Children’s Dress

HR.1871-04-01.001

The most of us wear clothing enough, but many fail to give every part of the body its due proportion. We agree with the writer of the following, that while over the chest and heart are placed more coverings than are actually needed for warmth and healthfulness, the limbs are not properly and thoroughly clothed. If any part of the body should be favored with extra coverings, it should be the limbs and feet which are at a distance from the great wheel of life, which sends the blood through the system. The limbs should ever be clothed with a warm covering to protect them from a chill current of air. The straight, lined pants, meeting the instep of the shoe, do this. If the feet are clothed with good-sized, thick-soled, warm boots or shoes, for comfort rather than for fashion, the blood will be induced to circulate freely in the limbs and feet, as well as in other portions of the body. We would protest against people’s squeezing their feet to make them look small, and compressing the waist, making it impossible for them to fill the lungs with pure air. If we give the lungs and feet ample room to do the work God designed they should, we shall be rewarded with better health and a clearer conscience.

HR.1871-04-01.002

We find the following sensible hints in relation to children’s dress, in «Talks to my Patients,» by Mrs. Gleason: E. G. W.

HR.1871-04-01.003

SUCH IS THE STYLE OF DRESS FOR BOTH SEXES DURING THEIR EARLY YEARS, THAT THERE IS AN UNHEALTHFUL EXPOSURE OF THE LOWER LIMBS. THE SKIRTS ARE SHORT AND FULL, STANDING OUT FROM THE PERSON, SO AS TO AFFORD LITTLE PROTECTION BELOW THE HIPS; AND THE LIMBS INCASED IN BUT ONE THICKNESS OF COTTON, THAT FINE AND THIN, REACHING BUT LITTLE BELOW THE KNEE; AND FROM THENCE TO THE ANKLE ONLY A STOCKING, THAT OFTEN OF FINE TEXTURE. A MAN OR WOMAN WHO SHOULD GO ABROAD IN MIDWINTER DRESSED THUS, WOULD BE THOUGHT TO «DARE DEATH.» WHEN FASHION SANCTIONS SUCH A SUIT, EVEN FOR THOSE WHO ARE STILL IN THEIR TENDER YEARS, CAN IT BE BORNE WITH IMPUNITY? DOES NOT THE FEARFUL MORTALITY AMONG CHILDREN SHOW THAT THERE IS «SOMETHING WRONG SOMEWHERE»? AND MAY NOT THE FAULT IN PART LIE HERE? COLDS, COUGHS, CROUP, AND INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, ARE FRIGHTFULLY FREQUENT DURING CHILDHOOD. THESE DISEASES DO NOT COME FROM WANT OF CLOTHING ABOUT THE CHEST; FOR ENOUGH AND MORE THAN ENOUGH IS USUALLY WORN THERE; BUT FROM THE EXTREMITIES’ NOT BEING WELL CLOTHED. FASHION FURNISHES TO BOYS A FIRMER FABRIC FOR THEIR LIMBS MUCH EARLIER THAN TO GIRLS; THEY HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE TILL THEIR ENTRANCE INTO «TEENS» DEMANDS THE LONG SKIRTS.

HR.1871-04-01.004

CHILDREN SHOULD BE CLAD WITH DRAWERS, AS WELL AS DRESSES, OF A MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR THE SEASON. BUT I SEEM TO HEAR ONE AND ANOTHER SAY THAT OUR LITTLE MISSES, CLAD THUS, WOULD ALL LOOK LIKE YOUNG SQUAWS. WELL, BE IT SO; THEY HAD MUCH BETTER, IN COLD WEATHER, WEAR FLANNEL THAN MUSLIN; FOR OF WOOL IT MAY IN TRUTH BE SAID, «NO MATTER IF IT IS COLD AND WET, IT IS ALWAYS WARM AND DRY.» OF THIS MATERIAL WE HAVE NOW SUCH A VARIETY OF GOODS OF DIFFERENT TEXTURES, SHADES, AND COLORS, THAT IT WOULD SEEM THAT SOMETHING MIGHT BE SELECTED SUITABLE TO CLOTHE THE LOWER LIMBS OF YOUNG GIRLS AND LITTLE CHILDREN EVERY WAY BETTER THAN THE «THIN STUFF» THEY NOW WEAR.

HR.1871-04-01.005

WE MIGHT AS WELL SEND OUR GIRLS FORTH IN THE WINDS OF WINTER CLAD IN THIN DRESSES AS THIN DRAWERS. IF THOSE OF MUSLIN ARE DESIRED, THEN DRAWERS OF WOOLEN OR COTTON FLANNEL SHOULD BE WORN UNDER, COMING DOWN INSIDE THE STOCKINGS.

HR.1871-04-01.006

TO PREVENT PRESSURE OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD, CONGESTION OF THE THROAT AND LUNGS OR OTHER INTERNAL ORGANS, THE EXTREMITIES MUST BE KEPT WARM.

HR.1871-04-01.007

CONSISTENCY IN CLOTHING IS A JEWEL MOST PRECIOUS BECAUSE OF ITS RARITY AS WELL AS REAL WORTH. —