Dear Sir, – In the present controversy in your periodical on wasp waists, I notice that, of the opponents of tight lacing, only one has actually given a fair trial and had to abandon it.
Let us get rid of all this talk about the health suffering when the figure is laced. Even medical men express most diverse opinions on the subject, and it is safe to assume that, with the ordinary normal person, the ill effect is nil.
Only those who have overcome the first strangeness can realise the intense exhilaration and joie-de-vivre that is the accompaniment of extreme tight lacing. The whole body feels light and buoyant and there is a sense of poise and alertness that nothing else can give. How often I pity the young girl of to-day who scoffs at figure training and knows nothing of the pleasure she is missing.
When one looks back through the age and realises for how long women have indulged in wasp waists, and the intense effort at particular periods to lace to the utmost limit, is it reasonable to suppose that there was normally any pain or danger in the process?
Yours truly,
ELSIE J.