houlder-straps, this assertion might
have had a shadow of truth, but now, when they never have them, their
weight must simply be added to the total amount of weight of skirts, to
find the number of pounds of downward pressure. They serve only as a
kind of fender to prevent the tightly tied skirts from cutting into the
muscle, and therefore, conducing to prevent discomfort, only serve to
delude the girl into the belief that they hold up her skirts. This
weight, evidently, should be borne by the shoulders, where the
firmly-jointed skeleton, upheld from below, offers a firm and safe
support. But give a girl shoulder-straps, and she finds the pressure
over so small an area on the shoulders unbearable, and besides, the
process of dressing becomes then a matter of almost as much complication
as the harnessing of a horse, when some inexperienced person has done
the unharnessing. Suspenders, though answering the purpose perfectly for
men, will not answer for women, and even when made especially for them,
are found inconvenient. The girl should wear, over her corsets, an
under-waist, fitted precisely like the waist-lining of a dress as to
seams and "biases," or "darts." It should be made of strong shirting,
neatly corded at neck and "arm-seyes," and finished around the waist by
a binding of the width of an ordinary belt, set up over the waist so as
to have three thicknesses of cloth for buttons. To these buttons, four
or more in number, the skirts should be hung. The weight comes then on
the shoulders, and is evenly distributed there, so that it is not felt.
This statement, of course, implies, that the waists are sufficiently
large. Moreover, which is only an incidental matter, the waist answers
as a corset-cover, and as a dress-protector at the same time, and in the
winter, when dresses cannot be washed, it becomes a matter of necessity
to have something to answer the latter purpose. In the summer, when low
linings are desirable, these waists can, of course, be made low in the
neck. The shoulder-support then becomes narrower, but on the other hand,
the weight of the clothing to be supported is very much less than in the
winter, so that no inconvenience will be found. These waists themselves
can then, if desired, take the place of linings for thin summer dresses,
and if this be done, another incidental advantage will be the greater
ease and nicety with which muslins and calicoes can be "done up." It
should be borne in mind, that w