ABOUT WOMEN.

Evening Star, Issue 9534, 3 November 1894, Page 1 (Supplement)

ABOUT WOMEN.

WOMEN .CYCLISTS' COSTUMES.

Are the days of the petticoat numbered * Is the sacred vestment, the symbol of our sex, to disappear 1 , growing rarer year by year until it become a badge of the Old World few, a relio of the days of women's servitude, and finally be relegated, with ruffs and farthingales, to the glass cases of our museums? If it goes, how many of our proverbs will be pointless! No male creature can be said to love a knickerbocker—which will be the probable substitute for the doomed garment—nor to shelter himself behind a knickerbocker, nor to be under knickerbocker government. English speech must be remodelled with our garb, and then, in literature, what footnotes and explanations will be necessary !

Her feet beneath her petticoat Like little mice stole in and out will need half a page of commentary and elucidation to make it intelligible in an age when feet will be only too prominent a feature of woman's anatomy. But how shall we deal with the rational cycling costume, which is.an accomplished, and too often a hideous, fact; as we see it in varying forms wherever sisters of the wheel do congregate, the most sensible thing is to accept it, and contemplating it with as little prejudice as Sossible learn why it is usually so ugly, and evise means of improving it as far as possible. Two points are against it—the prominence it gives the hips, aad the ungraceful fashion in which it displays the up-and-down motion of the legs in pedalling. The breadth of hip that in moderation is a beauty in the female form divine is unbecomingly accentuated by full knickerbockers and divided skirts, especially if they are worn with a tight-fit-ting bodice over a corsettad pinched-in waist, and with the addition of a short drapery, such as one sees adopted by many; , stout women cyclists. These tend to produce an effect of width, of tubbiness —if the word may be employed without offence; and, instead of a graceful Venus of Milo, wc see a sort of exaggerated hour-glass, supported on tw«> substantial props. Pedalling is seldom pretty to look at, and may not be concealed by the baggiest of pantaloons, nor jioes a short skiit separate from the bodice mend matters. The cyclist sits on this, and so the movement- is plainly visible. In addition, it fills with wind, and is an impediment to one's progress. The vexed question of short skirt vers«s no skirt is being warmly argued in cycledom. There is not much to choose between them a? far as effect goes; the long basque is better than either. Slightly stiffened, and reaching almost to the knee when the wearer is dismounted, it is an excellent adjunct to a tight-fitting bodice. It should be* slit up the back like a man's frock coat, and slightly weighted to prevent its flying wildly on the breeze. A brown cloth bodice, tight-fitting, crossed over like a man's coat, and fastened with big pearl buttons, a long basque, on which one does not sit, falling straight from it, and largely hiding the ungraceful pedalling, tan silk stockings, tan shoes and gloves, a neat shirt, and tie showing at the neck, a brown boat-shaped hat, with a ribbon band, and a bright flower in the buttonhole, would constitute a decidedly attractive if rather boyish-looking appearance. Yes, boyish it is to be feared must any garment be that suits the exigencies of the case, and we have either to make up our minds as a sex to abjure cycling or select a garb that looks smart, if somewhat mannish, and gives our limbs free play. As the ideal wheeling costume is yet to seek, the object of this article is to give a few useful suggestions which readers may interchange or modify according to their individual needs and figures, thus, something that by common consent will be proclaimed perfect. Amongst the garments of masculine or semi-masculine bu4d hitherto worn by women, we may reckon fencing and gymnastic costumes, bathing costumes, and costumes for shooting and golfing. These, carefully considered, will each furnish ideas that may be adapted to cycling uses. Tlfe first three,' with their Russian or other blouses and serge knickerbockers, are by no means unbecoming, while the last two, with skirts either cast entirely aside or shortened beyond their present limit, may please others. Girls who seek something at once smart, practical, and not too remarkable —the painful ugliness of rational costume has until now frightened off all who possess their due share of vanity and a natural desire to look well —cannot do better than seek out the photograph to be seen a few months ago in all the shop windows of women in,the dress worn in 'The Amazons,' and model themselves on that. With their Norfolk jackets and knickers of Scotch or Irish tweed, their russet gaiters, boatshaped hats, and pretty shoes, they made a delightful trio ; no young woman of slender figure and blessed with a moderate share of good looks could find better examples of this particular style. Should these not suffice, we give some suggestions that follow, at a certain distance, French originals. Take, for instance, a dress in marone cloth, the short skirt box-pleated and securely taped, to prevent its spreading on the wind, a jersey of the same color, either all in one or laeing behind, and over it a short, square-cut, Figaro jacket, with big buttons and a deep revers of white or mastic cloth. The small felt hat should match. Another, in lighter material, might have a long Norfolk jacket, the sleeves puffed to the elbow, where they meet the cuffs. Under the jacket come full Zouave pantaloons, reaching well below the knee, where they join regular gaiters, of leather or cloth. The costume could be carried out in serge—say grey or navy blue —and the jacket encircled round the waist by one of the deep fashionable belts of white leather with double buckles. A sailor hat, with baud and an upright feather, would be appropriate, and white doe-skin gauntlet gloves .would complete the whole. Still another form is taken by the knickerbockers that have just the shape of thoso worn by men, and, instead of the ingathering elastic affected by most women, are secured below the knee in orthodox fashion by a band of cloth fastened with flat pearl buttons. Long knitted stockings of a tartan design are drawn up to this and turned over in a fashion familiar to all sisters of brothers. With this, cither a deepjbasqued coat, as already suggested, might be worn, or a long Russian blouse fastening to the left side under a patte (a stitched and buttoned or embroidered band) and belted in round the waist.—Exchange.