The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1904-12-28
AMERICAN GIRLS FOOTWEAR.

1ncfe are no WOiueh VI uhy cohhhs
that dress the feet as prettlly as Amer
team girls do. In fact. no women who
have such pretty feet to dress.
Spanish women have tiny feet, but
they are too short and broad for real
beauty. And French women, by some
mysterious process, always wear small
shoes, no matter what size foot they
have.
But the foot of the American girl,
which is as famous as her wit and
beauty, is always small enough to ex-
actly suit her slender, thoroughbred
build, is exquisitely modelled, rarely
(nowadays) pinched, and dressed with
the utmost taste, appropriately for
every occasion.
1t was this side Of the Atlantic that
women started the fad for the stout
mannish cut of shoe for street and
country sports, and il took the Amer
ican girl to first refuse to play tennis
In French heels.
This does not mean that English
girls have not worn big calf skin shoes
always a lot, and frequently inappro-
priately. Every one knows the British
girls propensity-just the reverse of
the French-for wearing shoes that
make her feet look large even IL they
chance to be small. But their stout
boots are coarse in texture and COM
mon in cut; while though the Amer
,can girl uses for heavy wear heavy
boots, they are of the smartest cut,
the most flexible material, and while
never tight always fitted to perfection,
comfortable over the joint and snug
up under the instep.
For a while she did make It a little
bit of a fad to accentuate the man
nishness of her boots, her soles were
uselessly wide and thick, but even
then carefully fitted and most swag.
ger in cut and finish. But this sea-
son her street boots are just heavy
enough for protection, no useless
weight, and as perfect in make as her
dancing slipper.
Her outdoor shoes, high and low, are
of a calfskin, softly dressed, or of
dongola kid, or n dull-6nish leather.
For nice street wear, shoes are a little
more pointed at the toe and with Gu
ban heels, of patent or enameled
leather.
For home wear, for afternoon re-
ceptions, for evening, shoes may this
year match the costume, and for
dancing they must, White and pink
and yellow suede or dull kid for dane
ing slippers, pr lace over satin, or
painted satin are best form.
With many varieties OF brown cos
tunes, bronze shoes are extremely
good style, and so are brown suede, al
ways with stockings to exactly match.
OF course you can be very well
dressed by adhering to patent leather
for all daytime dress occasions, but
for evening black or bronze slipper
would be inartlstic dressing; and
white, though it can be worn with
tinted frocks, is only best style with
white.
But quite as important as shoes TO
match gowns are the stockings to
match shoes, and there has never been
season when such an infinite va
riety of colored stockings were to be
seen in the shops.
Browns in every possible shade of
onion-skin, mahogany and docque de
roche tones; blues and purples; reds,
light and dark and in all strawberry,
pond lily and watermelon tints, and
yellows, pale and oranges.
And newest of all, shaded stockings,
white at the hem and deep-toned at
the toe, and every shade of one color
in between; not bit good taste, but
nevertheless with some popularity.
The open-wor.S stocking that was
entirely crowded out by the gauze-
mesh stocking last year, is coming in
again this winter, the open-work show
ing elaborate lace designs and fire.
Quently inset with lace.
1t is still smart, though eccentric,
TO have a monogram on the left in
step. And just at this season of out
door sports college girls and school
girls frequently embrolder the flag of
their brothers college on the instep
of silk stocking. Or a sweetheart's
initials in his college colors adorn O
silk instep.
And all this colored silk embroidery
on stockings, and also the craze for
colored hosiery, brings up the torment
lag question Of laundering without
losing color or lustre. : The ordinary
process of boiling and rubbing means
ruined hosiery Of the delicate sort.
Indeed so heavy can the loss be from
careless washing of fine stockings,
that a great many girl do up their
own, just as they do their laces and
table embroideries. Their plan is to
use warla water made soft with borax
and soapy with CASTLE soap. First,
they soak the stockings for half an
hour in cold borax water, four tea
spoonfuls to pail Of water. Then
into a pail of water that has just
boiled is shaved quarter OF a cake
of soap with q tablespoonful of borax.
The stockings are rubbed a few min
utes by hand, rinsed twice in cold
water and let drip dry IN the shade.