The Washington herald., 1912-09-05
Topics of Interest to Every Woman
EDITED BY JULIA CHANDLER MANI
DUTY OF CLUBWOMEN AND
MOTHERS TO TAKE EARNEST
STAND IN MATTER OF DRESS
By FRANCES sHAFFER.

|
We hear a few halr-nearted Protest.
against the prevailing mode Of dres.
among women. but apparently they ar,
neither wide enough nor earnest enough
to reach home.
II 1t has remained for the women oi
Chicago TO start a city-wide and deter.
mined crusade against the wearing Of
sheath gowns and anything else that
detracts from women's long-boas sted
modesty. The leaders or the movement
are well known in Chicago, and have
entree into clubs whose membership
counts in the creating OF sentiment
Their purpose is to work through the
clubs, urging reform, making men,
bers appreciate that the time has come
for an absolute halt in the name OF
modest womanhood. They are quite out
of the troubles of the day stand the
atrocious styles that invite anything
from comment to crime. They have
interested prominent clergymen and
bishops, who are quite ready to send
out reform message from their pulpits.
And they hope to interest mothers.
| Disgrace to Womanhood.
They are a little severe and exagger-
ated in their reference to crime and
| dress and perhaps place too much reia-
tive emphasis upon a shortcoming OF
this character, obvious and important as
| IL is.
And yet
Frankly, We are living in a period
when the styles are a disgrace to bet
| ter womanhood. 1t is true that our
Ideas of modesty and the like are the
growth of time and custom, and that
We decry any radical departure from
familiar styles as immodest or other
wise offensive. But time and custom
have too long decreed the shielding of
woman's figure 10 permit the accept
ance of the present mode OF tightness
ana exposure without a serious effort
to stay the tide.
And how can it be stayed? Well. here
as in Chicago. ii will die away IL club
women and others serenely moving on
the higher waves of life will absolutely
refuse to appear garbed in a manner
that leads 10 remarks so sharply point
ed that we hesitate to repeat them.
The styles are not a concession to COM
Tort, not even TO grace, and frank crit
les call them a bid for undue attention
The trouble does not end with tight
skirts, for oftentimes the fabric is
nimsy, and-but. also, the spectacle
all too familiar. And there are other
counts. counts that speak of the sheer
est of silken hosiery, waists unsuited
10 street wear, and over all a pervad-
Ing impression of immodesty.
1t is a subject that impulse prompts
one to set aside, yet its importance
urges greater publicity. And 1t is one
of the plain duties of clubwomen,
mothers and others who value public
opinion. to take an earnest stand in this
matter. and do something to justify a
more wholesome impression of woman
kind than is current to-day when dress
standards are considered.
should Draw the Line.
Because. when quiet. sincere, and
thinking men go out of their way to
observe and to comment. seriously and
purposefully. ii surely is time for re-
form. Dame Fashion in time will stop
the fashion wheel at a better point,
but when the seeming quality of wo-
manhood is at stake there should be a ,
higher power than fashion in control /
and that power should draw the line at
offensive modes
That power, made up of the cream of
our womanhood, the mothers, the lead |
ers. and the thinkers, could set a fine |
pace, II il would.
We remember that in matters of dress |
and in questions Of morals, it is not !
fair to censure women too severely for |
true that in all the ages they and their |
standards have helped to uplift the world |
rather than drag it down. Unfair, too.
to charge them with leading to crime. |
because comparatively. their part is
slight.
Drop Offensive Styles.
But these considerations do not deter
US from urging, earnest women to be
a law unto themselves, to drop the
styles that offend. and to carry the mes
sage to their clubs, their daughters, and
to the world of women who take their
patterns from those above them. Be-
cause it is true that the world expects /
Its women to set a true and beautiful
pace, and these exhibitions. so far re-
moved from traditional modesty,, do not
lend color to the belief that women are
true TO the confidence placed
in them.
1t is not a pleasant admission. but
women have been broughtsi into a certain
measure of contempt by the fippant
1ress OF recent years. 1t is quite with
n their power to wipe it out-wilI they?