Surely such penalties, to say nothing of heart disease,
spinal curvature, and worse, are sufficiently dreadful to deter either
maids or matrons from unduly compressing their waists? No adult woman's
waist ought to measure less in circumference than twenty-four inches at
the smallest, and even this is permissible to slender figures only. The
rule of beauty is that the waist should be twice the size of the throat.
Therefore, if the throat measure twelve and a half inches, round the
waist should measure twenty-five. The celebrated statue know as the
'Venus de Medici,' the acknowledged type of beauty and grace, has a
waist of twenty-seven inches, the height of the figure being only five
feet two inches."
And, while on this subject, I must mention that some new stays, made of
elastic material, have recently been advertised, which I should imagine
were comfortable. Dr. Jaeger also has an elastic knitted bodice on his
list, which is in reality a description of stays, and would afford
sufficient support to a slight figure.
The illustrations to our dress instructions of this month show the
prevailing characteristics of the gowns of the month, and also
demonstrate how little change there is in them.
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