overthrown, and that it is all-important that people be thoroughly
acquainted with the far-reaching and basic significance of this
problem, through courageous and persistent agitation and education, in
order that manhood and womanhood be brought up to the ethical plane
which marks enduring civilization. In the examination of this subject
I desire to very briefly notice it from aesthetic, hygienic, and
ethical points of view. It is a singular fact that every effort made
toward a healthful and common sense reform in woman's apparel has been
assailed as inartistic or immoral; while fashions at once disgusting,
indecent, destructive to life and health, and degrading to womanhood
have been readily sanctioned by conventionalism. This antagonistic
attitude toward any movement for an improvement in woman's attire
founded on the laws of health, art, comfort, and common sense was
characteristically expressed in a recent editorial in a leading Boston
daily, wherein the writer solemnly observed:

The simple truth is, the great majority of the women _appreciate
the fact that it is their mission to be beautiful_, and the
dress reformers have never yet devised any garment to assist the
women in fulfilling this mission.

[Illustration: From 1860 to 1865. The era of hoop-skirts.]

[Illustration: From 1860 to 1865. The hoop-skirt era. The difficult
feat of tying on a bonnet.]

The author of the above fairly represents the attitude of conventional
thought,--its servility to fashion, its antagonism to reformative
moves. The implied falsehood that fashion represents beauty and art,
or is the servant of aestheticism has been reiterated so often that
thousands have accepted it as truth.

[Illustration: 1870 to 1875. The era of the enormous bustle and train
of sweeping dimensions.]

[Illustration: 1870 to 1875. The era of the enormous bustle and train
of sweeping dimensions.]

In order to expose its falsity, I have reproduced in this paper plates
taken from leading American and English fashion monthlies during the
past three decades, in each of which it is noticeable that extremes
have been reached. In 1860-65, the hoop-skirt held sway, and the wasp
waist was typical of beauty. Then no lady was correctly attired
according to the prevailing idea who did not present a spectacle
curiously suggestive of a moving circus tent. During this era four or
five fashionably dressed women completely filled an ordinary
drawing-