The times., 1901-06-02
FRIVOLOUS FLOWER HATS
Another False Prediction Concern
ing Walking Sticks.

women's Feet Distinctly in the
Foreground Just Novv-AdvautasSes
oil the Cuban HeeI-How Grace
and Comfort May BE Combined d.
Some of this seasons hats are not for
serious persons, no matter how pretty
of face these same serious persons may
be. The laws of harmony absolutely for
bid woman who thinks for instance, Of
wearing a toque made entirely of white
sweet peas, with a rosette of mingled
green and pink satin perched up on one
side of the brim toward the back
And, then, fancy a big hat all OF honey
suclle. creamy-white, flushed with cling
ing. twining irresponsible tendrils arrang-
ed so skinfully on the wire frame as to
create the Illusion in an imaginative wo-
man that her pretty head has been trans
formed into an arbor or trellis for the
accommodation of climbing flower vines.
Another hat is a mass of white lilacs
with a single ornament in the form of
white gauze butterfly lowering over tutt
of lilac leaves at the back.
Pretty? OF course. Charming in every
sense of the word. But the wearer would
seem so homogeneous, so Inconsistent SO
lost to all idea of the divine fitness Of
things were she TO talk seriously beneath
these aowery chapeaux- They are hats
10 frivol in
Certain rumors as to things fashionable
may be said to recur in cycles. The dis
appearance of the blouse, the revival Of
the crinoline, the restoration of the patch
and the coming of powdered hair are all
predicted at intervals, but fulfllment of
the prophecy tarries. Just now the walk
ing stick is enjoying attention, and we are
being gravely informed in various direc-
tions that smart people are carrying
them and that they are the latest mode.
But enquiries and observation do not sup
port the present gossip any more than on
past occasions when similar reports have
been started. One good and sufficient rea-
son against any general adoption of them
at present is that with long skirts and no
pockets overburdened womankind cannot
undertake to carry anything further than
she is now compelled TO bear. As 1t IS,
she must stick her mite of handkerchief
into the opening of her glove, must take
her money in chain purse on her wrist,
and If more items are necessary they
must be conveyed in a bag at Eer side.
Her position with the necessary parasol
on a sunny day, her pooGie TO lead, and
about half yard of train TO be lifted out
of the dust is pathetic enough; but the
addition of a stick would render it comic
rather than pitiable An investigation,
too, of sundry famous shops devoted to
sticks and umbrellas does not reveal any
thing specially prepared for feminine de-
mands. The modern young man, it is
true, is catered for with so much grand
eur in the matter of gold mountiags that
il is possible some ladies may have said
that they were too good for the uuorna-
mental sex. and should be transferred to
themselves.
Women's feet are distinctly in the fore
ground just now
1t cannot be said of the summer girl that
''her dainty feet, like little mice go peep
ing in and out Elegantly formed they
may be, and beautifully shod, while her
method OF handling them may be chic to
the last degree But as for being 'dain-
ty," that is hardly the word one would
use in describing the feet of the summer
girl
The pedestrian skirt, the golf suit and
the automobile. not TO mention the bi-
cycle. have so brought woman's feet
into the foreground that she has been
forced into doing that which the small
boy would call stunts to make them
attractive
The problem lay in finding a shoe
that would make the foot look small,
or at least shapely, conforming in
every way to the modern ideas Of
pedal beauty. without in any way interfer- |
ing with locomodon. The shoe must be /
broad easy. comfortable of heel, and alb |
soiutely adapted to exercising. but it must |
not be built with those objects alone in |
view. It must be pretty.
The Cuban heel is a step in the right /
direction. II is a heel that without being /
high, looks high. Il lifts the foot not so I
very far from the ground, yet IL looks ,
as though the heel were well raised. 1t is /
straighC in the back and does not taper /
from 81 Oe 10 ground, being of about the I
same size and height from top to bot
tom. At first sight the Cuban heel looks 1
awkward. but its neatness is so apparent /
that one soon begins to admire it.