The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-07
Miss White Says the Manner of
Putting on the Corset Is the
Secret.
LIVING MODELS TO ILLUSTRATE.
Men Were Unwilling to Leave the
Dressmakers' Meeting at This
Point, but Were Excluded
Secrets Leak Out.
REPUBLIC SPECIAL

REPUBLIC SPECIAL
New York. March eff you haven't the
figure OF a Venus, make it. Stout or t.::a.
tall or short, each and every shape can
be made one OF unduating beauty. And it
isn't merely a matter of corsets. It's all
in knowing how to put the corsets on.
This was the text of the corset talk Civ
en- by Miss White and illustrated by liv-
ing models at the Dressmakers' Convention
in Masonic Hall this afternoon. The talk
did not begin promptly at half-past 2
O'clock as it took some time to clear .hs
hall OF men. whom the management insist
ed on evicting.
MALE VISITORS WERE
RELUCTANT TO DEPART.
The reluctance of these visitors to depart
was explained by the statement that they
wished to gain Information 10 impart to
their wtves.
Miss White, assisted by Miss Starbuck
and accompanied by her three models. at ;
o clock took the center OF the stage With
a galaxy of vice presidents Of the associa-
ton on the platform as a chorus Below
them on the floor. hundreds of women
crowded and pushed to get as near the
scene of illustration as possible.
Ladies'" said Miss White, I'm going to
tell you this afternoon how to give yourself
and every customer. a perfect. figure. Now.
don't say 1t can't be done. 1t can. l can
shape any form on earth. and so can you
It's no use for you to Mt gowns till you
make your shape to fit them to. There's
the whole secret.
First you can't do a thing with woman
till you teach her how to stand. She must
stand on the ball Of her foot. When your
customer comes to you. study her figure
before you give a thought to her gown.
Reckoning to one of her satellites. Miss
White said: Let the exhibition proceed
when. tripping coquettishly from the ante
room came an elderly female clad in man
ner that not even Anthony Comstock could
take exceptions to. The lingerie was Of the
sort approved by and worn by society
beauties, but there the resemblance ended.
The situation was becoming strained. when
two rretty young girls came forward and
saved the day for the cause.
Now" said Miss White. II am going to
show you how to come right out of your
self. and you won't know you have a cor
set on. First stand on the balls OF your feet
and stiffen the knee.
AvOIRDUPoIS NO BAR
TO SLENDER FIGURES.
Push open the chest" she continues,
draw in the abdomen and don't care II
a woman weighs 200 pounds. can make
her over into a slender, g3rlish figure II
she follows my advice lSe.$
Come to me-" said she. "and IL I can't
change your figure. then you are past re-
demption."
During this talk the three living models
were turned this way and that. like so
many manikins. The young girls did not
seem to mind. but the elderly member
blushed and looked shy. Evident embar-
rassment attacked even the newspaper pho
tographers. and they occasionally turned
their heads the other way.
Notwithstanding their bushes. Miss
White ruthlessly proceeded.
THE secret of putting on a corset is
having 1t loose and wide open up the back.
she went on. Another very important point
is to unlace 1t every night. In relacing it
keep it perfectly loose. as II it were fall
ing off the figure. This. you see. allows
your natural figure to come out Of the cor
set. Fasten the second OF the hooks first,
always Then proceed to fasten the top
hook Unlock the lower and fasten from
the top down"
Turning confdentially to the audience.
would not have all these things on"-mo-
tioning to the knee lengths underslSirt. If
we did not have these photographers here.
But then there are no other men in the
place." this soothingly for the benent of
the elderly model who showed signs of
stage fright.
Now that you have your corset laced
correctly" proceeded the oracle. lift up
the abdomen. Now. take up the slack and
draw it in at the waist line. like that. Pu;
your hands on your hips and bring the body
out. Tuck in this little cushion to fill in the
space between the bust and the corset, and
there you are" and she surveyed her work
with pardonable pride.
Dainty blue garters of the latest approved
type adorned each corset, and the cushions
which invariably accompanied the latter
were made Of light blue silk and were per-
fumed with violet sachet
In conclusion Miss White assured her
hearers that the new straight front. and In
cidentally the make she presented. was
good for every human woman and was
moreover the secret of every woman's form.
As an additional inducement to wear the
straight front, 1t was asserted that 4
woman could eat 1.-TWO dinners and not feel
it." whereas formerly she could not eat
one comfortably.
Thus enlightened. the women vigorously
applauded. and vowed that 1t would not be
their fault II there was shapeless figure
left