The Forrest City times., 1905-09-29

Tightness a Hazardous Experi-
 ment - Beauty in Folds 4is to
 Trimmings - Figure of Wearer
 Must Govern Choice of Materials
 No principle of decorative art has won wider recognition than that tho designer should ornament construction and not construct ornament. In other words, ornament should not be any thing stuck on anywhere. b.t should be some suitable thing attached 10 some needy place The principle ap- plies in it's full force to dress. and it cuts right athwart most of the de signs of fashion.
 Fashion, in fact, could win much fairness be defined as scheme for dis eaising the human figure Who could ever dream that the hoop skirted panniered, punched, betrained. or otherwise distorted figure of modern times possessed an inherent nobility and grace at least akin to those re- Nealed to our admiring gaze hy Greek sculpture? True, moderns have not lhe antique figure, and we Americans are mixed race with missha apen ex- tremes of fat and thin. of squat and lanky; but these do not justify such total denial of human structure as the fashion plate shows. Though vesture cannot now wholly reveal the human figure, let it not wholly concea! it either; but let it be structural and functional, that is suited to the form and movements of the body it covers.
 Alter p centuries of study on the subject. seu1ptors are agreed that tie main lines of the female figgre com prise small head. sloping shoulders, nariowing-but not narrow,waist, hips as broad as or broader than the shoulders, and thence narrowing sirth to the knees. after whion comes slight spread, for as compared with man. woman is slightly knacK-kEeed, The contour. that l.. thp outline of tuch system is an erect ca. ii dis tinetiye and pleasing contrast with that of man which is an eres. wedge Sha.o, broad end up. the masculine shoulders being wider than the hips. The first and permanent ele.eent of beauty in any gown lies in general ad- herence 10 these characteristic lines of woman's frame, and departure from them is bad art in proportion to it's degree. The prescription allows ample scope for all the change fashion needs. though not for its vaearies. rhich Go nothing but trouble mankind.
 c. r. Watts, the English painter whose picture. Love and Life" hangs in the white house, wrote in this connection: Extreme tightness is. at all times. a very hazardous expert ment Even beautiful arms. when very tightly inclosed. look not little like sausages; but. within limits that should not be difficult to define. tight ness and looseness may f1uctuate with agreeable variety; but it is always to be remembered that folds. with their infinite changeableness of shape. and lie. and shadow are more beautiful 1han anything, excepting that perfec- ton of form which is very rarely found. and of which neither our eli mate. our habits, nor the modern sense of modesty would permit the eXhibi- ton In brief, MT Watts would rec osnize the figure but slur details Miss Oakley agrees to the slu ring in general, but would favor good points: We have said that one object of dress Is 10 beautify; perhaps We should say 10 emphasize beauty A perfect pro portion is the greatest beauty, but 1t is also tie rarest. Usually he prob lem of dress is to bring into ~.lief one er two fine points, and conceal the many deficiencies" Just how this end can be secured makes long chapter in dress-art