The Indianapolis journal., 1904-03-18


be one of reproductions, of almost slavish
copies of faults as we'll as of good things
and of far closer replicas of old-time de-
signs than, heretofore, 1 have felt could
come about. Verify and indeed are we
looking backward and, apparently. the view
is a fascinating one, for 1880 influences take
a firmer and firmer hold each week and
any study of the latest designs must bring
about the conviction that we reproduc-
ing what is bad as well as what is good;
not the charm alone but also the folly of
that time of many frills. much shirring and
combinations of little things. and have quite
forgot all those lessons as to the value
of line and fold that only a short time ago
seemed fixed in our minds and to have be-
come part of our very being. Art seems
forgotten We are doing all the things
which detract from height, which tend to
destroy the dignity of the figure. We are
expending untold energy to bring about
results of doubtful worth. We are exhaust
ing our eyesight. destroying our nerves, all
in the making of trimmings that do not
add to the gown, in the utterly undesirable
occupation of sewing bits of silk on lace
and otherwise striving to pile garniture on
garniture until little that is really beauti-
full remains.
Luckily the girls and quite young women
are tall. (Can nature have forseen and
prepared in advance for what has come
upon u.s.? Were they not the effect would
be still more Dire but even their slender
proportions are sorey tried. Horizontal
lines horizontal lines that destroy all
dignity and sweep meet one at every turn.
Bodices and sleeves cut to give wholly
unnatural breadth must be according to
la mode. Withal, materials are cut into
the merest scraps and are made into such
wee ruffles such tiny puffs as sorely try the
eyesight of the maker yet give little real
effect. The dear old lady who demanded of
her granddaughter how she could answer
for time expended in cutting fabrics up
only to be sewed together again into frills in
place of realizing the beauty of and using
folds a la Gree would indeed have cause
to be scandalized to-day. Fuss seems 10
be the watchword, elaboration the one re-
suit sought. Let US hope the folk who
do the sewing will profit, for verify is it
difficult to find gain of any other sort. As
a matter of course, there are some good
things. All womankind has not bowed
down and meexly accepted the dictum. But
the gowns held the smartest are often open
Paris are attached to many things to make
any real artist in dress weep bitter tears.
CASE OF MISPLACED LABOR.
One gown shown me this week is for ex
ample, made of a soft taffeta in changeable
greens. The skirt is gathered at the belt
and consists of alternate puffs of the silk
and inset insertion of fillet lace. The puffs
and lace are each, approximately, four to
five inches wide and are extended to with
in the depth of a generous yoke from the
belt Each puff is made with double cord
shirrings and the lace is overlaid with
squares of the silk. puffed and set over GER
tain recurring designs in the lace. Looking
at it, and marveling at the misplaced labor
my mind went back to the artist whose
comment on beaded lace was, There is at
least one thing handSomer-lace without
the beads" Why should bits of silk be
sewed over the lace? How can seeing peo-
pie fancy ii means beauty? Is il not perceiv-
able at a glance that the round-and-rofnd
lines resemble those of a zebra more nearly
than any other? Another gown is OF pale
green silk, and its trimming is bands OF
velvet ribbon edged with fiat plated frills of
white lace set on in rows. While the labor
is less than that of the puffs the lines are
almost as bad and one wonders where are
the lovely, graceful, flowing folds we knew
a year ago?. As / think L told you in a
| recent letter. all things are not so bad as
this, and one notices many signs of effort
to include the long perpendicular lines, as
the trimming extending from belt to hem at
front and back and the like, but these cos
tunes that l am quoting are real and bear
names with which to conjure in the world
of dress
Oh, the fine shirrings! 1 have seen waists
| that were a mass thereof and skirts with
frillS and founces drawn up by means of
the tinest cords. Hidden away among the
treasures of almost every household is at
least one gown made elaborate with just
such work, and how many times have we
Dragged of our broader sense Of beauty, of
our improved taste! Not that do not ad-
mire fine work. Nothing else is so truly
elegant. But much that one sees to-day is
| literally labor lost, inasmuch as il pro-
duces no effect but one of fuss. / have in
mind gown of brown silk that is delightful
in color, but which is trimmed with the
roundabout buffings Of which / am writing.
pinked at their edges. drawn up with tiny
cords and set over additional matching
frills, two at each edge. Shades Of our
Observation-Disclosures, are you returned? IL
was just so that your gowns We're trimmed.
but you knew nothing of the marvelously
beautiful materials that are ours nothing of
| the lovely laces that come within the reach
of all, nothing OF hundred things that
| should teach us better than to destroy the
sweep of our skirts, to mutilate our figures
until nothing of dignity remains. Daintiness
is charming. No woman of taste fails 10
| feel that with keenness, but frils OF lace
one-quarter of an inch in width separated
| By baby ribbon gathered through the center
| does not to my mind, produce that effect.
| Both the ribbon and the lace are overnar-
| row. The result is one of oversmall things
| rather than anything broad and beautiful,
| yet think of the labor involved in a band so
made ten inches in width Surely wider
| frills are handsomer. give better effect are
less open to the criticism of being fussy.
| while the color is the same and lines are
marvelously improved.
| PROBABLY PASSING STYLES
am not a croaker. AS a rule. prevailing
fashions have some inherent good as a
| foundation Even now ! do not believe
that these styles will take any permanent
| hold but they are here and are conspic-
uous. | cannot write Of fashions and ig-
more them. and surely no one really thinks
them good or desirable. In my own judg-
ment they are due to the craze for novelty
| that must be appeased at any cost; TO the
sort of feeling that prompted a wealthy
woman to sigh with WEAKNESS over an ex-
/ quisite tea gown of chiffon because, for
! sooth, chiffon had been worn for two sea-
sons already. But whatever their cause
/ they are not inherently good and | do not
/ think can take any permanent hold. Hap
/ PLY, even now street gowns are not open
| to criticism and are modelled o1 simple
/ lines that are elegant and becoming in one,
/ and there many carriage, reception,
| dinner and evening costumes that are beau
/ tifu IN spite of these Vagaries OF la mode.
/ A most dainty gown OF delicately shaded
/ rose silk makes an excellent example and
shows some OF the tendencies OF the hour
/ II we do sigh bit over the excessive labor
i involved. The skirt II one OF the old ones
| revived and modified and is Shirrcd at the
1 belt but forms "A plain front panel with