"Purposing to visit a friend in New York, I was advised by Mrs. Modish...to have a costume made according to custom, and obligingly directed by her to a new dressmaker, Mrs. Trim, who had just opened and establishment in our village. I was obliged to delay going for a fortnight, as the innumerable ruffles required so much time. When the bill was sent, my heart died within me, for, in order to discharge it, I was obliged to spend nearly all my quarterly allowance and deny myself the pleasure I had anticipated of buying presents in New York for my brothers and sisters. The Sunday before I left home, I put on my new dress and went to church. Having always appeared in a simple costume, I must have presented a ridiculous appearance, for the boys of the place used me as a whet-stone to sharpen their wits upon...
"When I returned...Grandmamma...said gravely, 'My dear Silicia, why should women follow expensive, absurd, and unwholesome customs? A dress takes twice as much material and more than twice the time to make now as when I was young. The small, high heels cramp the movement, injure the carriage of the person, and often deform the feet. The bend given to the body by the extreme fullness of the skirt behind is very ungraceful. There is no beauty in the present style, and leaving aside the awkwardness of the design, one would suppose the shackling of the limbs and the oppressive heaviness of the dress, on so delicate a part of the body as the spine, would deter women from such fatuity.' ...I was very much mortified, particularly when she rang the bell for Betty, and told her to sweep up the dust. 'Look at your train, Silicia; you have brought more dirt into the house than I have seen for months.' I retired to shake my skirts, ease my feet, and make myself comfortable. My old dress seemed by comparison quite charming..." -Silicia Marsh, The Health Reformer, May 1, 1872
"Parents should be exemplary. They should exert a holy influence in their families. They should let their dress be modest, different from the world around them. As they value the eternal interest of their children, they should rebuke pride in them, faithfully rebuke it, and encourage it not in word or deed. Oh, the pride that was shown me of God's professed people! It has increased every year, until it is now impossible to designate professed advent Sabbathkeepers from all the world around them. I saw that this pride must be torn out of our families." -Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Volume 1 (1855-1868), chapter 23-Conformity to the World, p 135
"When I returned...Grandmamma...said gravely, 'My dear Silicia, why should women follow expensive, absurd, and unwholesome customs? A dress takes twice as much material and more than twice the time to make now as when I was young. The small, high heels cramp the movement, injure the carriage of the person, and often deform the feet. The bend given to the body by the extreme fullness of the skirt behind is very ungraceful. There is no beauty in the present style, and leaving aside the awkwardness of the design, one would suppose the shackling of the limbs and the oppressive heaviness of the dress, on so delicate a part of the body as the spine, would deter women from such fatuity.' ...I was very much mortified, particularly when she rang the bell for Betty, and told her to sweep up the dust. 'Look at your train, Silicia; you have brought more dirt into the house than I have seen for months.' I retired to shake my skirts, ease my feet, and make myself comfortable. My old dress seemed by comparison quite charming..." -Silicia Marsh, The Health Reformer, May 1, 1872
"Parents should be exemplary. They should exert a holy influence in their families. They should let their dress be modest, different from the world around them. As they value the eternal interest of their children, they should rebuke pride in them, faithfully rebuke it, and encourage it not in word or deed. Oh, the pride that was shown me of God's professed people! It has increased every year, until it is now impossible to designate professed advent Sabbathkeepers from all the world around them. I saw that this pride must be torn out of our families." -Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Volume 1 (1855-1868), chapter 23-Conformity to the World, p 135