Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-06-12

flooping confined the waist from just
below the hips as firmly and COM
pactly as the most unyielding corset
of modern times.
Some authorities give the Germans
the credit for %inventing the first Eu-
pean corset and possibly introducing
it into Rome. At n rate il is
known that the early German wom-
en- and the fine Roman ladies wore
much the same type of restricting
bandages.
That the corset was found ridicu-
lous ever in the somewhat ridiculous
Middle Ages is shown by a sketch
dated 1913. found in the British
Museum, which cartoons not only
the restricting corset. but also the
trailing draperies of the period worn
so long that they needed knotting
to be kept from the ground. The
heavy stell corsets of the time of
Catherine de Medici. and the hing
ed steel box with the depending rod
or bar of steel over which the long
peaked bodice of the dress was adj
justed, affected by Queen Elizabeth,
also produced much sardonic amuse-
ment and denunciation.
Never in all these years has pub
lie opinion triumphed over the die
tates of fashion. Corset styles have
changed not because they were in
furious or grotesque in appearance,
but because some world leader of
fashion, in the old days usually a
queen, decided to change the lines
of her figure.
Twice before corsets have bee
abolished , or at least reduced to
small proportions, not as a conces-
sion I health or comfort but be-
cause style demanded it. The first
occasion was in the seventh century
in the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy
when a drastic change occurred in
the standards of feminine beauty.
Slim waists and narrow shoulders
were suddenly passe. and the Venus
of Milo with her 2S-inch waist be-
came the popular model. This vogue
is evident in a drawing by Adrian
Boise of a rich Dutch lady about the
year 1880, in which 1t is apparent
that the feminine figure of those
days was little restricted by any ar
tificial device.
The second period followed the
French Revolution when at the be-
ginning of the nineteenth century
the costume of the empire was
evolved. This vas built on Grecian
lines and required no corset except
a band passing below the bust and
keDl III p1dCO ny olAOoAoSA Fps -
was doubtless too comfortable a style
to last, for it soon vanished and
was succeeded by a period of exag-
gerated tight lacing. Here in Ameri-
ca our grandmothers and great
grandmothers laced themselves TO
the point of suffocation. Women
! swooned constantly, largely from
lack of breath, and more than once,
we are told. death followed some
sudden exertion undertaken by a
tightly encased woman. At this time
the general waist was IS inches,
which narrow circumference the
the ladies secured by tying their
corset laces TO a bedpost and then
walking away, thus producing heavy
pressure.
This tight lacing continued even
though the feminine figure under
went another severe change about
the period of the Sanish-American
war when the straight front and
bias hip form corset became pop
ular. The effect of this innovation
was to lengthen the apparent waist
line. According I o an enthusiastic
account of the time. all belts then
rounded over the hips and ended In
a point in front, giving to even the
stoutest women a degree of slender
/ ness. On the OlncT manu. lAlS StyA
was Just as highly and plausibly
recommended for slender women,
The chief charm of such a corset,
it's champions declared, was that il
forced an erect carriage, for it was
manifestly impossible to SLOUGH OF
relax in it.
This type of corset probably
aroused a greater storm of protest
from the medical profession than
any of its predecessors. One who
raised an outraged voice against
the same declared hat II was
responsible for many cases of float
ing kidney among women. Another
predicted that it would result in
permanently deformed race of WON
en-, and pointed out that already ths
female figure OF the moment wal
taking on a curious, unnatura
twist, likely to be emphasized and
increased. Still another called elo'
quently for the abolition of all cor
sets forever.
His plea was just a decade too
soon. Ten years later. the feminine
reaction against tight and heav,
~corsets started in, with the result
that today corsets are practically un'
known among the fiapper popula'
ton. Persons who claim to know