Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-02-28

! CI ~
to stay-for a while at least. Wo-
man could not be converted to
boomers when they were introduce
cd by intellectual. feminists as a re-
forIn In dress back in 1851. But now
a few young %fiappers stroll on the
go.f course in kniclSers and go down
Main street 10 get IA soda and the
yorth of the nation acclaims the new
style for street wear.
Fer half 8 dozen decades there
have been prophets who saw, or who
thought they saw, trousers for wo-
men on the horizon. A few times
indeed some daring feminine souls
did break q way from the tyranny OF
hoops and dust trailing skirts to ap-
pear in bloomeY. or even trousers.
But the experiments generally hzzled
out speedily.
There is an old letter written to
the Lowell, Courier by a st. Louis
woman regarding four young women
who passed through Missouri on
their way West wearing mems APP
| pa1eI. Their father and brother &C
colnpanied them and approved or
the style.
"Ihey were from. Philadelphia n
| highly respectable" wrote the cor
| respondent, reporting on this start
| ling news item. "Their suits on the
boat were fashionable and fine black
dress coats, black pants, bum vests,
| and hats of glossy black. Their hair
was cut short"
Size also added that their conduct
on the boat was perfectly ladylike.
This was about the middle OF the
| nineteenth century, when boomers
were raising suc. a furore. Short
hair was also being advocated by
| hightr ow women as being more COM
PORTABLE and sensible. The Idea was
| that the short hair and boomers
would almost entirely relieve a wo.
man from the care of personal
adj ,rnment. It was this angle of APP
preach and not the unattractlveness
of boomers and short hair which lett
| he women Of America cold. Intro
duced as a refCrm. short hair and
boomers were laughed out or exist
ence in short order.
Bloomc,s Were Misnamed
7 lapper who could claim to be
tn pioneer wearer of Knockers
would doubtless be proud of the title
but back in 1851 Amelia Bloomer
~lanasnted the fact that the famous
boomer garments should ever have
been associated with her name. She
spent. endless time explaining that
she was not the first person to wear
| boomers: that they should really be
"millers,' as a Miss Miller was the
| first wearer, and that she had been
| connected with the project in it's
ear ly days only by her articles favor
| ing this dress reform which ap.
peared in the Seneca Lily, a paper
which she edited. Later, she explain
ed, she did appear in boomers. u
oniv cat she believed it right
to practice what she preached. How
ever in spite of Mrs. Boomers pro-
tests tn name stuck.
II is interesting to note that this
garment which aroused so much ex-
| element had about the same rela-
| ton to tho skirts of the day tina
knickerbockers have 20 the skirts OF
1929.
Women's dresses in 1851 were
widely denounced On the ground OF
being unhealthy. They were ong
heavy and fun. They trailed in the
duSc 10 catch germs. They gathered
mud from vet streets in rainy wea-
Their. and then lapped about the
wsarers' ankles to give them colds
| and pneumonia. Vet no lady" dar-
! ed lift her volum.nous skirts high
| enough to clea the streets.
Referring 10 thi; fashion n edi-
tor declared that "a false modesty
has caused nan, Il young girl to die
OF consumption"
The frs. boomers were long
If csc skirts. Short boomers would
have beun hootei eff the streets
withou a fighting ohance-if it is
possible to imagine the girl of the
period appearin,, in them. Inc
boomers which uTset the conservar
ev.s were fan ankle length affairs.
I A Skin. considerably longer thar
our popular knee length specimen
rei. orc then 1h> effect was very
rrrtisA, bet t. OH modern eyes II
would be about ~ daring rs a deep
sea diving o,'tflt.
The War IN Elocmcrs -
Nevertheless 81 ,omers were hOtly
! denounced or as 0o,iy approved 10y
holy VINO tn,ked wrote or lee.
1 IA. I'D a t,ut them They were tsk9n
70. !ors'v h@ 'h~ ncdecorative blue
/ st9ckinc,. ap So hey fnilod Ia rn'
! snar utrv mn ~ / Inc vnfn~"r roa-
I Tic eit,. 4 fns ia@ tatalal Isntl