Lingerie

“ Beautifully dressed women in furs walked side by side with trim young secretaries and vied with them for bargains at sales counters. Embarrassed men sidled past lingerie departments in search of gifts for their wives and sweethearts; short, stout women admired dresses designed for tall, slim models; elderly ladies tried on hat after hat, each one looking less suitable than the last ”

“ She stood in the improvised wings, an expression which would have defied a mental analyst hardening her face, as she listened to the delivery of the brief speech which she had helped him prepare.
“Always have we admired the lingerie from Lorraine, you and I. But how many of you have stopped to wonder whose hands are responsible for its textile exquisiteness, its chic and the needlework that makes it more lovely than any other in the world? With the many changes which war has wrought, came the fear that our American fair would be reduced to less attractive underwear. ”

“ The tiny seams are quickly done and each fine bit of work or fancy stitchery shows exquisitely. In the larger garments much of the lovely effect of the delicate and intricate work is lost but in an infant's frock or bit of lingerie every stitch has a telling effect. ”

“ The wrappers and underclothes of a young girl are usually very simple, but when she is to be a bride, her mother buys her, as lavishly as she can, and of the prettiest possible assortment of lace trimmed lingerie, tea gowns, bed sacques and caps, whatever may be thought especially becoming. The various undress garments which are to be worn in her room or at the breakfast table, and for the sole admiration of her husband, are of far greater importance than the dresses and hats to be worn in public. ”

“ And although it seems customary among novelists to gage the refinement of their heroines by the daintiness of their taste in underlinen—no matter if her outer wear be sackcloth and ashes, the lingerie of a true fiction lady is invariably above reproach—one would like to submit that an almost equal refinement may be indicated by the present heroine's determination to make as brave a showing as possible before her world with as little strain as possible upon her father's income.... ”

“ Women folks kicked to beat the band. It was too wet to hang out the wash. I told them to bring enough lingerie to last forty days. I always thought women’s clothes were too complicated anyway.—Made an inspection of the staterooms. ”

“ There's feminine charm in the frilled lingerie waist Color in such a waist does not follow the same rule as in the costume blouse. In a tailored blouse, no color quite comes up to a crisp, freshly laundered white waist. Cream, ecru, flesh color, light yellow and a delicate green are also worn in tailored waists. Sometimes, in silk a tailored waist is made to match the color of the suit. ”

“ The wealthiest English or American bride might be proud to wear such lingerie as I saw there.
As soon as her tiny hands can hold a needle, the Spanish señorita is taught by the nuns at her school to sew in this dainty fashion, and from her earliest childhood she devotes the fruits of her labours to furnishing her trousseau ”

“ Color has a magnetic attraction for the eye and wherever placed immediately attracts attention to that spot. I am sure refined girls do not wish to invite public interest in their lingerie through the use of bright colors in their ribbons. The most delicate tints are permissible, but should be used only in small quantities. White only should be used with the graduation dress. ”

“ Elaborate lace trimmings are neither in good taste nor stylish, and handwork constitutes the decoration on many of the most attractive of these garments. Colored lingerie and bright-colored ribbons should be worn only when the dress is not transparent. ”

“ A wooden woman cannot show off a beautiful gown. The wearer must be graceful, supple, svelte, chic. When one has the woman one adjusts her lingerie. One corsets her—but why not? The corset is an abomination perhaps, but it is worn, and there are corsets and corsets. Since women must wear corsets, let them wear good ones. ”

“ For every-day wear the simple scallops and eyelets which can be used in place of beading are very satisfactory. More elaborate designs can be used on finer lingerie for evening wear, etc. One can get very beautiful effects by combining hand-embroidery with lace. ”

“ If some married women would only realize the value of a chic robe de nuit en crepe de chine, and other dainty lingerie in retaining their hubby’s admiration, they’d never be found sleeping alone in flannelette while he entertained a bit of fluff outside the home circle. ”

“ A shirt and bloomers are preferred by some—others, the straight combination. Select that which suits you best, but keep in mind the essentials of slenderness.
69Omit all draw ribbons at the top of lingerie. Use tiny lengthwise darts to fit the garments close and smooth. ”

“ LINGERIE AND WASHABLE WAISTS AND DRESSES should be mended before they go to the laundry. A small hole will become a large one in washing, and not only is the work of mending doubled, but the injury to the garment is frequently irreparable. ”

“ Long, flowing, and even trailing skirts are beautiful and appropriate in the parlor, but in the muddy streets, draggling in the filth, and embarrassing every movement of the wearer, or in the country among the bushes and briers, they lose all their beauty and grace, because no longer fitting. The prettiest costume we have ever seen for a shopping excursion or a walk in the city, and especially for a ramble in the country, is a short dress or frock reaching to the knee, and trowsers of the common pantaloon form, but somewhat wider. ”

“ As examples of modified exhibitionism, we may record the propensity of women to wear low-necked gowns and dresses, short skirts, sleeveless waists, transparent fabrics, and similar dress and undress effects, which permit more or less display of the flesh and figure, and this affords an unconscious, and also a conscious, gratification of woman's impulse to exhibitionism. Other characteristic examples are certain hair-dressing arrangements, picturesque hats, various poses and attitudes, and other evidences that tend to emphasize the sex appeal of femininity. ”

“ The Women’s Dress.—The women are no more addicted to fine clothes than their men-folk. All women wear the same costume; a dark-blue cotton cloth, just long enough to go round the wearer’s waist with a slight over-lap, and held up by a girdle of brass wire or string, serves as a petticoat which only reaches to the knee, the only other garments being a short white jacket and a cloth which is worn in the same manner as the men. ”

“ As a rule, a delicate pink is the color that most men prefer. The sex act with some men requires the most delicate adjustments, and the condition of the underwear may determine the man's desire and ability or inability to accomplish the act. I therefore repeat: whether you are newly married or have been [346] married a quarter of a century, be sure that your underwear is the very best that your means will allow you, and that it is always sweet, fresh and dainty. It will help you to retain the affection of your husband. ”

“ As soon as a dress or a hat or a blouse or a parasol, a pair of boots, slippers, stockings, or any of the costly, flimsy, all but unlaunderable underwear she affected, became not quite perfect, she put it aside against that vague day when she should have leisure or inclination for superintending a seamstress. ”

“ Styles change in underwear just as they do in dresses and the silhouette of the outer garment must decide what the lines of the under one shall be. For the present styles soft yielding materials are absolutely necessary for underwear and few flounces should be used about the bottom of the skirt if the clinging effect around the ankles and knees is desired in the dress. ”

“ With two or three pretty shirt-waists and a nice skirt, a simple dress for evenings, and a warm stuff costume of serge or flannel for cool or rainy mornings, a girl will be supplied for every needful requirement. One's own dainty home wardrobe is sufficient for a visit, and if the sailor hat be trim, the shoes and gloves in order, and the girl carry herself gracefully, nobody will think a second time about her dress. ”

“ The girls are dressed in silk or cotton tunics and trousers, similar in shape and color to those worn by the married ladies, but far less costly, are painted gaudily on cheeks and lips, and wear on their heads the checked cotton handkerchiefs which are the badge of prostitution. ”

“ Sometimes she acts as carter, and it is precisely in such cases that she sheds her feminine skirts and dons the odd costume that astonishes the inquisitive stranger new to these parts, who sees, with doubt as to whether he sees aright, a creature with the boots and trousers of a man, a nondescript garment, half bodice and half coat with skirts, considerably above the knees, and a sun-bonnet on her head, working in the rick-yards, or squashing heavily through the farmyard muck. ”

“ Fashion prescribes the size and shape of bonnets, the make of gowns, their length and their size—the number of breadths and gores—the trimmings, the petticoats, which have become like a second gown, and all the other paraphernalia of a lady's toilette. There is no part of a lady's dress too minute for her inspection and care and legislation. The colour of gloves, the dye of hair, the application of false hair, the make of boots and shoes, the choice of ornaments, are all ordered and arranged. ”

“ And in regard to a young girl's wardrobe, the same fundamental rule prevails: if every article of apparel is not daintily clean, it is unbecoming and unworthy a refined personality. Soiled laces and soiled ribbons are to be shunned; but better untidiness and soil of the outward apparel than of that which we know by the general name of underwear, which is far more personal and important than the outward costume. ”

“ I have said that my passions had begun to develope themselves, but as yet I did not understand their force or direction. I well remember this first night, when a fine ripe woman gradually removed every particle of dress within a couple of yards of me—the effect of each succeeding charm, from her lovely and beautifully formed bubbies to the taking off her shoes and stockings from her well-formed legs and small feet and ankles, caused my prick to swell and stiffen to a painful extent. ”

“ The dress of high-born ladies was very similar to that of the men, for it, too, consisted of rucked trousers, of brilliantly-coloured silk, decorated with embroidery and confined at the feet with plain gold bangles or jewelled anklets. ”

“ Gowns are manufactured of pieces of cloth cut in proper shape and sewn together in some, to the male, occult fashion, and this complex operation only explains itself even to a woman by going through the experience. One has always been accustomed to think that the accomplished mistress is also an expert needle-woman or skilled worker in textiles of some kind. Products of the [35] needle and loom have always been her intimate, personal possessions, and the charm of old hangings, lace, needlecraft of all kinds, rests in the main on this personal quality. ”

“ Are they all women? for all alike seem to wear long skirts and thick hoods: there are neither trousers, nor hats, nor bonnets. No, there is a fair sprinkling of men; but men and women dressed more alike then than they do now. You will see, if you look, that some of these long skirts are open in front, and you may catch a glimpse of a beard here and there under the hood. ”

“ And look at her dress, those long, full sleeves and the big, bulging skirt! That's different, too. And then her hair, not high and powdered and all fussed up, but low and parted smooth and drawn down over her ears, and that dear little wreath of tiny roses! ”

“ Let your girls dress just like your boys, make no difference whatever in respect to them—give them knickerbockers, if you like—with these exceptions, that the under-garments be of a little lighter material, and that they be supplemented by an outer gown or robe which shall take the place of the outer coat of the boys, and shall make them look distinctively what they are—girls clothed cap-à-pie, and well clothed from head to foot. ”

“ One month at longest is the life of a woman’s dress; then the old skirt is burned and a brand-new one plaited, with no tedious fittings at the dressmaker’s, nor depressing bills to pay.
When dressed in their best for visits or feast days, the women don skirts prettily decorated with wide strips of pandanus leaves bleached for the purpose and stained a bright yellow with reng, and about the waist-band are inserted brightly variegated leaves of croton. ”

“ In France, women with blue faces and too often with the pulling lips of babes at dry breasts, learned the bitter tasks of sewing closed the coat sleeves and of cutting off and hemming the trousers leg at the knee. ”

“ This is to be worn over your corset and brassiere and will give a perfectly smooth foundation for your dresses. Remember that your corset, brassiere, and slip must be so well fitted that no bumps or hangovers will be evident.
We fat women—and I don’t know why—have a natural hankering for lacy underwear, and that hankering is just as uncontrollable as our appetite for luscious bonbons. I do not intend to tell you that you can’t have lovely undergarments, but you must make sure that the lace or trimming is put where it cannot bulge out. ”

“ The rest content themselves with a few separate articles of dress, either a shirt, or a waistcoat, or a pair of breeches, or a hat; and seem to be well pleased with their own appearance. The women are ugly, and wear a long slip of striped cotton over the shoulders, hanging down to the knees before and behind; but children are perfectly naked till the age of puberty. ”