A tall, noble, brilliant, queenly woman had been a great sufferer from disease, drugs, doctors and dress. To regain health, she had with characteristic energy made a complete change in her garments. No one who saw her will forget her electrifying expression of triumph as she exclaimed: “For the first time in my life I am an emancipated woman.” Freedom in dress had given her freedom to breathe, live, think, walk and work. Freedom in dress, with physical training, makes it possible for every young girl to possess the form of a Venus or Minerva. What is a test of the dress being sufficiently loose? This is good: lie flat upon the back, and with the hips slightly elevated, be able to take a full, deep and prolonged respiration without hindrance. Another is to hold a book between the tips of the middle fingers, raise the arms _perfectly perpendicular_ and parallel to the sides of the head, inflate the lungs, and promenade the room. If this can be done easily, the dress offers no restraint for any movement. By the ordinary dress, even if there is not actually tight lacing, simply a _snug fit_, we get alterations in the shape and position of the organs. “When it is considered that the organs compressed are those by which the important functions of respiration, circulation and digestion are carried on, as well as those essential to the proper development and healthy growth of a fetus, it is no wonder that people suffer who have brought themselves under such conditions.” The present styles afford many pretty ways for making wrappers and snug-fitting gowns. In the true woman any morbid sensibility in regard to appearance will be lost sight of in the great good gained for herself and child by having a healthful dress. Hark! I hear a distant murmur of questions. From many, these reach my ear: Are the garments you describe all a lady is to wear? Does she not need a corset? What if one cannot hold herself up without a corset? Will she wear a corset under or over the princess waist? Does a loose corset do any harm? Wouldn’t you recommend Madame Foy’s corset? Won’t she be benefited by a health (?) corset? What about health reform corsets? And faster and faster the questions come, until my ears are deafened with corset! corset! corset! If women had _common sense_, instead of _fashion sense_, the corset would not exist. There are not words in the English language to express my convictions upon this subject. The corset, more than any other one thing, is responsible for woman’s being the victim of disease and doctors. Mark this: that part of the body around which we place corset and bands has no bony structure for its protection. This very pliability renders it possible for one unconsciously yet easily to produce a deformity in a few weeks.