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

/ ions at so beWildering a speed that
even the costlinesS is a serious ques-
ton, to say nothing of the style. The
woman wage-earner must buy some
ready-made clothes. The bargains
that tempt the shopgirl are the most
extreme and passing style, and made
up in the cheapest grades for com
mercial reasons. In this case, not
| the woman alone, but the maker and
the merchant are responsible. But,
when the woman can afford to go to
good dressmaker, who says, they
are not wearing them so now, and
| gives in to a style that does not
stand for health or morals, then the
woman is wholly to blame and the
| dressmaker lacks courage or does
not rise to the possibilities of her art
| in adapting style to the individual.
| When the woman selects unbecom-
| ing, inconvenient, extreme styles,
and is constantly making over per-
| fectly good clothes to meet the cease
less shifting of the styles, time and
money are wasted, temper becomes
| fretful, morals suffer and even
Christian work suffers in conse-
quence. Such slavish fashion-folloW-
ing not only smothers individuality
and originality, but creates fashion
hysteria.
Well, what are we going to do
about it? First, as individuals, let
US decide that simplicity is not ug-
illness but beauty, and, as for our
selves, our dress shall stand for
health, beauty and morality-remem-
bering what Lander said; Thou
canst not adorn simplicity. What is
defective is susceptible of adorn-
ment,' and remembering that when
man thinks a woman looks the
prettiest, he cannot tell how she is
dressed.
Then let us band together as So
cieties and try to create sane public
opinion on the question in our
church, eur city, our state. At the
annual meeting of the Women s
Board of Missions, in Los Angeles, l
suggested that this subject, Ethics
of Dress" be placed on missionary
programs as a timely theme. After
the meeting woman was heard TO
remark, Mrs. Ide wasn't in earnest,
was she? 1t was a joke, of course.
A Joke! When our missionaries
in China are using every possible in
fluence to do away with foot binding
and like social evils. When men
in our own community leave a So
cial function feeling insulted by the
immodest dress of some women pres
ent-women who have the power OF
the ballot. When the working girl
confesses to denying herself needful
food that she may buy cheap and
changing things in foolish dress.
When a little girl, 10 years old, does
not want her mother, who is always
we'll dressed, to visit her school I'M
til she can wear something new and
stylish" And her seatmate wants
to change her school because the
teacher wears old-fashioned sleeves.
Ruskin says the worst thing you can
say about a woman is that sne is
stylish. Robbed of is terror, 1t
merely means that the woman who
draws the notice of the world to her
makeup and away from herself,
mistakes her true worth" Such a
woman holds herself liable to the
comment of the art critic given to
the young painter, your frame is
worth more than your picture"
Education is one. of the great by
products of missions in any land, and
| claim that education on the princi-
pies of correct dress is a crying need
| just now in this country, for the emil
grants sake as well as our own. 1t
concerns our national character.
And so l refer you to two brand-new
books, suitable for reading circles,
general club discussion and especial
| ly suitable for graduation presents
to girls and gifts to older women,
who unconsciously are influencing
the girls more than they realize. The
first is 1.-THE Young Woman Work
err" published by the Pilgrim Press
Boston, practical and helpful. The
other is Principles of Correct
Dress published by Harper. In the
latter book no less an authority thar
Worth, the head of the famous
house, recommends courage and ed
ucation to curb the craze of the mod
ern woman for something new,
mania which he calls a disease syn
chrOnous with fast motors and fly
ing machines. One woman said tt
him, "Mr. Worth, 1 have seen al
these flowers; can't you make me {
new one?"
They also demand new and VIC
lent colors, though he tells them on
ly the old colors are really lovely
A woman accustomed to spend
$40, 900 a year on dress was recent
ly on the witness stand in a divorce
case. She stated that mo society
woman could afford to appear twice
in the same dress in public or a
the same hotel"
Worth says a dress that is sim
pie, suitable, of good material, per
fectly fitted, should be worn until il
is worn out. Not only for the mo
ment is it beautiful, but for al
time" Worth's habit has been tC
go to the art galleries oftener thar
to the current Bon Ton for sleeve
designs when he did not design his
own d.
The daughter, Jean Worth, says
my father had a vast work in ed
ucating public taste
Have American Christian woman
any work to do along this line? In
this city, the federated w. c. T. U
have started the ball rolling, as seen
in the following resolutions:
Resolutions adopted in the
Friends church, 1914.
''The Pasadena federation of the