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The Trend Toward
Naturalism That
May Bring Western
Women Back to
iGlassicStandards.
JT) ECENTLY an Justrian woman tried
fX to make her benighted iisters in
Vtcnna qshamed of iheir lmle feet.
She didn't succeed, ' .
f Even the pleas urt-loving Viennese weren't
ready to be comfortable aCthe. expense of
iuhat has always been considered beautiful.
The bright-eyed damsels and buxom matrons
of Europe's gayest capital wouldn't dispense
with wlidt, to them, as to their sisters of the
whole civilized world,; has been a, fetish to .
win man's admiration. .
: It has been the-fashion to scaf7at the
ancients' for 'admiring the big feet of Helen
of Troy, But when -you come right down
. to. J V her J feet 'were . no . bigger,,, than most j:
' women's- who walk the streets today. ' " '
, s ' N ature doesn't change her styles with the
seasons. $he created men with extremities
on the average; proportionate to their bodies.
She ' played no favorites. She treated the'""
women exactly as she did the men. .'
. But,' finally, along came the shoemakers. " ,
From that time all changed. Since the middle
oges. the craft of centuries has been devoted -te
the problem of making the feminine foot ;
look smaller than it really is.- They catered
to the UtileJoQt fetish, and they succeeded so V
well, that most people are scarcely willing to ' ,
believe that thexr eyesjiave been playing them
false. - ' 'v .
Tk T0TICBJ tn illustrations on this page, You will
IV I e that in the old Greek statuary the aculntot
JL, . chiseled out the male feet and the female feet
in exactly the same proportions.
" As exhibit No. i, notice th feet ef two model of the
present day. Here again you will see that the proportions
of th two sixes, so far a extremities are concerned, art
exactly the sam. .
Just as Nature made man th larger in stature, se
ii.. '.,- nm ... ... T... -v.. -
woman.. She gave her a tnucn to walk on, in relation to
her size, a th other sax. -
J aorne thousands of years th work of Katur wa
4 jrvrn
A.V YA
It;
mm
Tr
fly ?
I
r It .......
s- -ts
xszfzry
Citi IT .
I ' I I r i lib. - .
If V I
h
..fully approved. The old Greeks, with their sever ideas
of the beautiful and- the harmonious, never dreamed that
woman might be handsomer If her feet were smaller.
to tnern, tne root snouia oo ot a certain size y cor-
rBUnrvnrt with tha flcnirn
The w.n thru adonted -was Nature's.
If one of ths'
2 mnS ftWnh
a more beautifuh atatue by snaving oown waiure a ieei
a few sixes, it is but reasonable to auppoe that he would
Ik 1,,, MQannfth , tn unnnnii TKlOt wflll fl
have done so. He was strugging- to represent tne peau
tlful, -and he used the proportions that to hi eye,
seemed most perfect - --
- The women themselves, ' according to our modern
notions, were just as benighted the men. They stalked
about on the feet Nature had given them, and, were
perfectly contented. There is no reason to suppose that
. they were any lens vain than the women of today, but
. their self-admiration never called, for tootaie-wootaies
smaller than they came into the world with. .
Even th eternal feminine of the early middle ages
did not try to make people think her, feet were smaller
than they really were. In the days when it was the
fashion to exaggerate the length of the shoe toe the
women went as far .as the men. Indeed, it may have
bren a reaction front that exaggeration that led milady's
vanity Into a new channel.
Possibly from perceiving that the long toe wer riot
fr .-.-.- vith the figur, ah decided to. veer as far
9 r.7-
M
OTHER looks at you timidly and cays f
''Clara, do you think you could help
. me with thepneumatio cleaner oa the
aminjf room rugi ' ,
Your heart sinks. Just as you wanted to
hare .vour nerves toerf ectlv. auiet anrl. voiir-Ap.naQ
of well-beinit simply bubblinir with smiles for his
call tonight, you'll have to pump and pump until
you feel like the servant girl the houBo.ouaht to
H8
3
IE
llllll n MIL J .wlli'l MliiBliifl-M M
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' r ''"V '' $'' Pjgil K f 1 'V - .- - I . .; -ill I
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if Ls ' if if
I ..wia ji.v.a. -vwT 1 x, fZm r ' in .11 , , . 1
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6
"ilti
Mr
mam
luteal
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iiiiiiii!
liilllliii
7. about on tho other tack; a possible, and to keep her',
toes to the utmost limit of shortness.
In Queen Elisabeth' time we see th first attempt
to make the. foot "took email. In contrast with the long,
turned-up toe. the slippers of the good Queen Bess must.
Vi a va innMiAri mlffhtv fllmlnllti v
This very same woman toon up ine iro 01 wwiuk
t( tbta s th whole aim
t- . . . . . ... ... , th Bh., . small'
' ie" .V. ' - . . ; - .
looking as possible. In fashiens, as in everything else,
. there , 1 a gradual evolution, and In thi case the evoiu- (
tion has beca -right -along - pnellne . lor about - fouf
centuries.
PERFECTED BY THE FRENCHWOMEN
However while the Englishwomen seemed' to have
tarted the fad for little feet, the Frenchwomen were th
ones who refined it and brought it to it greatest per
fection. If the latter word may be allowed to be applied
to anything unnatural. .
' In the seventeenth cntury, when the salons et Parts
sharpened milady' wits and furnished incentives for the
utmost refinement of toilettes, the high-heeled slipper,
which has survived to the present day without a single
lapse, came into being. By hat time growth of what w .
know as modesty In regard to the person was beginning
to "- " pffect. The gentler sex had begun to feel
have, anyway. ' " J " . , . " t
' ' ''All right, motheT," you say, with 'that
anguished inflection which makes mother wish
eno Hadn't asked you.
Well. ladies! "if voir" havwanv" doubt -o that
JJ.ow... yQU.Won'thaveliheilyQUbecom(lrich
enough to make that tour of -. Europe you've
always been longing 'for." There are women over
there, ' young and old, who would know perfectly
6
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Ml r . 1 ;'
.iawKTT:- Ai "ft;
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.
l that it must differ from the sterner, not only In dress1 and
deportment, but In proportion Large feet, or feet that
t looked large, came to be considered masculine.
. Then, along with the pretty illpper that humps up tha
foot and cramps the toes into a pointed leather prison,
" there arrived that exaggerated admiration.' for a well
turned ankle that distinguished the gallants of a century
or so ago. To Judge from some of the writers who
mirrored the times, it mattered little what other charms;
a woman did or didn't have, so long as she could display
! a pretty ankle, while pretending to conceal It.
What a change there was from the classic idea! The
Grecian woman, who arrayed herself as simply as
v possible, who exposed parts of her figure as she saw fit,
and who knew of no reason for trying to alter her pro
portions, wit-ether of feet or waist, was almost lacking in
what we know as modesty. She thought nothing of
assisting a male vlBitor to remove the stains of travel
.1 1 A - . VnkhanH'i fefiiia. fiVi N ft I TY1 rtK f
as much- lacking in self-cons:ioHBness, o fur as concerns
nudity, as a Japanese woman who has not been brought
in contact wltn sjeaternevs. , . ... .
, It is a rather striking fact that neither of n these
women, alike devoid of self-consciousness regarding;
their persons, was disposed to alter the natural oon
tour, of her figurei The Greek might take pride In
adornlni Jierself, but not in cramping herself, o" nat"f
' ming an expansion where nature had not provided it
So with tne Japanese, who could be as modest without
her gowns as with them. She might, resort to cosmetics
and all that, but she saw no reason why she thouia
&r& 7czTCrts
'v well that they had been translated right into
heaven if they had it oily half as easy as you do
v T
HIS one Item which follow is really govern-
- . men t -Information. One of the agent we have
t -,...i--w
Henry Studntcska, of. St. Louls-ha been , tell
ing of om of th sight h aw whil h wa trav
ling through Germany with hi ayes open, instead I
V .111 iv-iii-T i II
A
I If - r
.attempt to alter her natural proportions.
Tet it would really seem as If the moment a smn
really felt there was some necessity for concealing he:. '
there was an equal necessity for altering herself o -,
what is fully aa important .to the feminine iulo-i,
seeming to,
Since then the shoemakers and the dressmakers bv
waxed fat. . '
- - -Yet, say those who know,-all this U unnatural, a -it
must, therefore, die out. Just when, no ope Is bold enougn
to predict - .----i - - f
Once women were bitten by tlie little-foot bug. the
evolution of the shoe was rapid. Up to and including;
part of the middle ages, they were content with th
"craekowe," clogrs, etc., worn by the men. This
"crackowe" evidently "evoluted" from the sandal or
moccasin. From heel to toe it measured fifteen Inches
or more, and was of light leather, laced at the side
and with a flap over the instep.
; The sole ranged from an eighth of an Inch at the
heel ato half that thickness at the toe, which was so
' long: that it had to be kept in shape with a stuflln
of hay, moss or wool. These toes were either twisted -In
the shape of a ram's horn or held up by' a cord
from the knee. When worn outdoors a clog or patten
' was used to compensate for the thinnest of sole.
Just how the high-heel idea originated is uncertain.
Madame de Pompadour gets the credit for it. the story
being1 that it was an expedient to increase her height .
But the brilliant madams merely added to heels, that
were already fairly high. '
It is possible that the notion was first the out
growth, of th. use of "chopines" by the. Venetian
dames of degree' These were first nothing more than .
' additional cork soles, two or three Inches thick. But
after a time they were, literally1 small stilts, and a.
woman wearing1 them had to be steadied when walk
ing by an escort or a maidservant-Originally from
the orient,: the choplne wa said to have been appro
' priated by the Venetian women "for the same reason
that Madame de Pompadour -took to high heels, and It
is possible that the middle-age shoemakers, may hav
. tried to make, heel take the place of thf awkward
aoles or stilts. : , . -
Queen Elizabeth's shoes, here shown, -were a de ;
elded development. They were of white satin, beau
tlf ully embroidered with silk and wire. The queen'
riding buskins also show a slight development of the
heel . rjii - ''-''i v' '"f- f-'""':
. FROM A CRAFT TO AN ART j
About this time It was that shoemaklna; became aa '
art, rather than a craft- Even the cavalier's boot
began to show the high-heel effect and by the time of
v . Queen - Anne the shapes, materials and handiwork
would do credit io the present day.
The fashionable materials were damask and mo
tocco leather, sometimes of the familiar crimson col
oring. - Th seventeenth-century heels were often three
Inches high, of wood, and generally covered with the
same material as went to mane up tne Doay ox m
shoe. The toes-were often so pointed that the shoe
Jvas. necessMHy-longehai-tbe-ot.
A early as the seventeenth century, therefore, tba
line of th footgear were cleverly adapted to making
the foot look small and dainty. After that it was
merely th working-out of well set and denned Ideas. ,
By the eighteenth century the French had made
the footgear much daintier ; than even the foot It
encased. ';.'. V ' ;: : :
Silk, damask, white kid and morocco leather were
th usual materials, and the heels went to 3 inches
or. more., Th silk slippers were often wonderfully
embroidered In silver or gold. : Occasionally moire'
antique wa used over white kid and the heel covered ,
with polished dove-colored leather. White satin wa
a favorit lining. . ,-.-;,,-"-..-
.With many of these shoes went detachable clogs,
which consisted of heel guards and thick soles.
eince these French shoe it has been merely a
question of styles, each of which has had the sam
end in view. But now, it may be, with the tendency
toward rationalism In dress and a broadening of the
artistic sense in the community at large, these dis
torted lines of the foot will come to be considered
unsightly. One that is the case, a woman won't want
too small feet any more than she now want too
large-one .;-:...,. ; ; ,,;,.-
Yet it aoes eeem like approaching the millennium
to think ot a woman' complaining because -her feet
" were too amall. - -
"If my feet wereony asjaf sm. aa ..HalaX.r.jTi..
happy.r::rHyT5r'acB: 'OasBry Into th future that
we'll never live to hear It Yet. at any rate, the idea
ha been more than merely euggested. The "sensible
shoe" has been with us for quite a bit now, and any
one who would risk predicting what women may do
would stand a right likely ehance of (getting himself
Into the class of th false prophets.
Z&rgcS afsZel
hut a to many other American traveler do. .
All th way from Moravia to Dreaden ha saw tha
heavy laboring work on th roads being don by
wom,n. . Sometime thy f wer breaking atonea, ,
Job w American have com, to think too degrading
and unprofitable for our husky coiiticta; or they were
handling pick and shovel with the tarn slave-driven
abjectnes which one lees in a gang of our Italian
section hand under the relentless eye of an ambitious
'foreman.
When he passed through Bohemia, he noticed any
number of women, plenty of them old enough to be
grandmother, doing duty a hodcartlers, and lugglnj
up to top stories of new buildings th regulation load
of bricks or mortar, with much more gratitude for
the chance of doing it than most American laborers
are worn to display. - In the Melds devoted to beet cul
ture, thin, actually starved women were laboringthe
whole merciless day, from sunrise to sunset, at th
common and 'heavy farm tasks, and doing it for aa
little a $1.50 "a week.
In England's collieries there are plenty of women
who go down to that murky piackness, with its Titan
tasks, as readily the men. and they wear breecho
like th men. at that
This breeches ambition on the part of women, if
It 1 really true that they want to wear them, seems
to have a lot of bad luck attached to it, so far as
Europe goes. Oh, yes; their admiring lords and mil li
ters in the Austrian Tyrol, for instance, are perfect! v
willing ,tha,t they shall wear them, and cut them o r
well abov the knee, at that But th reason 1 that
those breeches enable them to. do herding end othnr
dairy work a& readily as the men and iney do it ti .
In Belgium and Holland you are liable to sua so... 1
poor old woman hitched .to a milk cart, literal i
working a bard a horse. In Ireland many a prrti
girl Is put on tha mlsMlns; donkey' Job, carrylnu arest
baskets of peat or fagots. It, Italy she miv in t
pretty :rbut if sh be as poor, that ieek-tresd ! i
of her has to bear? Us burden of i-harcoal rr f- -wood
until she take to a wl-r to hide her b.il ii.r
In the great cltle of our own ?ast it is a fii-.i- i
nough sight t see prematurely aged crones trn'1n
along with ixty or seventy pounds of old Ijui.
which chanc ha, let them get for nothing.
' And. if you hould happen to wander a far s y
coasts of Japan, you may see loi-fr troops if i.
vollow ; women encaued on the hurrtmt laimr .
shifted by.man frqm.hi:own nnu;a. r
That pneumatte sweeper, wwn w
par it with ome of the .employment, un I jr.
close to being olld comfort
.' A 1
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