The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-01-18
The Sporadic or Whims Of Indi-
viduals, the Characteristic
or ~"Collected."
The Former Beautiful But Incon-
sistent, the Latter Develops
Eccentricities.
Is the Pulled Sleeve Near the End of
Its Reign :-Three-Ouarter
Length Jackets.

Especial Correspondence of THE ISDEPESDEST.1
NEW YORK, Jan. 14.-There are fashions
that are sporadic and fashions that are
characteristic, that dominate the times. |
The sporadic fashions are the whims of in
%diyiduals, the characteristic fashions are
COLLECTED, as bric-a-brac is picked up,
and show against their proper background
in the pot pourri of a modern "artistic''
drawing room.
Sporadic fashions are often beautiful, but
they are naturally inconsistent and incon-
gruous with their surroundings. Charac-
teristic fashions are sometimes beautiful
and in their beginnings are rs inconsistent
snd %incongruous as those which are spo-
radio, but having a certain length of
life, they tend in their viQor to bring their
surroundings into harmony with themselves
while in their age they develop senile &C.
cenctricities. Thus the big hats at their
genesis we called picture" hats, in mid
career they drew after them picture
gowns, and now in their death agonies they
play delirious tricks with fur, flowers, lace,
feathers and butterflies. in a mad hodge
podge of seasons.
Thu the huge pulled sleeves were boyn
Il J tA0 OhothC BULL lC1khCAs IA tAclI
babyhood the hustle, in their lusty youth
they made the hustle to depart with un-
PARALLEL suddenness. and now in their mid
die age they have let our skirts, for harm O.
ny and historic accufacy's sake, down upon
the ground. They belonged only on
evening fro>ks. We put them on street
dresses and they demonstrate their power
by causing us to sweep mud and not sign.
There's a cei tain memorable logic in the
rule of a characteristic fashion. It knows
and will have thethings of its OWE.
The pulled sleeves had more stamina than
the short waists of the French republic and
first empire which tried to stand against
them, and so they carried rs back to the
Tudor length of waist and stiffness. They
put upon us the high Holbein collars Stop
ping to the waist and they tried to slash
is with tiny '.pullings OUT but these have
not yet become thoroughly characteristic,
and the slash" instead of being a mate
rial. presumably that Of An underparmeut
pulled through holes in the top wear, has
been a piece of stuff palpably sewn ON out
side the dress or sleeve. as in Henri III. pan
niers now coming Ia, and which are only
straps of velvet SO graduated in length as
to suggest the slashed trunks of Valois
courtiers, without resembling them in con-
struction. Not everything can be accom-
piished. even by q sleeve.
Yet it has cut our long gloves down to one
button and may drive out gloves almost
altogether. In its Kaleidoscope shifting
from phase to phase it has evolved or re-
volved backward almost to the medieval
type with hanging oyersleeve and close
fitting sleeve beneath ending in a deep cuff
closing down upon the hand like the petals
of a flower. Indoors this cuff was turned
back, out OF doors it was in the room of a
glove and protected the fingers. Think q
minute. how many things about the frock
Of January, 1881, foiiow u . matter o