Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-15
STYLES IN MEMS WEAR
GOODNESS AND CLEANLINESS
PREDoMINATING FEATURES.
Clothes for the Blistering Days.
Lounge and Sporting Dress
At the Summer Hop.


From now on comfort IS the supreme
consideration in dress We will go about
In two-pfece suits. soft shirts, fold coll
lars. low-cut boots. belts. straw hats ties
and slim four-in-hands We will put aside
our waistcoats. turn up our trousers and
get into knee drawers and sleeveless I'M
dershirts-that is, If we prize GOODNESS and
cleanliness. In short, we will be comfort
able, and that. too, without FORGETTING one
little of smartness. If we follow the sports
we will dress suitably and sensibly. but
we will not seek that false picturesqueness
that savors of the circus rather than of
the prairie and the campfire. Also we
VIII adapt our mode of dress to time, place
and circumstance. and we will not wear
our Knockers and tweeds I'm town nor
promenade country clubs frock-coated and
top-hatted. We will attend a dance or a
mop dressed as the other men dress and We
Will not render ourselves conspicuous by
obstinately clinging TO hard-and-fast rules
about the tail coat or the taillesS coat
We Will yield to usage without yielding up
our convictions on these subjects Few
oddities VIII be worn this summer. In
deed, do not remember a season that has
been so clearly dominated by soberness
and moderation in dress. The suitings. as
/ have said, are the tried and true home
spuns and serges that have done worthy
service. and in none of the clothes Access
boIleS is lnefe a single departure or mo-
ment The gentleman will be distinguish
ed by the quality and cut of his suit not
by its pattern, and by his taste in picking
what most becomes his stature coloring
and cast or features. The ''bounder." on
the other hand, will go to extremes, wear
his Jacket too loose and his trousers too
wide, Will have straw hat of prodigio
breadth, topped with a multi-colored band,
will put on an ox-blood or heliotrope shirt.
a belt of some queer grained leather a
rundown collar with deep. piratical
points. cravat too narrow or too wide,
and wear absurdly long laces in his low
cut boots. This type of badly dressed man
Is found among youths whose notions of
the mode are gained from furtive glances
at shop windows or the study of simpering
fashion plates on display at the cheap
tailors'. l look for a season of comfort
and sghtliness in mems dress. and these
are the twin attributes that clothes should
always possess. They must fit and feel
and look good.
White Kid Waistcoats.
Last month 1 referred briefly to an even
ing waistcoat of white kid, brought over
| from Europe. Aside from the leather,
which takes the place of good old white
duck, a feature of this model is the but
tons. They are of white china, with or
nate designs in gold burned into them. The
lapels too. 1t Will be noted, are broader
than ordinarily. and the garment has
satin back Such a waistcoat costs So,
and this price is paid unmurmuringly by
certain set which must have something
new and different at all hazards For my
part indorse white duck for the evening
Waistcoat, and do not fancy that novelties
of the sort described will have any but a
fugitive vogue. and that only among the
faddfStS In dress. While concerned with
formal evening clothes. l may say that
there is a reaction against fancy shirt
bosoms, and only the plain white are now
approved. With the evening jacket the
pleated white shirt is permissible as here
| fTfa
nance any but the simple white bosom for
| evening wear. formal or informal. The
evening jacket, already told will
doubtedly be more largely worn than dur
| ing any former season. 1t is not accept
| able to some men, who do not relish wear
| ing a lounging garment when women are
| about, but seemingly we must take II. for
there is nothing to step into the breach.
That is the rub.
Simplicity True Elegance.
Though the rules governing dress are
necessarily relaxed in summer. it does not
follow that anything will serve. The sea-
son warrants brightness and the OF
plenty of color, but sharp contrasts should
be avoided. If the suit be quiet in shade
or pattern, blue serge. for example, then
the shirt and cravat may be accumulated.
Contrariwise, If the suit be an assertive
homespun or fancy worsted, then shirt
and cravat should be subdued. To he gen.
timely well dressed a man must study him
self and know what suits him best. There
are certain colors that very unbecom-
| ing to certain men, just as there are col
ors unbecoming to certain women. Yet
many men habitually wear the colors they
| like most, not those they look best in.
| Some men have weakness for fancy
| waistcoats, and these need to watch them
| selves keenly if they would escape color
| crimes. Others sin in choosing their cra-
watts and shirts-the more color, think
| they, the richer the effect. AS matter of
fact simplicity is the truest elegance in
dress; It lends an air of distinction that
impresses even the untutored person.
Cravats.
Cravats are narrower, as they must be
for adjusting under the fold collar. Both
four-in-hands and ties are correct, the
smart four-in-hand being two and one-half
inches wide, perfectly plain and having no
embroidery whatever upon the folds. Ties
may be graduated or straight. and hand
kerchief ends. that is. ends finished hand
kerchief fashion, are much in vogue. Wing
collars, 1t now appears, Will be worn
throughout the summer, and they are quite
as correct and, to some more comfortable
than folds. While summer always brings
narrower cravats and lower collars | do
not believe that extremes Will rule save
among the men who seize upon fashion
and who by eXaggeration make q mock or
it. The very low collars and very narrow
| four in hands are unsightly, and the snippy
| ties and deep-point collars are worse. The
| fashionable collar is of moderate height,
moderate in form, and has round corners
| quite well apart The smart four-in-hand
is made of some soft stuff like crepe or
| foulard, that is cut wide and then knotted
snugly. Wndsors are much worn. though
their reproduction in cheap goods VIII
surely be the death of them. Handker-
chiefs of silk pongee and plain undyed
linen with very narrow hens, are APP
proved for summer carrying. Russet boots
and tan hose are still favored by we'll
dressed men, Notwithstanding the fact that
they have been SO generally taken up by
the multitude.
Hats and Shirts.
Plain and pleated shirts are worn about
equally this summer. / think that the
pleated bosom looks best when the jacket
is buttoned and the plain Is preferable
when the jacket is left open. A modish
new shirt of French origin is made OF
heavy crepe linen, has center pleat one
and one-quarter inches wide and a pleat on
each side three and one-quarter inches
wide. This shirt is made both plain and
with embroidered figures, and the mate
rial Is luxurious beyond compare L have
commented upon the tendency among the