Year: 1865

Under this caption, New York weekly jour-
nal the Round Table, discusses with vehement
earnestness % the unbounded extravaganza of the
women" There is no sign of the times, it de-
clares, more full of dread omen to the nation.
% Their reckless desire for prodigal display is
both shameful and astounding. They riot in
wanton waste, seemingly without thought for
propriety or decency. 1t is disgrace to the
taste of the country, dishonor to the men who
have so recently died on the battle fields, and
reproach to every woman in the land who i'll any
way countenances the wicked contagion. The
vlest and the purest appear side by side, on the
street, in the social assemblage, and at public
gatherings, tinseled alike in gold and garnish.
. Among the looked for results of the war;
remarks the Round Table, % it was hoped that the
country would be purged of slavish obedience to
the mandates of Partisan mode and its attendant
extravaganza. Twice every year the followers
of so-called fashion wont TO attend at spe-
cial displays of the milliners and modistes, and
learn there what they were TO wear the ensuing
season. Many of the most refined in the land
thought it no disgrace to seek instruction in the
arts of French courtesans-who are in reality
the makers of the fashions that lavishly
adopted in this country


With scarcely a thought they yielded subserv-


ence to land wholly alien to us in morals,
religion, political and social life, and, not the
least of ALL in climate But it did not seem that
so much of imitation, reckless waste, and useless
display could possibly survive the sad discipline
of Il great And when our literature came
out of the ordeal clothed with nobler life and
sturdier form, it gave cause for hope that the
taste and habits of the women of the land would
also be of a purer and more providcnt character
How delusve the hope the wild designations
of the past Summer and the rush at the recent
displays of the fashion mongers too well attest
There is, indeed, danger before us, and every
interest demands that it be fairly met before it
shall be too late


1t commences spirited article with this solemn
admonition the of America, which
they do, indeed, need to ponder


% Do the women of the country understand
whittier these things lead-upon what rock their
foolish cx1ravagances will wreck them? 1t can
be nothing short of hetarism and the breaking
up of the laws of social life. The bubble cannot
fill too far without collapsing in shame and
row. Marriage will be out of the question, and
French life will be upon Us with all its excesSes
Women will be their own destroyers if this thing
continues. Already decent and tasteful women
are ashamed to appear with any display, lest
their character be misinterpreted. The fashions
prescribed in France, caught up by
own pro1gates, who watch for the openings in
the Spring and Autumn most faithfully.


All along our streets the dissipated and shame
less appear side by side with the pure and re-
spectacle. There are no signs to distinguish one
from the other, for both worship mt the French
Moloch. If those who call themselves decent
would be insured against insult they must attire
themselves in more moderate garb, and leave to
the debased and extravagant the tawdy faunt-
iugs Of those seryilc individuals who claim to
have the last Partisan styles But if they per-
sist in their foppery, they must not be surprised
if the result be ruin and sorrow. Already the
cities are nursing the terrible plague of French
life until the good old simplicity and modesty of
American women seem passing away. If it is
desirable that the evil shall become general the
women of the land have only to continue their
present foolish system of expenditure and dress -