A BOOK FOR TO-DAY.

White Ribbon, Volume 1, Issue 11, 1 May 1896, Page 1

A BOOK FOR TO-DAY.

By L. M. S.

THE WELL-DRESSED WOMAN. (A Study in the Practical Application to Dress of the Laws of Health, Art, and Morals.) By Helen Gilbert Ecob. “ beauty is truth, tiuth \ eauty.” — Keats. Let a child develop in an atmosphere of perfection and instinctively will he abhor the inferior, the defective, the distorted, though he may not be able to define precisely the cause of offence. But a waif whose mental and material surroundings from birth have been of a degraded type will not fully recognise nor appreciate the beautiful when brought into contact with it. Yearsof instruction and education will be needed before he is able to discern between “ good and evil.” And are not the majority of women but dimly conscious of the fact that their conception of the artistic in dress differs widely from the ideals of the great masters in art. Such slaves are we to custom and conventionality that only a daring spirit here and there ventures to probe the subject, and then act in accord with her thought and knowledge. In the preface to the work before me the author notes that the present interest in dress reform is many sided. “ To overcome physical frailty through obedience to the laws of our being ; to ! return to true standards of beauty in the female form ; to cultivate artistic j

taste and feeling in the structure of dress, and to free women from the degrading influence of a social environment which binds them to self-adorn-ment, arc the aims which animate this movement.” Expression is also given to the truism that “ a well-dressed woman must observe the laws of dress. These laws relate to hygiene, art, and morals. They form a trinity mutually dependent upon each other. ’ The subject of rational dress is not to be taken up as a fad, but “ as women appreciate the nol le purpose of life, and the possibilities which are opening to them, they will scorn a dress which cripples the body and exhausts its powers of endurance.” The book is not issued as a final treatise on healthful and becoming dress. It rather indicates the general principles upon which reform must proceed. It acknowledges that present efforts to reconstruct woman’s dress “are largely experimental. We are patiently groping our way towards better things.” Normal Woman is first described, and ample evidence is adduced to show that, among uncivilized races, woman has an infinitely superior physique to that of her paier sister, and cannot be denominated the “weaker sex.” So degenerate are we of civilization born that we actually glory in our weakness. Powerful physique in a man is admired, but the small, insignificant physique of a woman is described as “ piquant, petite, dainty, etc.” According to

scientists environment is responsible for variation in living organisms; environment, therefore, is largely responsible for the fragile form of the average Anglo-Saxon woman. And this physical weakness is responsible for many of the vices characterised as peculiar to women. “A man, conscious that he has not strength enough for self-defence might be a coward. A man of weak body might be emotional. A man dependent on others for the means of existence might be artful and dissembling. A man not educated to regular employment might be capricious. A man confined to petty derails without the exhilaration of out-door life might become fretful.” u Women must learn that a life of intellectual and moral equality demands physical equality.” Among the causes of this degeneracy in civilized women, that of improprieties of dress looms large. And the lack of fresh air, sunshine, and exercise and th p excessive nervous development which further handicap women, are largely due to these improprieties of dress. As one might expect, the corset comes in for a large share of condemnation, pushing, as it does, the organs downwards, and exerting a pressure (even when loose), of 35 pounds and upwards. Small wonder is it that one doctor declares that “ woman by her injurious style of dress is doing as much to destroy the race as is man by alcoholism , ” and another, “ The practice of tight lacing has done more within the last century toward

the physical deterioration of civilized man than has war, pestilence, and famine combined ; ” and still another, “ Every women who has grown up in a corset, no matter how loosely worn, is deformed.” Illustrations abound showing the change in structure resultant from corset wearing. “ The floating ribs, which in the unrestricted body spread widely apart are in the compressed waist squeezed inward and downward until they nearly meet in the centre.” The raised shoulders, spinal distortion and weakness, as well as other objectionable and unsightly deviations from the plan of nature are credited to the objectionable article. So too with breathing. Man and uncivilized woman “ breathe with the lower portion of thechest, which is called the diaphragmatic or abdominal type of breathing. Civilized women breathe principally with the upper portion of the chest, which is called the costal iype of breathing.” As to the effect of this abnormal style of breathing on the voice, Miss Ecob says :—“ We do not yet know the possibilities of the female voice, nor shall we kn w until through generations of right living women develop a vigorous capacity for diaphragmatic breathing.” The supply of pure oxygenized blood is also largely curtailed through the restriction of the diaphragm, and the ill effects of this on the entire system it is impossible to over-estimate “ No organ suffers more than the liver from tight lacing.” “In some cases it is almost cut in two.” ‘-These deformed and lacerated organs exisi in every woman who wears the tailor style of dress, for even a slight pressure affects the delicate tissues of the liver. We may be sure that misshapen, diseased, and wounded organs lie under many a tidy fit, though the corset string is never drawn. For this reason the war of reform is waged against loose corsets and the entire system of smooth-fitting

garments.” Space forbids the enumeration of all the ills which must follow, more or less surely, the use of the corset. Impaired action of the heart, pressure on stomach and kidneys, impeded condition of the bowels, are all noted. Tight sleeves, collars, garters, and shoes are classed among the minor errors in dress ; also the now obsolete bustle, which presses on the solar plexus and interferes with the equilibrium of the body. Any clothing which prevents the free exercis r any limb or muscle is objectionable. The loss of muscular power consequent on errors in dress is faithfully pointed out. Clumsiness .and weight of skirts prevent easy and vigorous movement of various muscles. “ And muscles which are not used never develop. ’ The muscles of the waist become so w-eakened by disuse that they are un--1 able to sustain the body without help, and “ a corset is more comfortable be-

cause it affords a means of support to the enfeebled muscles.” Bands and belts come in for a share of condemnation as impeding respiration and motion, and subjecting the muscles to unnecessary friction. The chapter of “ Practical Suggestions” advocates first an entire reconstruction of underclothing, so that w r armth and weight may be more equally distributed. The outer garment may be fashioned on a lining cut after the princess style, or take the form of a skirt attached to a sleeveless waist. It should be of light-weight material, and so short as to escape mud and dirt.’ Bifurcated under-garments are advocated as being modest as well as healthful. A few timely words on the clothing of infants are also given. Bandages and all tight-fitting garments are entirely condemned as spoiling the expansive power during the first weeks and months of the infant life. The absurdities of the modern shoe, with its narrow sole, pointed toe, and

high heel, are depicted in the chapter on “ Hygiene and Dress of the Feet.” For physical development systematic exercise is necessary. “We recognise the necessity of exercise in the physical development of boys, but practically ignore it in the development of girls.” “ With girls active open air sports are especially necessary as a counterbalance for the shut in life of maturity.” “ The cultivation of the body should be with us as with the Greeks, a religious duty.” And “ the first and vita! step in physical culture is to overcome departures from nature in the common habits of life breathing, standing, walking and sitting.” “ Beauty of Form ” and “Grace of Motion ” are almost unknown qualities, so far as modern women are concerned, nor could the average eye perceive them, so perverted is our artistic sense. All the lines and curves of the body are

destroyed, a stiff inflexible casing is contrived, and “fashion places hones where nature has purposely omitted them. Tight gloves, tight sleeves, high collars, rob the body of all power of expression. The rigidity of dress makes the muscles work as a mass. Motion is in angles and jerks. All the delicate imperceptible rippling movements which are the poetry of motion are impossible.” Just a few w'ords from the chapter on “ Art Principles Applied to Dress “Thewoman who would be well dressed must keep constantly in mind the long oval contour of the feminine figure, and so dress that this outline will be preserved.” “ Simplicity is a canon of art but the last accepted by the multitude because of our foolish pride and selfassertion.” A book well worthy the attention of all women anxious for the physical, mental, and moral development of their sex, concludes with a chapter on “ The Moral Significance of Dress.”