Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-03-27
WOMAN AND HER DRESS.

ing her Of immodesty almost ever |
since she emerged from the Garden |
OF Eden attired in the leaves of a fig /
tree, as the author of the book OF Gene |
sis assures us she was. but the criticism /
seems To have made not a whit of !
difference to the fair ones FOR they |
go right on dressing as they please; !
or. more correctly speaking. "a Paris
and London and New York insist they
shall dress. or make their own wear
ing apparel.
We find in recently recovered rec
ords that Quaker" maidens were &C
cused Of being immodestly dressed
two hundred years ago when their
gowns came down TO the ankles and
below. and up almost to the ears. with
none OF the intervening space show
ing. They perhaps would have been
accused of being, what two centuries
ago would have been the equivalent
ui the modern "napper" had they but
revealed tiny section If their pretty
threats and necks.
Stiu later. after the civil War. one
finds tho condemnation OF local
purist-not n mere. hollow pretender
NJ the dresses worn hy the women
~ that period. characterizing them as
immodest, II not downright immoral
Unless the critic in question had some
rather unusually critical viewpoint
as 20 morality. Il is difficult. in these
more liberal days, to discern where the
immodesty lay, in view OF the fact
, that the clothes swept mp the dirt AZ
/ the wearer proceeded along the street.
and the hoops were so large that she
could scarcely have turned around
in a modern apartment. IL. indeed. she
could have entered through the door
way.
So. from the earliest time up to the
present moment. women have beer
under constant FIRE Of men regarding
their dress. until Il has been brough;
forth almost az an axiom in mascu.
line thought that the character OF
women may he interpreted in her ap-
parel-whether she wears short, OF
hobbed. hair. or applies the lipsticl
with a too generous hand, or whether
her skirt comes too near the knee
point or extends low enough TO hid,
her ankles. or leaves exposed a larg'
section OF her back and shoulders
Il Is not so long ago that womel
who powdered and went abroad witt
evidences OF that identifying process
stu visible on their cheeks or nose
were regarded askance; or the youn
woman. or her elders. either. who ha
the hardihood TO redden her lips O
= darken her eyebrows was regarded a
, hopelessly impossible. and querulou
P people in referring TO her discusse
= her foibles with hated breath. TIL
+ woman. too. who ventured TO smok
= a cigarette also was under immediai
\ fire the moment the practice becam
r known. and her associates would with
I draw from her circle and regard h'
Il with horror such as they would entei
. tain for some unclean, immoral perso
Women have disproved the pr
sumption that aids to beauty. tobacc
or short costumes, at either end
q at both. indicate anything beyond Il
J.. mere fact that the offending" pers,
is not TO be bound and trammeled
n the views OF her friends and neig
is bors. These things no more indica
D. a lack Of modesty not to say immors
,e ity. than would a girl. going out in
l. the rain without an umbrella, be op
to the criticism that she was pa
at duck or goose.
. Women have long ago proved
n. skeptics and critics that It is not {
ls dress that makes for morality or il
or morality; and they have also sho'
rs they are Indifferent TO the criticism
IN mere man, which, as said before.
he been volleyed upon them at eve
n. change of mode. Man. indeed, see
50 to have constituted himself the cen.
al of women's costumes, and her mo
in guide and continues prating a
ed pointing out how she should go. VIII
C in fact. he is simply but a fault find
" a species Of crouch. when IL comes
reviewing the wardrobe Of womanki
IL II man. who has little idea in &,
10 eral as TO a becoming and attract
s, dress for women. would suggest son