Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-22

maker. and I shall speak for her. but
again { her handling OF the corset In the
way she now does It.
do not believe that she IL half 20
anxious to sell you the corset for the
sake OF her comparatively paltry COM
mission as she IL to secure to you the
perfect fitting gown. Fitting - her
business in life. She has knowledge
that the gown cannot look well over the
dilapidated rag some OF you dare to sub
stitute for a corset when you present
yourselves in anticipation OF perfect
At as to gown; but her knowledss
spreads out thin on the general subject
OF corsets. She has not made speciality
OF them as she has OF the gowns that
she can scarcely 1T over your dubious
undertogs. She is perfectly cognizant OF
the fact that the gown won't mt you a.
you are now CARRIED. but 1t remains an
open question whether. with the corset
material she has at hand. she can rent
you to your future satisfaction.
The gown is not the only point. What
of your health after you have made the
discovery that the corset does not really
At? And have you taken a thought FOR
your future comfort?
The dressmaker is well aware that she
handles but one make, with. perhaps.
several different cuts and. no doubt.
numerous sizes. This Is the best she
can do. but you can do better than this
at the corset department OF almost
every up-to-date shop. She may not
realize the full import OF my message
to you. but I want you TO understand
It, It will benefit you vastly right now.
and will benefit her in the long run-in
the fair future that may yet dawn be-
fore her troubled vision. when each
woman among her patrons shall arrive
CARRIED and corseted as she ought to be.
Perhaps. when that millennium shall
have come, some future One Who Knows
will not have to add her protest against
the corset cover with a wealth or
gathers at the waist line In front ana
the petlccaI with a wad OF shirF1ngS
and knotted tapes at the back.
It IS for reasons Of contented igno-
rance among her patrons that our dress
maker lives this sorry life. She makes
an effort to better the surface condi-
lions, and she Is obliged to do 1t most
superficially. She has drifted into the
corset-selling habit and she is no longer
averse to the commission within her
grasp.
Unless you appear CARRIED beneath the
surface III a very excellent corset. she
treats you as she does the general run.
Your soul is no longer your own ten
minutes after you have arrived in her
shop. You know 1t now. and so does
she, and she, therefore. proceeds to cast
your half-worn garment into a dis
tonne chair df. indeed. it escapes the
floor. implying by the act that you do
not want it back-and you don't She
owns you; you had q mind when you
entered but you have none now: 1t has
vanished with your corset. She makes
you SO horribly ashamed Of this former
possession that you relinquish all claim
to garment that moment before you
would have defended to its last shred.
You admit shamefacedly that you
were only holding of until you could
have her At you. Something hurts in
your throat when you tell the lie. but
she has bulliea you into 1t, and she now
proceeds TO throttle you and put you
into her strairjacket.
You have brought this about-you
and your kind. There is no real excuse
for women today who do not know how
TO dress beautifully from the skin out
The presen. situation at the dressmak-
er's is Slight upon you and not upon
her. She Is trying as quickly as she
can to repair your carelessness so as to
make possible her own business of the
moment. which is the fitting Of your
gown and for which you will hold her
responsible.
But you can stop her half way In
her mad career toward the inaccurately
fitted corset by providing yourself with
the accurately fitted one. by living up
to your own responsibility once more
And perhaps some day We will have a
corset agency in connection with each
dressmaking shop for the measuring.
citing and making OF corsets.