Clare expresses her feelings on women's fashion and men's input in the current fashion trends. She argues against heavy, straining garments that preserve "public modesty" but that endanger a woman's reproductive organs and general health. While she feels that the hoop skirt's ability to make a dress less burdensome is a step in the right direction, Clare argues in favor of the Bloomer dress, citing its potential as a stylish garment that could promote social and physical reform. Her focus is largely on women's health, and Clare feels that the Bloomer costume, more than any other woman's costume would allow for regular outdoor exercise and improve the health of women, their children, and men. Clare concludes her column with a brief mention of Winter's "Song of the Ruined Man" and Whitman's "Child's Reminisences."
An electronic version of this text was previously available in CONTENTdm and has been migrated to Lehigh University's Digital Collections. Reconstruction of direct links to individual articles is in progress. In the meantime, browse issues of the Saturday Press in the Vault at Pfaff's Digital Collection. Page images of The New York Saturday Press were scanned from microfilm owned by Emory University, which was made from original copies held by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Born on Long Island and raised in Brooklyn, Walt Whitman spent his childhood and early adulthood amid the sights and sounds of New York City and its environs.
