THE JERSEY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue XV, 25 November 1880, Page 4

THE JERSEY.

Discussing the feminine garment known as the jersey, the New York Times says : — "It is painful to be compelled to mention that the jersey is found to have one very marked fault. It is easy to put on, provided the wearer performs that feat before she puts on her back hair, but when the time for taking it off arrives she begins to wish that Mrs Langtry had never been born, and, unless she has a maid or some friendly person to help her, despairs of ever again undressing in ; this world. Now, it has alweja been the boast of woman that her clothing, 'though somewhat intricate of adjustment, can be readily laid as de. Ifc is 'said by experienced husbands that all a I woman has to do is to let go a few 'halyards, cast off a few braces, and, ■ perhaps, cut a lashing or two, and everything comes down by the run. This description may be exaggerated, and, indeed, there is no way of demonstrating its accuracy, but the celerity with which a woman can 1 prepare herieelf to jump overboard when a steamboat accident occurs justifies us in assuming that, as a rule, she can re duce her more important garments with ease and rapidity. Man has always !been confessedly her inferior in this (respect. His boots frequently defy his ; moat earnest efforts, and in those cases where he has weakly permitted himsalf jto fasten his collar with pins, he is 'sometimes reduced to the necessary of itearing it off, . and . relieving his mind jwith Tigordus language, Themascu'line wearer of the original jersey finds mo difficulty in taking it off. He grasps |it with both hands just above the jshouldera, and pulls it over his head. This- he can safely do, because the Icoarse strong fibres of which it is made {render it able to resist a very heavy ■strain. The delicate feminine jersey icannot, however, be treated in any such 'reckless way. It not only fits more iclosely than the masculine jeisey, but it is so frail that it cannot be violently dragged over the head k It is strong 'enough when any ordinary strain to which it can be subjected is distributed all over it— as when a very stout lady ■compresses herself with a small jersey — but to take hold of it by the neckband and pull violently is to inevitably : tear it in pieces. If the wearer of a jersey has an available husband, maid, or friend, ■she can, with proper care, be extricated ifrom the garment. She has merely to bend over in an attitude of profound reverence and to brace her hands firmly against the piano or some heavy article !of furniture. The husband then Seizes the extreme lower etfge of the jersey, land, turning it back upon itself) draws ;it steadily and firmly over the wearor'a head. If she has previously taken off her back hair and cleared away all pins and buttons that may have been in the way, the removal of the. jersey is successfully accomplished. The feat, however, inexorably demands the aid of an ; assistant, for no woman can put her j hands over her shoulders and grasp an object in the: locality of the waistband ;of her dress* All women cannot . command the services of a devoted and : muscular husband or friend, anJ it is Ito such women that the jersey becomes I a species of woolen nightmare. While 1 all over England and to some extent in our own land, women have accepted" it as an axiom that no one can take off : her jersey unassisted, almost any small I boy could : tell them that they are mistaken, and could show them how a jerJsey can be taken off by its wearer alone. The small boy has learned from the traditions handed down at boardingschools that the knobs of doors are designed to assist in the removal of ;tightly-fitting undershirts. "When he to remove a .garment of this 'kind, he stands with his back close lagainst the door and places the hem of 'the undershirt over the knob. He then 'glides slowly and steadily into a kneelJing position, and by the time his knees lhave reached the floor, the knob , with Ithe lower edge of the underskirt still 'clinging to it, is at the line of his neck. He can then readily seize the garment 'and pull it over his head without tearing'it, no matter how fragile it may be. All that women have to do is to imitate the small boy. The door-knob is universally diffused over the face pf the civilised world, and it will pull off jereeys with as much ease as juvenile undershirts. If the wo'npfen who are now wearing jerseys »will' avail themselves of door-knobs, their difficulties will be at an end, and they will be emancipated from that degrading dependence upon husbands and servants which now takes away half the charm of wearing a fashionable jersey."