T." 'a le proprietor Of one Of the Oldest
".. best known hotels In The lower part
O.. ..r city. and. accordingly. when one OF
-a walked into the restaurant OF the
l... far other day about noon time the
tr.- waiter descended upon him az once
Rcstaurant Wouldn't serve Him.