The Washington times., 1922-01-08

+ III yf1G iHcfi W tHc .OuttSu ~ ~ ~
States have repeat,
edly shown their SUI
! p4riority over the men OF
Ensiapd-in yacht racing,
in;polo. IN track athletics
snd IN many other things. -----l
tAnd nov there Il IN oppor 49, 3,
tunity tor the women Of Somr.-.,
America ID show m equally Waist Msa
dscid6d Advantage over nsnts u
1 Their Enslish cousins IN q IHsI'Ss s
brandpSw line Of Compel J. Is i.shs.,
I ticn. S.rxent's Il
Ii there iD mis- country Areriesn
q woman whose waist 1o/} Insl
ms4sufes no more than MIA as M \
shfts>n Inches m circuln and the G
& is, y !. q. ;.:... B s ~ lsss ! !
Ame13bk - woman VIVA NDdl
thhfe6n inchss u : taD> msasure Just
sno6sh 10 spcircls her waistiins thsn Eng
lapa q badly beaten.
JsAnssfca can produce more than one
wDnan with j waist - sspalk IS tlis, Eng
Hard Il hopslessly outciassed- -ieft u the
post ID this international wsspwaisted
ccrnpetifion Z
Recent p>lnstakips search has revealed
the surusisipS fact that in all the length
and breadtll u the British Isles there IL not
q, woman win ! thirteeninch waist The
nearest appFeech % \ ~ one measuring
fourteen and cne-haif inchss--sn inch and
1 hslf short Of the wssp.wnist standard. =
Z And new England - curious to see what
the Unitsd states has to ofler In the way
Of smaIfpsistsd women - women with
waists tins enough TO be lencompassed by
the spans Of ! mana Two hands.
Engiand's discovery that Il has not one
,thirteen-iich waist was the result Of an
elaborate entertaihment which was re-
Gently being arranged In London for charit-
able purposes A feature Of this entertain.
ment was 70 be i fashion pageant IN which
beautiful women would appear, wearing
the costumes OF All the ages. The rudeiy
fashioned skins Of prehistoric times. the
flowing robes Of ancient Greece, and all this
other variations In woman's costume down
TO the decollete and short-skirted styles OF
today were to be shown.
Among the most interesting of the cos
tunes provided for THIS pageant was one
that IL said to have been worn by the ia
nous Catharine de Medici in the Italian
CITY rot Florence way back 10 the sixteenth
century. n was highly valued both on &c,
count of ifs beauty and its historic associa
tions. and was therefore to be given lead
Ing place In, the pageant.
Bur when the time came to select wo-
pss 10 wear this de Msdici costume there
was unexpected dfnficnlty. Among all the
famous beauties who had consented to take
pArt fl the pageant not one could be found
Who had d ~aist small enough to get in
side II.
Il Az careful measurements proved, the
wsist,ine OF this old sixteenth century
dress measured almost exactly thirteen
inches TO compress anything much larger
tiran that inside II would mean serious dis.
comfort to the wearer and also the risk Of
Bursting the seams OF the precious fabric.
The directors of the pageant we're dis.
appointed but not discouraged. They we're
determined that the de Medici gown should
!. be, worn, II none Of the women at their
disposai had q waist small enough to hth
they would md one who did. e-s
90 they spread broadcast the news that
4 woman with waist measuring not more
than thirteen inches was wanted to get In
tide the de Medici gown and thus aid
deserving charity An over England and
even ID the most remote parts OF Ireland.
Scotland and Wales, the news travelled,
and soon women everywhere were slipping
tape measures around their bodies to see
how near they came 10 meeting the re-
tuiremertS The pageant directors began