The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1913-11-06

\ dominate American fashions and
u hold their grip on our women il
Il Is necessary to furnish variety
TO keep up the interest, hence the
hideous effects Of the present day
4 that make women look like Carl
q cataTes.
Il A recent writer urges the es-
i Establishment Of ~SAmerican FASH
lions for American women-urges
tra demand by the thousands of
sEclean minded and clean thinking
American women for sane dres-
j ses, designed and manufactured
siby American establishments.
/ Walter Bagthot, an English
i essayist, commented on the FASH
] ions of his own day in terms that
Apply equally we'll to our own.
! Evidently conditions have not
changed. He says: What the
milliners of Paris enjoin over the
English women is, l suppose,
I good deal chance, but as soon as
! it is decreed, those whom it suits
and those whom it does not-all
wear it. The initiative propensi.
| ty at once secures uniformity,
and that horrid thin give wore
last year. as the phrase goes, is
[nowhere to be SEEM Does that
not sound up to date? No one,
! of our time hesitates at the new
fashion, however grotesque 1t
may be, but old and young, short
and tall, thin and stout, wear the
same style.
1.-The women of Netherlands
over a year ago registered pro-
test against Paris styles and re-
fused to buy them. London, dur
ing the past summer, voiced a
similar sentiment.
| Isn't it reasonable to suppose
that American designers have a
better and clearer understanding
of the needs and temperament of
the American woman that the
foreign-born dressmaker who has
no adequate understanding of the
moral conceptions and standards
of our land?
/ Il believe the champion who
! should arise in behalf of the move
tment is to be found i'm the club
women of America. l noticed in
! a recent newspaper that the Wis
consin Federation Of Women's
. clubs will be in session next week
4 The Minneapolis Journal reports
the state president as saying this:
Il hope no one will come to the
convention with too deeply slit
skirts or in clothing that would
be undignitied. OF course no one
will be barred for the judgment
of the women will prvail, but we
expect every one who attends to
be suitably attired.'
!, ''The recent action of the club
women of Minnesota has elected
much favorable comment. They
protested against skirts that were
less than two yards in width at
the bottom and demanded skirt
that was something less than skin
tight at other places. they sent.
their resolutions to the manu-
facturers as we'll as their own
club members.
! ''Why cannot all American
women, through just such a med
ium-the federated clubs of the
states, start a movement of this
kinda protest against modern
styles, coupled with demand for
clothes that are worthy the wom-
an who wears them. We resent
the idea of bondage, but as con-
ditions are today we are held in
the thrat of a tyrant as pitiless
as ever ruled over slaves.
LET American women take a
definite, decided stand in favor of
clothes worthy of thoughtful, lev
el-headed women and demand
that foreign fashions shall not
dictate to us styles that subvert
our own sense of beauty and over
ride current taste. / believe that
the demand of American woman
hood for a standard of dress that
combines beauty and health ought
to have as prominent a place in
her social creed as her demand
for the ballot.
"Let American women demand
that we have styles of dresses
designed so that they be adap-
table to different materials, diff
ferent occupations and to differ
ent types of women. Such an ar
'rangement would create a sim
cere standard of beauty that
would enable a woman to dress