Evening star., 1901-07-29
Live Issue with the People Of Z
DOninfOn OF Canada.

A Live Issue With the People Of the
Dominion OF Canada.
From the Toronto Mail and Empire.
The shirt waist incident in the Russell
House, Ottawa, is likely to raise some in
teresting question. First, it win probably
be asked: How far has society right to
determine what it's individual members
shall wear?" 1t has long ago arrogated to
itself the power TO declare some things
decent and some Indecent. 1t has gone
farther and decided some things as re-
spectacle and some non-respectabIe. and
some things proper and some improper
And In these things We have a regular
gradation of interference with what some
would probably he disposed to call fndi-
yidual rights. q regular gradation OF the
limitation of individual liberty. This it will.
Of course, be said is of the very nature
of civilization. The only absolutely free
man Is the savage. He can do as he likes
II he lives in a climate that makes the
absence of clothes a luxury. he can dis
card them entirely. But IL he desires to
live with other human beings, to become
member Of that organized body to which
We give the name of society, one of the
very first sacrifices that he is required to
make is that Of The liberty OF going with
out clothes.
Assuming the supreme Importance of
munities to insist upon all their members
being clad, who is to determine the form
and fashion of the artificial coverings
which man or woman is to wear I'm order
to secure, other things being equal. the
entree of good society? Why should a
swallow tail or claw-hammer coat, or low
cut vest and an inordinate display CT fine
linen be any better than q tweed suit, or
even suit of leather, such as George
Fox wore? And why should lady with
a low-neclSed dress and short sleeves
be counted better dressed than the matron
who prefers to oe dressed to the throat
and to the wrists? Or why is the long
skirt OF the present. which gives SO much
trouble to the wearer, to be preferred to
the shorter one worn a few years ago?
Who are the people who invent these
styles, and what are the motives by which
they are actuated? Are they moved by
moral considerations or even by the
purely aesthetic? The change of the fash
ions from year to year Is no doubt for the
good of trade; it renders the garments
which were made few months ago quite
unfit for wear today, and makes a new
wardrobe indispensable. 1t serves, tGo. to
emphasize the distinction between the rich
and the poor. And what is the use of
clothes If they don't illustrate the rank to
which the wearer belongs? But, after ALL
these things do not answer the question:
How far has society right to go In this
matter?
Why should society or any of its men,
bers, while tolera,ing the low-neck dress
and the claw-h hammer coat, and while per-
mittfng some unknown person to dictate
the fashions generally prescribe the use OF
shirt waists by men? These articles of ap-
parel are, to be sure, worn principally by
women. But they were originally part
OF male attire. Garibaldf brought them
into prominence and it is altogether prob
able that the men of his day would have
taken to them had 1t not been that the
ladies seized upon the idea and utilized it
first. The shirt waist is really a mans
garment. 1t has some good points, one of
them being the fact that 1t Is loose fitting
and cool. Surely. q man can wear cover
ing Of this class if go disposed, without Of
Tending his neighbor. 1t is noticeable that
the shirt waist has made considerable
headway in the east. Although opposed at
Ottawa, it has appeared both in the courts
and in the churches at Montreal. La
Presse of the latter city, our highest au-
thority on fashions, has just given IT its
solemn indorsation. 1t is perhaps not easy
to go so far as La Presse, and to advo-
cate its universal use or to suggest that
1t be ornamented with frills and faltherall
to make it really pretty. But If anybody
feels more comfortable in a waist than in
a coat why should not he consult his own
feelings, provided, of course, he take care
to keep out of .he rain? Those who dis
like the waist have, Of course, the usual
privilege of looking the other way.