The Queen and Her People
dames and damsels throughout the land would require a volume. As a general rule, it may be stated, and this especially in regard to sea towns, that an abundant supply of petticoats is de rigueur, as it is considered the right thing to pretend to much embonpoint below the waist, which, in its turn, is padded out with bourrelets of wadding, or even filled with sand. A foreign lady whose embonpoint is the work of Nature is a thing of beauty and of joy to the native, who will openly express her admiration for the charms of an unartificial dikke vrouw.
The foregoing remarks naturally apply to the peasantry and fisherfolk only. With regard to The Hague, a note of smartness reveals itself in the ladies' gowns; while provincial ladies, who, when travelling outside their own country, have been bold enough to indulge in “foreign fashions,”
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