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Story
August 8, 1887
The Morning News
Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia
What is this article about?
New York fashion article on the 'ribbon craze,' describing excessive ribbon use in clothing and home decor, advising on colors and suitability for slim vs. fat women, emphasizing that extreme body types should avoid trendy styles like sashes and puffed sleeves.
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OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
THE RIBBON CRAZE.
Very Fat and Very Lean Women Have Nothing to do With the Fashions.
NEW YORK, Aug. 6.—Manufacturers of ribbons ought by this time to be retiring with large fortunes, for never in the history of mankind have ribbons been put to more varied uses. Not only is every available object in the house tied up with bows, but a gown or hat nowadays is of no consequence unless adorned with innumerable loops and ends. I saw a summer costume the other day that was decorated with no less than ten pieces of ribbon, each piece containing ten yards. Velvet ribbons are used almost exclusively on thin white dresses and the effect is remarkably pretty. But great care should be used in selecting the shades. Many women think that because a certain tint is new or fashionable it must necessarily be purchased and worn. Perhaps there have seldom been so many novel colors employed as now, but nearly all of them are hideous beyond description. Modern ingenuity can do very little to improve upon the old familiar shades, and if those flame colors, impossible heliotropes, glaring pinks, bilious yellows and parrot greens are really to be adopted, then the women who wear them would do well to have their complexions done over to match, since there is no facial coloring in nature that harmonizes with these dyes. Then a word as to sashes. No doubt sashes are fashionable, since nine women out of ten have them on. But the rule that regulates their use is the same that applies to leg-of-mutton sleeves and sailor hats. They are becoming only to slim, youthful figures. Fashion does not exist, or at all events was never intended, for adipose tissue or the other extreme, bones. Very fat women and very thin ones have nothing to do with fashions. They must find a style of dress that suits them and stick to it. Perhaps the thin woman has a slight advantage over her opposite. She, at all events, can put on puffed sleeves and that abominable invention called a bustle. But her stout sister had better leave all such vanities alone. Nevertheless, she, it is generally who sports the sailor hat, the ulster and the infant's sash, and doubtless she will always be the first to adopt a fashion, especially if it happen to be a conspicuous one.
CLARA LANZA.
Very Fat and Very Lean Women Have Nothing to do With the Fashions.
NEW YORK, Aug. 6.—Manufacturers of ribbons ought by this time to be retiring with large fortunes, for never in the history of mankind have ribbons been put to more varied uses. Not only is every available object in the house tied up with bows, but a gown or hat nowadays is of no consequence unless adorned with innumerable loops and ends. I saw a summer costume the other day that was decorated with no less than ten pieces of ribbon, each piece containing ten yards. Velvet ribbons are used almost exclusively on thin white dresses and the effect is remarkably pretty. But great care should be used in selecting the shades. Many women think that because a certain tint is new or fashionable it must necessarily be purchased and worn. Perhaps there have seldom been so many novel colors employed as now, but nearly all of them are hideous beyond description. Modern ingenuity can do very little to improve upon the old familiar shades, and if those flame colors, impossible heliotropes, glaring pinks, bilious yellows and parrot greens are really to be adopted, then the women who wear them would do well to have their complexions done over to match, since there is no facial coloring in nature that harmonizes with these dyes. Then a word as to sashes. No doubt sashes are fashionable, since nine women out of ten have them on. But the rule that regulates their use is the same that applies to leg-of-mutton sleeves and sailor hats. They are becoming only to slim, youthful figures. Fashion does not exist, or at all events was never intended, for adipose tissue or the other extreme, bones. Very fat women and very thin ones have nothing to do with fashions. They must find a style of dress that suits them and stick to it. Perhaps the thin woman has a slight advantage over her opposite. She, at all events, can put on puffed sleeves and that abominable invention called a bustle. But her stout sister had better leave all such vanities alone. Nevertheless, she, it is generally who sports the sailor hat, the ulster and the infant's sash, and doubtless she will always be the first to adopt a fashion, especially if it happen to be a conspicuous one.
CLARA LANZA.
What sub-type of article is it?
Fashion Commentary
What themes does it cover?
Social Manners
What keywords are associated?
Ribbon Craze
Fashion Trends
Body Types
Color Choices
Sashes
Women Fashion
What entities or persons were involved?
Clara Lanza
Where did it happen?
New York
Story Details
Key Persons
Clara Lanza
Location
New York
Event Date
Aug. 6.
Story Details
Discussion of the widespread use of ribbons in fashion and home decor, criticism of novel ugly colors, advice on sashes and styles suitable only for slim figures, suggesting fat and thin women avoid trends.