Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-29
DECLINE OF THE Low GrRDLE.
Fashion said 20 Have Acquired some
Common Sense.

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Common sense.
NEW YORK, June 27.-"After centuries
of threatening, urging, beseeching, SAID a
physician a year or so ago, 'that women
should lay aside the corset and be as Goo
made them, we have seen the desire OF OUT
hearts practically accomplished. But wnat
has done It? Common sense? The force
of our logic? No, indeed! Fashion her
self, our old enemy, converted 10 a oel'er
condition of mind"
The good doctor had reference TO the
low eirdle which has been so popular.
Truly. the corset had not been lald aslue'
hut the gentle pressure of the wee girdle
could hardly rank with the construction
hitherto deemed necessary by the woman
Of fashion. Lungs filled as full of sweet
air as any one could wish. There seemed
TO have been an emancipation proclamation
by Dame Fashion.
But what is the word just now? THE
low girdle is old fashioned. Corsets are
higher. coming quite over the bust in some
styles" 1t is a hard saying for some. But
there is balm in Gilead. The fat. SLOPPY
woman is now debarred from making an
exhibition Of herself on the public street,
and that is a comfort, at any rate. Then
corsets, while higher, are not too high.
The very stylish shapes shown in the illus
~trations are certainly far from uncom-
Portable. Then, too, the girdle OF ribbon
or tape is still on the market, finding a
ready sale among young girls and very
slender people. Really, II you have been
a devotee OF the girdle land you're a SEN
sible woman II you were), there Is no
reason why you should not go on wearing
one and taking your fill Of comfort. There
was never a corset on the market which
showed TO such advantage a graceful and
we'll formed woman. Fashion may have
strayed a long way from the Greek ideal.
but the world is not yet so sunk In slavish
imitation that II is not attracted by a
suggestion of those nobly sculptured women
which have always been the admiration Of
the world.
But II It is your desire, madam "a not
unworthy desire, certainlyD, to be strictly
I'D to date. buy a corset not lower than the
models shown here. There is no reason
why it should not be perfectly comfortable.
You lace 1t, Of course, one beginning from
the top and the other from the bottom.
/ MY lady, who has a maid. does not need to
have recourse to this device, but for ordi-
nary ~work-a-day mortals IL is the one and
only way. Nobody laces too tightly now, of
course, Small waists, thank the powers,
have distinctly not come back as fashion
able. When. In the course Of your summer
I rambles. you reach a town where fashion
does not readily peTmeate, note the waists
Of the pretty girls and rejoice that the
initiated have been released from such
torture.
As to summer lingerie, now. Are not the
I petticoats here displayed exquisite? It
would seem that, II there was one point
on which the prospective sumIner girl or
matron either, for that matter, might be
a little, just a little, extravagant. it would
be the petticoat. Hammocks-what a vista
OF petticoat possibilities the word calls up
What said that naughty little Elizabeth,
who paid the visits. when she swung in o
hammock? Jane wouldn't come, she said
II made her sick. and she was shocked at
me. But knew II was just because her
f~rillies we're not pretty enough" And now
to the ammock danger, has been added
ping pong. You will take your stand before
q room full OF people, and fly madly after
a bewitched ball, and that cheap petticoat
may be your undoing. Besides, happy
! thought. In the mornings and even after
Moons golf skirts and sensible costumes
are so absolutely de rigeur that there will
have to be fewer fuzzy petticoats than
ever before, and one can AFFORD TO buy more
expensive ones.
The subject Of lingerie Is so fsscinat-
ing that one would discourse thereon for
ever. The well-bred woman is distinguished
by her tastes along these lines. far more
than by the gowns she wears. Dressmskers
may be responsible for those. but she picks
her own lingerie, and the woman OF small
| means and vulgar tastes is sure to eeono-