WOMEN'S DRESS IN RELATION TO HEALTH.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 83, 16 December 1864, Page 6 (Supplement)

WOMEN'S DRESS IN RELATION TO HEALTH.

(From the 'Mexm^r^ M^aune^','.^. '| ; vTlie long ' flowing, drapevy, l wHclidn all;\ji-vilißed ! ~. countries' ia generally considered an: essential part j of women's dress,: roust be ■/■. very. ; heavy • and ■ ';; but it,.'need*ot;bo;nearly .asimuch i so as' it generally: is no\v.V \ We.;have lately .taken; the i trouble i tb; weigh a . linseyi dress, .a .thick cloth, : cloak,; a f scarlet .flannel uppeivijpetticoati a: steel . skeleton a flannel undev petticoat ; and all the reafc of the clothing yrovn in -winter. by; a young lady ;6f eighteen; of the!avei?ig6 height ; theiweight: of the whole wa3 fourteen:', pounds and. a,; quarter. !.Thisc ? may Be considered ■ as below, :-rath6rv.than above, the average weight of the clothing; worn by most women in winter, for there are few who do. :' not wear . more; petticoats, and wrap more sin" eve*y way, than, this- young; lady; ; Few of ..us^haye, enough to do with weights and scales to " have a Tery clear idea of tho weight represented by; four- , |,teen ; ppunds..;,..We. could jre^commend thoße;of our readers ; £j^epqt;leai;neil in this^^fetyfo carry on ;the first opportunilrf', a seven'-pqunii. weight iin. each, hand .up aiid down the i'ooni -.for. five minutes; &ey" ! wur:the^ l aSßuredJy ne^ed ;iio '^gunien't convince them ,tli^t)/sucn,,a..wfflght;iß.'far : '.iEpo great; to be,carried about in the shape; of .plpthes. .There is no doubt that' it greatly wastes pur strength, jsp that there is mueh^lesa left for our wori." jTfc? makes us tOswaik>nearly so far as we could, if we carried no needless VeightJ and often makes walking, winch is the "best of all kinds of exercise, . only a misery to those who are very weak and ; delicate. This is a very , serious tiling for. working ', ". wbinen : ; • ' it -matters very ; lit tie. ; to , , the .rich lady -who can drive everywhere -with her brougham aindpairdf greys, whether she 'can. ; walk eight miles '-'or.: a quarter of a mile^'but it matters very much ta; otir friend. Annie Smith,ithe. ; struggling young wood-engraver,' whose only carriage is a threepenny omnibus, which rarely :has room for her on wet clays,. and rarely ; goes where she. wants.it ondry ones, r.: Fortunately -our friend Annieia a very .."; healthy, sanitary; little ,bbdy-f-a wpinan of baths,; charcoal ventilators, Bpring mat-tras'seaj.; and "such like"— aticlaliecati- walk her four mUes an hemr; like a little '< Deerfoot." .-.. She tells, us that this: same ■ pedestrian power has been f a .wonderful help ;; to, i her; ; Bhe : ; says, .^th&t;, but ..,-. for. ,it, sho would have to leave her , airy,; healthy,, little perch in Highgate-cum- Hollo wayj : ; and live like thousands: of ; her j sisters, near : ;her .place: of. work in Holbbrn-cum-Bloomsberry, and so ; be likeithem, in a very ? unsanitary conflifcion. She, says, that if she could ; not -walk- well she, would have to leave off-going, to the West-end to hear, her faydrite. preacher, and would have to go round the cprner.to hear pne who doc 3 not suit her particular cast of mind at all. She says, that, if she had not been ; able to walk well, she never, could have attended; Spu.fcli .Kensington. and Jer-myn-street lectures, ,but. would, have remained: up, to this very .day in- her, native; of . of things sanifcaiy iin^,..Seienfciile, beKeviug,, a.3 she.; .used to believe, that epi^erniis w;as the name of an animal, 'and . endqsnaosis .'*. was something to eat. . In shorfc, she says, that in all tilings "the march of intellect " depends in her case', very much upon her bodily powers -of •-marching. We have ,no doubt_that Annie is perfectly right in this -matter, and that her ease 13 -just the- same : as' thousands of othevs,''antl ) .witb-"her,"we iegarcl unnecessary weight of clothing or anything' else ■which' ; inak'e3 : us less able to 'walk, as a great 1 evil,- 'even oil that, account alone. • The fi.rst thing which needs to be done in this direction is to lessen the size of: the ridiculously large hoops whiclv are now in -15181110X1,;; and; which make it necessary^ to; 'put : ;so :extrar:: vaga-nt a ; qua"iitity- of material into skirts and, every thing else worn over them. . ■ •" „-, .