St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-03-03

and Christian womerl should use
their influence for this kind of dress
Do gauze hose, high heels, thick
mesh wells and suggestive 'bronchi-
tbs blouses" on the street in mid
winter stand for health, beauty and
morals? Don't ask me. Ask your
oculist, your doctor, your conscience
and your common sense.
But, you say, some modest girls
dress immodestly and do their hair
ridiculously and wear hats and feath-
ers that are a public nuisance, etc.
And, you say, you yourself wore
hustle so large that it was not safe
to shut the door behind you till you
were we'll in the middle of the
room, and your mother affected the
Grecian bend and dragged her train
along filthy sidewalks, and your
mothers mother wore hoopsk1rts
that required sixty yards of thin
dress material, and your mother
mothers mother laced herself like
an hour glass. And all these
mothers told their girls that mo
modest girl would dress So" Those
were certainly extreme absurdities
and did not stand for beauty or
health, but they were not absolute
" vulgar and immoral like some OF
the present day evening gowns that
disgust men and women who have
love for beauty and modesty and
who are not prudes either.
Oh, well, you say, freaks always
will discredit and dishonor their sex.
Yes, but what happens while the
freaks wilfully create an immoral at
mosphere and practically compel
both men and women to breathe 1t!
1t happens that the moral standard
of the community is lowered, If
there is no protest by the highest
minded women If fragrant immod-
esty in public places is silently borne
by pure women who mingle with the
wearers of the extreme gowns with
out remonstrance, it happens that
the thing will go on from bad to
worse, and our nations character
will suffer, because a nations char
acter is revealed in the dress of its
women.
1t was so in Isaiah's time, when
unrestrained women of Jerusalem
walked the streets in ankle-chains
and nose Jewels. 1t was those
naughty, immodest women who cor
rupted the men, who fell by the
sword whene great desolation pre-
vailed.
In Greece at the time women were
great mothers, strong friends and
the inspiration of men, gowns were
neither too scant nor too full. They
were caught about the waist for con-
venience and beauty outlining the
figure, but also protecting and con-
cealing it, Arms were free and neck
unhampered. This Greek dress be-
longed to a civilization of greatest
mental and spiritual freedom.
In the early days our nations
character was revealed in the dress
of the Puritan woman a dress which
stood for health, beauty and morals.
See the beautiful maiden, Priscilla,
in her homespun, soft, brown wool
frock, just escaping the ground, full
enough to walk with ease, not too
full to be ungracCful with it's short
bodice reaching the natural waist
line, open at the throat for comfort
as she stoops about her tasks, the
outline Of the neck softened by
snowy kerchief, her hair rolled
pleasingly not too rigidly, from the
face. See her loose gray coat for
stormy days, and close-fitting, sim
pie, becoming bonnet. With such a
picture you do not need to go to a
library to find the character of the
Puritans.
Well, you say, when women
planned and made their own gowns
fashions were attractive and suited
to the needs of the people. Now, in
this ready-made age, there is a gen.
eral submission of society to the die
tates of a group of irresponsible
fasionmakers, who change the fash