The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1915-07-23
Fig Leaves and
the Fashions.

and fair and lovely first fashioned
the very newest thing in gowns from
the verdant fig tree, society has
thrown up its hands in despair at the
folly Of woman and her weakness,
where clothes are concerned.
In that first day of early fashions
in spring fabrics the only person to
take exception was Adam, but being
at that time a very large part of
society, we may be quite sure that he
upbraided Eve for the manner of her
apparel, and we may be equally sure
that she continued to pin leaves to-
gether in Just those combinations best
suited to her taste and charms. And
we may also be sure that as the sea-
sons passed and with thern the leaves,
each time that Eve made any change
in the fashion of her wardrobe, she
was bitterly reproached, and remind
ed of her sins of omission.
Today the Daughters of Eve are
bearing the same burden of censure,
but Adam, forgetful of the fault-fnd-
ings of his youth, to Ewes amaze
ment, doubtless, tells his daughters of
their mothers sense and modesty,
and of their own wild ways, and
dress, so much better patterned after
the mother who bore them.
It is mans part to chide and it is
woman's to listen and to laugh.
South and North, have the bellies
Of the eos been held up as
the patterns of all that maidens
should be. Since the fratricidal strife
their loyalty, their courage, their
grace and their beauty, their sense
and their modesty have been thrown
at the heads of young womanhood,
until it is wonder they did not weep
or wilt before the tempest of re-
proach and the stories of those days
when YOUR GRANDMOTHER was
paragon and YOUR mother a per-
feet picture of propriety.
For several years, now, especially,
mark ypu, since the feminist move
ment has become the rage, hair in
vigorators and tonics for the bold
have increased enormously in demand
and price, owing to the way in which
men have torn their hair and beaten
their pates against stone walls, in g
futile effort to get the women of to-
day to put aside the frivolities Of
fashion and go back to the kind Of
clothes that mother used to wear.
And so, in a spirit of desperate
despair, women turned the pages Of
Godey's Lady's Book and their find
ing frills fitting to feminine foibles
straight-way stepped out of the
sheath gown into the full fare Of
1860 styles.
The ultra-fashionable today arr
wearing their hair parted neatly il
the middle and worn in net, nict
little silk bag, mind you, like theil
mothers used to wear. They are pull
ing their waists in bit, like theil
grandmothers used to do, and the.
are widening their skirts, until it il
a shame and disgrace, according t,
the men-for the men, mind you
those wise men who sit in censure Of
all innocent things, and those bril-
liant men who write paragraphs TO
the newspapers, and those courageou
men who are never afraid to rail a
women, these wise, brilliant, courage
GUS creatures are going out and buy
| ing up all the hair pomades in Chris
tendon and starting a veritable hal
famine among themselves, over tn
awful propensities, extravagances an
immodesties of women.
I And we old fogies, who don't Civ
darn how they dress, bless 'em, jus
so they dress, we think they look jus
as lovely in the little kicked up hat
; and the boufant skirts, as they di
; in the great big hats and the svelt
skirts. And we've got something be-
ter to do, thank Heaven, than to stan
on street corners and cast an evil ey
on every passing woman, or imagir
vileness about every pretty girl W
see. And life is too. full Of fine an
gracious women and sweet and inn,
cent girls for US to turn our pen |
! a paragraph or a sentence that woul
write harm where harm is not.
Long ago woman dropped
garter and man who was a gentl