OCR Text |
Show Corset a Foe tr Health Writer Claims It h Not CVi Unstniury But Disfiguring At Bet Its i'onstjnt Wear Produces jn Inartistic nod Artificial Shape. V-V . OMK Unio ago Dr. 7Swr-. I'hllllppe Marechale at-JfZ at-JfZ Y) tempted to got a law ln, thr Krench tat- '.KxCr siy,' ,h' or- lPWjf ernment control of th IWv "If "f corset. H( Tf(JJ ,n,le " misdemeanor '"f 'iy woman under thirty year of agn to ear one. lniMlng a penalty of thre month In prison or a fine of 200. Ho planned to have the manufacturer and dealer submit report to the authorities- of all person purchasing them, on pain of having their property prop-erty confiscated. Iir. Marerhaln evidently evi-dently waa fully awnre of Ibo opposition opposi-tion this attempted reform would arouse among women, and he framed tb law ao stringently that no one could aarape. It did not paaa, however, how-ever, and women who are wodiled to their corset will not be divorced from them miles It ahnuld be docrccd la Parla by the maker of faahlon that auppleness, grace, natural curve and health should be among th raqulal'.ea of a fashionable woman la-Mead la-Mead of the atllteil, artificial, cramp-ad cramp-ad deformities which the fashionable modisto now turua upon aoclety, lkiya are allowed to reach maturity without being mad over, but girl are not. Education In the line of physical culture, however, I widening tb horlr.on of American women, and many are adopting a healthful mod of dress and many mors would If they could adjust their clothing properly. prop-erly. Discarding the coraot 1 only half of the buttle. If th heavy aklrt bang from lb walat and th band aro llnlii . th discomfort la greater than tho corset and th Injury nearly aa great. The muacle which have been weakened by tb corset must be strengthened by aystematlo practice ao that thoy will kep th body croct and frm and per- ,jj form the ofllce jf of tho steel and TJ w halebone. Jrft- ' Then, with un- iTj. '., drcluthlnK and fX-' dresa made to IvViTiaTlC eorrenpond tu ..lrn,af tho law of beau- HLrHTr S ty ana sural 0WCvV form, the nian- Ss J Jjft elpatod woman will grow slrong, happy and atlrao-Uve. atlrao-Uve. Tha degreo of lacing lu every country coun-try I like a barometer, Indicating th artistic and moral condition of tb epoch. The earliest mention of girding gird-ing waa mad by that flrat dress reformer, re-former, the prophet Isaiah. Israel, grown proud lu prosperity, wa given over to Idolatry, social degradation and anarchy. Aa aillilclal shape of th walat among the Kisyptlan women accompanied accom-panied an age of ct ravaganc. ocordlng to Rousseau and other, compression of tho body waa not prao- ,cjr Who woRp-lp tlced by the Spartnus. Women war considered piui of tbo biu!' and wer placed uml.'i' Ini.nlin ,, ly lesa vlgoroua tl.iin llio nun', nor u " ere evidence i, wnlst niiiiiuio In ' auccoedltig .tilu.l, iliat if tho o-ahlp o-ahlp of Lie :, .. .I,,,, I. but In the daya preceding i:,, ileal ruction of the Greek icpiiMii s. In u puiiiotlsm and morale were f,,ri;oiien. courteeana originating In thla lowest order of society waa adopted by womea of rank. The Romans In their turn took up the fashion. During tha early middle age the custom was not practiced, but about the eleventh century the power of fashion- began to. be felt and extravagant extrava-gant dress and light bandaging Increasing In-creasing A portrait of Henry III., son of Catherine de Vf-vllel show that tight lacing wa u.o practiced t.y men. After Napoleon elevation to Imperial Im-perial power ho adopted the most rigorous system of court etiquette. An attempt to resurrect tho Medici corset, wn marie by tho ladle of I'arl faxhlon. but It waa opposed by the empress. Napoleon said concerning the revival re-vival nf tight lacing In 1HI0: "Tblt wear, born of coquetry and bad taste, which murder children, tella nf frlvo-lous frlvo-lous lnnte and warn me of approaching approach-ing decadence." Iloiichnnt. a writer of that period, says: "Hlaya nre not comKiie,l of whnlebono or of hardened I, aiher, but of bars of ateel frora three to four Inche broad, anil many of them not less thau eighteen Inches In lenr.th." Tho corset was Introduced Into England In the twelfth century, and at first waa comparatively harmless, lis oxcltislvo use chiirnrtcrlled th reign of gueen Kllrabeth. The body was Incased In a stiff armor, and both men and women equeezed In their walsta and swelled out their garment gar-ment below. . Thla ago of literature waa tha dark age of morality ao far as th court wa concerned. The folly In drees waa unlimited. The ruffs for the neck were stiffened by metal wlrea and by colored atarrh. Ttiea war so Immense that a spoon two feet loo eVFT-y was necessary to convey food safely to tho mouth. The huir waa colored In dlvera huea or was shaved to ao comodate wigs of various colors. Tha furliuna made bitter warfare on "devilish fushloi,;" tbo Puritan conscience banished theso follies with tho Immoralities of the time, and our l'urllnu aiicwtors enme to our shore without the atlff ruff and without the sieol armour about th waist. Aa in other countries, th passing of simplicity and a vigoroul Industry marked the passing of sensible sen-sible drcas, and In 1S119 a writer In Uoaton describes the practice of wearing Uio corset day and night, tightening it when lying down and again In the morning. The corset of the present day la more flexible and lesa objectionable, yet It la still a relic of burbarlsm. writes Mabel SHIItnan In the Milwaukee Milwau-kee Bentlnel. The cheapness of It puts It within tho reach of every class, and the yearly output, not Including In-cluding thoBo which are Imported, amount to 110,000,11110. |