Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1876 — Dresses for Graduation. [ARTICLE]

Dresses for Graduation.

At a certain school in the East, it has been decided to dispense with the usual public exercises in connection with the presentation of diplomas to the graduating class of young ladies unless the sentiment of the class shall be in favor of an abandonment of the practice which has of late years grown to such an extent as to be an evil, of lavish display in the matter of dress on the occasion of graduation. No doubt, some of the “sweet girl graduates” of next month in the school referred to will be indignant at the proposed action ; but it is probable that the large majority will see the reasonableness and propriety of the restriction that has been placed upon elaborate and expensive toilets, and will forego them. It has been the custom at most schools for the young ladies to signalize their farewell to their studies by appearing" dressed as nearly as possible alike. To the custom itself there is, perhaps, little or no objection whatever; but unfortunately, instead of keeping the costume as simple and inexpensive as possible, it has come to such a pass that it is almost as expensive for the head of the family to bring out the daughter in good style on graduation day as it is to fit her out for her first fashionable party, and the cost in many cases is beyond what can be afforded. It is, of course, an easy matter to say that, with white the regulation dress, it is not incumbent upon parents to go to any unusual expense in providing the daughters with apparel appropriate to The occasibn. But it is human nature for parents to do everything possible—even more than they should do—to enable their daughters to be as well dressed as any of their associates, and to spare them the mortification they would be sure to feel if subjected to disparaging criticism and the sneers of the thoughtless because their dress was of a poor fabric, not made in the height of fashion, Or deficient in trimming and ornamentation.

The objection to the wearing of expensive dresses on graduation day, because it has a tendency to excite extravagance on the part of parents is not the only one, nor the strongest, which applies to the practice. The effect upon the young ladies themselves of making the day one in which rivalry in dress plays a prominent part is decidedly bad. While it is difficult to refrain from a feeling of admiration for the graduates, arrayed, as they are, in bewitching toilets, the natural reflection of the thoughtful must necessarily be, is this the grand aim of the education which these graduates have received ? Is it that the young lady who, by reason of the length of her father’s purse, is able to make the best display in dress, shall be pointed out as the highest result of the educational system under which she has been trained?" It is not the most meritorious or accomplished young lady who, at exhibitions where elegance in dress constitutes a feature of the first importance, makes the most impression, but she whose make-up is most rich and becoming and most in accordance with the decrees of fashion. The young ladies themselves perceive how much depends in this case upon dress, and witii true feminine intuition they often arrive at the conclusion, though they would be averse to confessing it, that it is dress which makes the woman, as well as the man. They are made use of to give practical illustration of the tyranny of fashion, at a time when their minds should be directed to the higher and nobler duties of womanhood. Some of them are humored by fond parents with frillings, furbelows and dresses more expensive than prudence would suggest, and the idea thus obtains lodgment in their minds that in after life they need only make a demand for fine clothes to have it complied with. From this there springs discontent in the future, if they cannot indulge their fancy in the line ot dress, and sometimes an extravagance which results in the bankruptcy of husband or father. It will be a good thing for America when the day of graduation for young ladies shall no longer be a day which brings with it a heavy burden of -expense for those who have to provide the di esses. —Detroit Erec Press.