Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-02-09

am a great admirer Of my own. sex.
Considering the appalling disadvantages
one labors under In being q woman and
having to wear fashionable clothes. It is
a wonder to me that we are ever half
as nice and admirable as we seem.
But you don't, have to be fashionably
dressed" hear you saying.
oh. dear. no. OF course mott Anyone can
be a martyr and go about garmented in
sackcloth, with her hair done up In a
. neat tight knot at the back Of her head
and never a curl or puff. hands that
never feel anything softer than wooden
gloves and nails unacquainted with polish,
clodhopper shoes and all the rest Of II.
You can. dear reader. II you like to-
and I'm quite sure you don't-but / won't.
shall wear the best. the prettiest and
most up-to-date frocks can afford, not
alone to please others. but also to please
myself; and every time the fashions
change ] and all the rest Of my sex will
show our versatility In changing with
them. For that Is where we are far
superior to men. We do change all the
time and the chameleon quality often
drives US to nervous prostration.
For 1t is not enough TO wear the latest
frocks and fashlons-you have to act as
II you had always worn them.
You must adapt yourself to their new
lines Of their many Inconvenience with
a pleasant face. You have to be grace
full, no matter how hard Il is. and IL every
woman cannot accomplish this, at all
events she tries It.
For instance, take the kimono sleeve
which we have been wearing for some
time now, 1t is comfortable. You can't
raise your arms up in the real kimono
sleeve, and women have adapted them
selves so quickly to this fashion that their
gestures have changed to suit II. The
old-fashioned shirtwsist girl could move
her arms and shoulders, the modern one
can only move as much as the seamless
shoulder will allow. But we ali wear
them, suffer in silence and quickly learn
to maneuver gracefully in these new
garments.
1t Is not the material that makes the
style. It's the line. the fashion, and it's
because women. especially American wo-
men. adapt themselves 90 quickly to these
new nnes that they are the bes. dressed
women In the world.
To adapt yourself to q fashion means
that you wear II a. II Il were the most
natural thing In the world. Did we ever
have skirts more than yard and q
half wide7 On. suppose 80, but we hsve
learned 70 be comfortable, or at least TO
look 30. IN our hobbies. Last year we
supported q huge structure Of fur,
feathers and felt upon our heads. Then
we veered suddenly to a mere tooue
with two top-heayy plunies which always
threatened to pull down ones back hair.
Now we leave off the extra hair ana
crush small plush bonnet down upon
our brows and over our ears
I do Il, you DO Il, and 30 do We all,
because. no matter what our incomes
are, we have learned 10 adapt our
selves TO fashions decree.
And fashion. dear friends, Is not made
by women. but by men. We wear the
clothes and styles which Providence, in
the guise OF the manufacturer and the
man dressmaker. sees ut 10 thrust upon
the market Don't let any one persuade
you into thinking women would have de-
signed hobbies, or the enormous and
rather useless muff Of today. The fertile
imagination Of the fur man designed the
latter. and during the heat Of q dull
summer day the hobbie idea sprang full
fedged from the brain Of Q man who Il
one Of the leading dressmakers Of Europe.
Where woman's ingenuity comes in 10
in adapting herself and her dress allow
ance to the demands Of these man-made
fashions
II you pick cut the noticeable changes
In style. you can easily suit yourself TO
them The latest fashions In hair dress
ing. for instance. should be followed. II
your hair is done styiishly. IL Is not so I'm
portant whether your skirt is exactly the
right shape or not; but IL you go on
wearing quantities Of false hair when
others have discarded all but their natural