The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-12
THE PLAID UMBRELLA.
Candy Rain-Stick that Has Succumbed
to the Scotch Fad.

New York Herald.
Has the craze for plaids about run the
course? Certain it is 1t has reached a most
acute crisis: 1t can't get any worse; First
we had plaid cottons, woolens and silks of
every hue pattern, design and clan. Then
shop windows grew gorgeous in their fall
dressing of exquiStely blended plaid fab
RIGS. Then the craze ran to ribbons and
the counters were heaped with them, and
every tailor-made girl and masculine swell
sported plaid necktie. The hosiery count
erS, too, came in for their share in the fad
and men and women donnId plaid socks and
stockings. Plaid waists became the extreme
mode, and there were actually some plaid
hats placed on the market and purchasers
found for them.
The canny Scotchman who loves the, plaid
OF his clan must have had the cookies of
his heart warmed at the falls display or
bright reds and greens and yelloWs, large
and small plaids and checks, the Stuart and
Stewart. the Campbell and Rob Roy, the
Robert Burns and MacGregor, and so on
through the whole Scotch peerage of clans
But the climax remained to be reached,
and reached 1t was a few days ago, when
though the rain poured as If thrown from
buckets, the streets were wet and sloppy
and the atmosphere gray and depressing,
there came amid all the gloom and dreari-
ness bright patches of color here and there,
and the uninitiated gazed in open-eyed Won
der, and forgot the descending torrents, the
sloppy streets and the general grayness, at
the startling sight of several plaid UNI
brellas.
The women had had to contend with so
many rainy Mondays that it seemed as
though they had become desperate and de-
termined to dispel the blues by turning out
en- masse carrying umbrellas of he bright
est of plaid silks. Umbrellas which might
well cause the bonny Scotchman to exclalm,
"Hoot Mon." at sight of them.
Seriously they are here, whether to stay
is an open question / doubt their long ten
ure of life. for they are too ''outre' to be in
vogue with the swell tailor-made girl They
promise to be a passing whim with those
who have money to burn. and who crave a
certain kind of notoriety. With the quieter
type of gentlewOman they will find no favor,
for Notwithstanding their cost and their
novelty, they certainly will attract more at
tention than the highly bred woman will
care to call upon herself.
AS they are here. however, they demand
some recognition. Apart from their soudness
they call for some attention by reason OF
their attractiVeneSS. When confined to the
they are not unpleasing; but when fashioned
of the bright red and blue and yellow plaids
they are vulgar.
Strange as it may seem, the rain did not
appear to affect the bright colors of the silk.
One would naturally suppose that subjected
to drenching downpour the colo~s would
be apt to run, but such was not the case.
think, though, the damage will come later,
when the umbrella after being wet is closed
and left any length of time in its folds. Then
the silk is very apt to become streaked, as il
does in self-colored lighter umbrellas.
The handles are very pretty. Some are in
natural wood. others in pearl, inlaid with
gold and silver and imitation jewels. still
others in handsomely carved burnt ivory,
and then again there are enameled handles
in plaid designs to match the silk.
These plaid umbrellas come cheap and
they come dear. A very fair umbrella may
be bought for 81 and as the fad bids fair
to be short lived, that seems enough TO pay
for one Some go as high as $2o. and they are
of good enough quality and handsome
enough designs to insure against the colors
running and TO be worth carrying.