The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-19

Not much discomfort is experienced in doing this with the new corset In truth. 1t is the most comfortable affair that has been invented and per fected in our time. Dress historians cannot go back to period sinc. Catherine de Medici evolved the bone' stay and introduced it to the worlo when 1t was so easy In fit.
 Even In its infancy it was per nicious. for de Medici made 1t court rule that the waist should De only thirteen inches. and women broughi all kinds of ills on themselves py adhering to 1t. Even Eiizaoeth oi England, who introduced the stay ihte British society. allowed trifle more latitude, for the beef-fed women oi Britain were not as easily compresseo as the chocolate-fed women or france
 It is a far cry from these days te ours. and, while the map of the worin has been changed. the shape or corsets has remained the same.
 The small waist died hard ana some women there are who still tnink the hour-giass figure is the mold or Iorni
 But they look hopelessly outciasseo by the women with the healthy figure It Is only in their own minds when before their own mirrors that admira- ton Is to be found.
 It is rather remarkable to hear the tirades against the extra long corset by those who have not looked into its comfort and It's physical advantages. A great deal is heard of the way the heavy bones bruise the flesh. The truth of 1t is the bones are not con tinued beyond the ordinary and com fortable length.
 The stiffened coutil or brocade makes the bandage around the apdo- men, and 1t can be pulled as tight ly as a woman wishes, for It IS no more or less than the bandage that physicians often urge every woman te wear. 5
 If supports the sensitive organs ana keeps them from being attacked py cold. It gives a strong support to the lower muscles of the back and the end of the spine.
 Another comment often heard against the modern way of adjusting the corset Is the way that the flesh of the hips and abdomen Is drawn up by the hands into the waist or the corset. It is true this is done Tor the purpose of gaining better figure. yet physicians indorse it. It keeps the abdomen from sagging, which II IS likely to do when 1t gets fleshy.
 Of course, the greatest advantage of all in the present corsets, and the modern silhouette. is this large waist When a women does not try to pull Tn below twenty-eigh Inches 1t means that her waist is not constricted, that her digestion has free play, and that her diaphragm Is left unhindered.
 Of course there is the other side. There always Is. There are women usually misguided girls. who attenuate their figures to degree of absurdity, They do without meals. almost iap their corsets. cut their clothes aa though they were building tube in- stead of a gown, and are obsessed by the belief that the more they resemble a lead pencil the more fashionable thev are. Flesh is bad; none but the Turks uphold 1t. but the figure that is reduced to a phantom has not beauty or charm in any country at any time
 One wants to reduce curves if they become too insistent, but one mus have curves to reduce. It is difficult to make the American figure look hks the French figure. for the latter II famous for what is cleverly called false thinness. It has no muscles t take into consideration; It IS as sot and pliable as a kitten. ...s The American figure. or silhouette must be individual and American women are making it so. They rsfus' the padded waist line because. az rule. their figures are quite straigh over the front of the waist As theti shoulders are wide and straight. there fore they do not affect the narrow dropping line that is characteristic ol the French.
 With the modern corset, tight at th' hips. loose at the waist and narrow a the bust, 1t would be absurd for then to indulge in the old method or pad ding the shoulders. So they adopt th' French method without getting thu same effect; that is, they cut thu shoulders right into the armhole ans no further.