Year: 1868

"ZANEsvILLE, ONO.


"MADAME DEMoREsT Will you be
kind enough to send me the address of
reliable ladies' fashionable shoemaker?
What do you sell Thompson's glove-fit-
ting corset, and what is the price While
l am writing to you, wish to ask your
opinion about tight lacing. 1t is claimed
by some that it is injurious. / don't
think it is, as general thing. There is
lady here who keeps select school, or
rather a place for putting young ladies
to make good and graceful appearance
in society. Lacing is one of the features
of her establishment. In five weeks she
reduced my waist from twenty-three to
sixteen inches. Her plan is rather se-
we're one at first, but very effective. She
has stout corsets made of strong stiff
bone, that do not open in front, and as
soon as a young lady enters her place,
she puts one of these on her, and laces it
pretty tight at first, and gradually tight
ems it till the third day, when it is brought
together and fastened behind, SO that it
is impossible for the wearer to loosen it
herself, and is not removed for three or
four weeks, night o, day. The largest
corset she has yet used is seventeen inch
es, which was put on girl who was rath-
er fat, and brought together the second
day, and remained on five weeks. She
had fainting spells for the first week, but
soon got over them. None of the girls
that have been to her school have ever
been sick, so tight lacing cannot be very
injurious. She also has plan by which
she teaches them to be careful how they
walk, and to acquire light graceful
movement. She gives each girl, at the
same time she puts the corsets on them,
a pair of ankle strap slippers, with heels
about an inch higher than the extreme
fashion, which is about three inches cher
heels are about four inches) and not any
larger at the. bottom than a common
nickle cent, and no others are allowed to
be worn. AT first it is almost impossible
to stand on them at all, unless great care
is exercised, as no part of the foot touch
es the ground except the small heel and
the fore part of the foot. The move
ments are very awkward at first, but she
obliges them to walk two miles every
day in q lane by her house.


BY having to be careful with these
shoes, they walk very gracefully with the
shoes with the French heels about two
and half or three inches high. There
is no good ladies shoemaker in this place,
and we have either to send to Cincinnati
or to some of the Eastern cities for our
work. What is the height and size of
the bottom of the highest heel worn by
ladies now on fine dress boots"


"L. M. W."


The editor of the Magazine says of
this suggestive epistle: !" If the preced-
ing letter did not come from a reliable
and trustworthy source, we should be in
clined to consider it a monstrous inven-
ton. GAINESVILLE, Ohio, beats New York.
No school if this city could live where
system of torture like that described by
our correspondent was practiced. We
pity her, her future husband and chill
dren, if her waist has been reduced from
twenty-three inches to sixteen"


Pity is probably wasted on the foolish
young weman who could subject herself
to such tortures in the effort to reduce
her human form to that of wasp, and
on the man who would be fool enough
to marry such slave of fashion; but
the poor children, if there ever are any,
are indeed to be pitied. Here was
young lady with probably very good
and naturally formed waist, certainly not
very large one--we have measured
within day or two the waist of rather
slender little girl of eleven years, in
whose schooling lacing is not feature,
and found it to measure, outside the
dress, twenty-one inches-which has been
distorted and contracted by horrible
engine, mercilessly applied and worn
night and day for weeks, till it is lessen
ed in circumference by third Now
let any one take tape line and see how

much space is inclosed in circle of six
teen inches, then deduct from it the
space taken up by back bone and ribs,
and he or she can then comprehend how
much space Miss L. M. w. has left for
the important organs which ought to be
within her girdle's span. No wonder
fainting fits accompany the process But
if the young person is fool who will
consent to such course of torture for
her waist and feet, what shall be said Of
the mothers who will put their children
at such place, or of the woman who
will conduct an establishment in which
such denominations are "a feature ?"
There ought to be some law undor which
such "school" can be abated as den