The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1903-03-12
The Feminine Girl. f
It She is Still
It Tie Pride ct the South.
alta Journal l.

nARLY in October vi last year 1t be-
u gan to be whispered about In the
elect circles that the masculine girl had
been disposed, and that the consensus
Of opinion in the realm OF "smarsness"
would soon be in favor OF her elder and
dain.:er sister-she OF the se-whlte
complexion, and frll!s and tarbeiows
and scented ian.
Whence came this supersedeas? Who
published this edic:? Was it some un-
scen gcd! less in the French capital?
Or was 1t popular uprising? we
.an,iot say. But it has coms to pass
Eaaan dixit-whceyer she may he.
The masculine girl has taken her de-
parture. Mannish ties, tarn!sh COM
piexion, low heels ard loud, raucous
voices-al! are gone; swept away into
that limbo wherein Dame Fashion
keeps such things as are in time to be
refurnished and brought forth as new
again. This "smart" young woman OF
today follows rather closely the ideals
of her greatcgrandmothers. The dis
ticntiy feminine note is persistently
sounded in the whole scheme of her
dress and demeanor. It is not in our
province to point out the technical de-
tails of this change, but it is very
noticeable even to those who are not
familiar with the mysteries of pleating
| and f1ounces-and by no class is 1t
more keenly appreciated than by those
heing known as men, in difference to
whose unreasonlng sensltlveness these
complex and ever-changing fashions
were invented.
The eighteenth-century lass can, OF
course, never return. The young VIC
man OF our time is still, to large ex-
tent, an "outdoor glrl," even when she
ceases to compete with man in haber-
dashery and the broad jump and loot
ball. This is as it should be. The
healthy, brignteyed and ruddy-cheeked
girl, distinctly feminine though she
may be In manner and dress, marks the
great advance over the frail misses Of
former times, whose sole calisthenics
was the blackboard and whose only ex-
ersise was gained at tambour work and
the spinnet.
i One thing, however, about the de-
mure maids OF century-before-last We
were on the point of forgetting. Their
occupations, narrow though they might
be, we're as rule, genuinely useful.
The proyerbial spinning-wheel is an
illustration of this point. And with
the exception of the woodeny water
colors which it was the fashion at one
time for young women to perpetuate,
even their "fancy work" was on some
article OF real house hold use. Right
here it occurs to us that while our fair
. fad-hunters are casting about Tor some
|: thing new, yet ancient, they might
! find the spinning-wheel really valu'
able affair. Or, If the spinning of yarn
. be deemed too tedious and monotonous
;; an occupation, the hand loom, with
Its endless variety of bright patterns
, and weaves, would seem to afford &
, most excellent and winsomse diversion
Seriously, we can but regard the so
called "return of the feminine girl" a:
favorable sign, although it must b.
admitted that the natural swing o
, fashions pendulum is largely RESPONSE
bic for the change. The boisterou!
! style OF young woman had reached al
extreme bordering on the uncouth. I
, seams positively ugly for girls to as
sumo the "sport swagger" of their I'm
i dergraduate brethren, and go stridinl
up and down on hotel piazzas, making
n the floor tremble with their loud foot
a tails, and we cannot see how ANYONE
: is the worse for the passing of this al
legged masculine fad among younl
n women of our time.
n Here in the Southland the chang
syili be much less marked than il
. other parts of the country, for tn
n young OF the South, at the risk OF be
n ing barred from the "ultra-swell set" ha
n persistently refrained from acquiring
n the regulation OF freck!es and tan an
n sun-scorched hair which until recent
NJ has been considered in some quarters
N mark OF aristccratic standlpg, and sh
u :, has refused to substitute for her sof
musical voice the throaty burr an
q twang go asslduously cultivated b
C those who knew, or thought the
: knew, "Rockmores OF Germantown.
Not that any one section had 9 monol
oily either of the masculine or feminin
girl far from 1t. But it is matte
OF common knowledge that the repr'
sentative young woman from the Sout
d not ever go to those extremes {
:. tgolfishness and tannishness aimed
- by those OF other sections. so she
)5 to be congratulated that she is ont
~ more in line Without which is
/ ~ l.