| The Garment That Breathes
“Wear the garment that breathes over your corset if you are stout,” advised the head of the corset department of other days, as she was fitting a customer whose weight reaches well above the 150-pound notch.
“It will keep you trim and neat. It is made of linen mesh, well boned and with elastic sides,” and she cleverly adjusted this wonderful brassiere on her stout customer, who smiled with satisfaction as she saw her reflection in the mirror.
“Makes me almost a sylph,” she laughed, “and it’s just as easy and comfortable as a rocking chair.”
“By the way,” she continued, “can you tell me any way to clean corsets — except by sending them to the professional cleaner who will charge you from 50 cents to $1 every time?”
“Well,” said the corsetiere, “very satisfactory results may be obtained with a stiff-bristled hand scrubbing brush or nail brush and good soap and water. One woman told me that she uses sapallo with great success and the corset she had on had three times been thus cleansed by herself and I must say it looked as clean and almost as stainless as when it was new and fresh.”
To be perfectly wholesome and clean, the corset, especially when worn in such hot weather as came upon us a few days ago, ought to be cleansed as often as other underwear. It is a splendid idea to thoroughly air your corset when you take it off at night. Never, never, roll it up immediately and deposit it in its box. Leave it exposed to the air all night at least and every day or two give it the cleansing and sweetening benefit of the fresh air and sunshine.
If the corset is badly stained and soiled, remove the bones and steels, scrub it well with a stiff-bristled brush and good soap and water and lay it on the grass to bleach and whiten.
I have read somewhere that a little ammonia in which enough salt has been put to make a soft mixture will, if used as a cleanser, remove discolorations.
Fashions and Fads
Buttons grow larger and more ornate.
Gowns of colored net are fashionable.
Straight lines are still the rule for gowns.
Never was the top coat more worn than today.
Sweaters this year are longer than ever before.
Many of the gayest parasols have jet black handles.
Fringe now appears on a great many articles of dress.
New silk stockings have heels and toes of lisle thread.
Hats made in fine batiste are enjoying a remarkable vogue.
Silver jewelry is the craze on the other side of the water.
White moire belts with tiny jet dots are among the novelties.
Many of the new leather shopping bags are fringed at the bottom.
A modish fad of the moment is to employ silver buckles on white shoes.
The tucked yoke of lace or tulle is almost universal on Paris gowns.
Shantung continues to make up new costumes, both for street and house.
The sleeveless coat yields but reluctantly to the mandate of the season.
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