Dress of School Girls

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 2, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 26.

Dress of School Girls.

A LITTLE fairy in white embroidered dress, pink sash, pink kid shoes, and with flaxen ringlets hanging over her shoulders, stood looking at a sturdy miss of her own age, whose face was rosy and sunburned, whose locks were short and disheveled, and whose dress was of stout gingham, plainly made, and whose feet were bare.

"Your dress ain't a bit pretty," said the fairy.

"I don't care," answered the little rustic, "I can climb in it."

"You haven't got any sash," continued the fairy.

"I don't want one," replied the rustic, "it would only get caught on the fence."

"See my pretty shoes; your feet are bare," and her face and tone expressed horror at such defiance of propriety.

"I don't care. You can't wade in your shoes and I can in my feet."

"Your hair don't curl like mine," persisted the fairy.

"I wouldn't have curls," stoutly rejoined the rustic, "they pull too much when they are combed. I'm going to wear short hair as long as I live."

"Have you got a pretty pink parasol?" queried the fairy.

"Parasol!" sniffed the rustic, "what'd I want of a parasol a-digging in the sand, or a-fishing with Jim?"

"Don't you like pretty things?" insisted the fairy, who was not to be bluffed off.

"Yes, I like nice sunsets and flowers and I like to look at you, but I wouldn't like to be tied up, even if the ribbons were pretty. If I had all those nice things I'd have to sit still, and my mamma would be all the time saying, 'Now, Katie, be quiet or you'll tear your dress,' and that would just worry me to death."

Here is a picture from real life, a miniature lady contrasted with a real child. What sadder sight can there be than a merry, fun-loving little maid restricted to decorous and lady-like amusements on account of fine dress? No wonder that the instincts of the child, perverted from natural channels, should turn in after years toward the gauds to which her childish liberty was sacrificed, as towards idols to be worshiped and still to demand sacrifice.

Dress the girls, then, from infancy upward, in strong, plain, inexpensive clothing, and let them play; never let them feel that wool or cotton is more valuable than flesh and blood. Let their ideas of fine dress be a simple, pretty garment with which to honor God's holy day, and their idea of adornment be clean hands and a pure heart. A girl who has not been fettered with dress in childhood will not be apt to be led into undue devotion to dress in after years. A child's love of beauty need not be sacrificed; plain dresses can be made prettily, even if simply, and the beauty of utility and of fitness be taught, rather than that of profuse ornamentation, without regard to congruity between the dress and the occasions on which it is to be worn.

"Susie is most twelve years old," said a fond mother, "don't you think I had better put corsets on her? She does not want to wear them. She says they hurt her, but I am afraid she

will not have a good figure if she does not put them on soon."

"Never let her have it to say that her mother put corsets on her," said I.

"But she will grow all out of shape, and get round shoulders. She is as large around her waist now as she is under the arms."

"Thank God for that," said I.

Mrs. Y. looked shocked. I continued: "You are a Christian, Mrs. Y. Don't you think the Lord made Susie's body, and that the figure she has is moulded by divine wisdom? I say, reverently, thank God if a girl of twelve has a waist of natural form and size. She has a better future before her than one who has a slender, compressed waist. Did you worry about Tommy's figure, and put corsets on him?"

"Why, no; but he is a boy."

"Must I infer, then, that the Lord knows better how to make boys than girls?"

Mrs. Y. looked as if she thought me a little deranged, and I presume did not heed my suggestions, and yet I believe they are correct. The clothes of the girl ought from the very first, to be so loose that the mother's hand can be inserted between them and the body of the child, even around the waist. All skirts, drawers, and even stockings, should be suspended from the shoulders. I would rather use the old-fashioned garter than to suspend the hose from a band around the waist. The underclothing should be equally distributed over the whole body, arms and legs receiving as many thicknesses as the trunk. The combination underwear is the best that has yet been invented. With these, fewer skirts are needed, the extra clothing being added in a suit that covers the whole body, like the layer of an onion. One petticoat will then be enough, and this can be sewed to a waist. Dresses of the princess pattern are the most healthful, as they have no belts. Sailor dresses are objectionable, because they must have a tight belt to keep the blouse in place. So, while they look loose and pretty, they are in fact unhealthful, because constricting the waist.

If a skirt and basque, or polonaise, is worn, the skirt should be suspended by a waist or straps. Even the weight of that one skirt is enough to tire out the physical strength, and worry the girl, who cannot understand why she feels so dragged down. An experiment will prove the truth of this statement. Underwaists can be made to fit beautifully, without being tight at any point, and the girl who has never felt the constraint of corset bones will find them instruments of torture. Not long since I was in a room where a delicate girl was taking a lesson in singing. She felt faint, and went to lie down upon the sofa. I followed her to loosen her clothing, and when she recovered I could not refrain from saying, "My dear, your dress is too tight."

"Oh, no, it is not tight at all."

"Now," said I, "your dress is unfastened, see if, after taking a deep breath, and while holding the air in your lungs, you can fasten it." Of course she could not.

"But I don't ever want to breathe that way," said the girl. And with an air of offended dignity she held her breath, and drew together the stiff corset steels. A premature grave, or a life of invalidism doubtless awaits her.

Girls, when by proper dressing and careful living you have attained an eminence of power and usefulness, no one will ask whether you wore homespun or silk in your girlhood. Be brave enough to defy fashion, and live for that day when you shall be able to do something in the world. Without health you can never be an active verb. Is it not better to do than merely to be, or to suffer?—Congregationalist.

A GENEROUS, wholesome diet is less expensive than doctors' bills; and less trouble than the care of the sick; and no money nor time spent in furnishing it is ever wasted.