When Congress was in recess, reporters found it hard to dig up stories worth sending their papers, and some of them met every day to see if they couldn’t come up with something worth writing about. But one day they couldn’t think of anything.
“Can’t we send a society item?” one reporter finally suggested.
”Yes, if you’ve got one,” said another; “there isn’t a line in sight now.”
”Then let’s manufacture one,” said the first man. And he went into deep thought. “I’ve got it!” he suddenly exclaimed. “Let’s say that Mrs. Cleveland has decided to abolish the bustle.”
”Brilliant!” cried his colleague.
So they went to work and scribbled out a story that went out an hour later and revolutionized the fashion industry: that the young and beautiful First Lady, a leader in fashion, had stopped wearing a bustle.
When Mrs. Cleveland saw the story, she didn’t quite know how to react. It didn’t seem worth denying, but if she appeared in a bustle again it would require a great deal of explaining. So she did the simple thing; she immediately ordered a gown without a bustle.
Source:
Boller, Paul F. "Frances Cleveland." Presidential Wives. New York: Oxford UP, 1988. 173-74. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Nelle Scanlan, Boudoir Memoirs of Washington (Chicago, 1923), 95-96.
Further Reading:
That reminds me of another story: