Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-03-22
MEMS SHIRTS.
New York sun.

TACT that the cuff is staIched TIE
soft cuffs are smart, but they canuot
be WON by busy men, or at least 10y
men too busy TO change their shirts
more than onCe a day II necessary.
Inc unstarched turnover cuff wears
only a short time IN summer.
Then the SOFT cuffs did not wear
we'll. They lasted only a short time
when the lsuudresses we're very care
tul' One starching put them out Of
business, as the linen broke in the
attempt to turn the cuff back. ln
spite OF this drawback one CT the
largest manufacturers put on the mar
ket large supply of shirts with these
turnover cuffs intended to be starched,
AZ two washings destroyed. them en-
tirely It may be understood that they
were not SUCCESS.
Another reason for the introduction
| Of the barlow atiffened cuff this season
- found IN the patterns most popular
Tor the summer shirts They are
largely in stripes and checks Of color
on white ground. 1t was an indis-
pensable feature Of the soft cuffs that
they bo maue in a solid color. Even
Mhen the solid white cuffs we're used on
Roons with a pattern the effect was
not nearly 80 good as when the bosom
and the cuffs we're of the material.
Some of the patterns shown IN the
shops are striking, although as q
whole the materials are less highly
colored than they have bean for sew
eral years. The smartest designs in
one Fifth avenue shop are considered
to be the materials with a white
ground and checks in crimson, blue
and brown. These checks are formed
by thin lines OF color. In every corner
are balls Of the color about a quarter
Of an inch in diameter.
10 another shop there are back
grounds Of blue, yellow, green and
gray ornamented with groups of very
narrow stripes marked IN various
] shades of the color on the back
/ ground. In spite of the number Of
these stripes the groups are not half
an inch IN width. On a coffee colored
ground OF the shade 80 popular last
winter there are stripes In varied
shades Of brown, alternately with white
and black.
Mauve has almost disappeared from
the spring shirts after having been
very muon overworked for some time.
Blue in shade that is almost bird &
egg although not metallic seems tc
be more popular than any other shade,
although green materials come in a
large variety of shades and patterns.
There are also several attractive
patterns with a gray background and
different shades of gray, black and
white In the stripes. There are always
men who prefer solid colors and they
are by no means men who are behind
the styles. They are, on the contrary,
the men who prefer to decide for them
selves what good dressing is. Plain
ooloTs are abundant now as usual and
come in many beautiful shades of blue,
pink and mauve.
Men who use these materials believe
that the fancy part Tor a shirt had bet
ter be in the making than in the
pattern. All the shirts are made this
year with pleats OF one kind or another,
depending in a measure on the pattern
in the goods. The temporary taste for
the plain bosoms did not survive
more than one summer. Plain madras
or linen is made up with broad box
pleats. They should be so broad
that three on each side of the
opening are enough. These pieats
run the length of the bosom and
should be plain. To stitch them
down the centre and on the sides,
as some of the shirt makers like to DO,
is to rob them of all smartness. The
shiTtmakera like to do this because il
makes the pleats set we'll whether or
not they are properly put on. One
excuse they give is that the pleats
wash better when they are sewed
down. AS a matter of fact the pleats,
IL properly made, need no such aid
Striped materials are better when
made up in what the shiTtmakers call
side pleats. They are marrow, and
with no intervening spaces of the
plain material make a very smart
bosom for a shirt that is likely to be
literally displayed. The checks, on
the other hand, are to be made up
only With the broad box pleats. The
narrow pleats cut them in two in a way
that robi them of all style.
The body Of the shirt 10 usually
made of the same material as the bosom
in this country, although the French
makers sill use crepe or some similar
material for the body, making the cuffs
and bosom of the fancy material.
When these shirts first came from
Paris they found little favor here
because Americans wear their outing
shirts in summer for athletic use. The
effect OF this piebald garment when
one was playing tennis or golf was not
beautiful. Only in the white materials
are the bodies made of a different
material. The pleated boaoms may be
ornamented with different designs
in white, but the bodies we're made Of
plain goods
It is interesting to observe the
absolute subseryisnce of Americans to
the neglige shirt in summer. None Of
the shop shows any still bosomed
colored shirts and the only ones to be
seen with stid white bosoms are in
tended for the most formal wear.
These ueglige summer shirts are most
in the MODE when they are done up
without starch. Only the cuff should
be starched in the least. The collar
/ band is better without it, and the
shirts wear better when the band is
not starcned. 1t is the stiff collar
baud which causes 80 many shirts with
pleats TO split at the neck.
Flannel shirts are made this spring
in better variety than ever before
and all have the standing collar that
was brought over here from London
/ last fall. They combine very attrac-
tive oolofs. Blue grounds have a mar
row stripe OF whites gray Is striped
with bright purple and there are even
such dainty blends as pale pink and
pale green. These shirts come in
such light textures of flannel that
they might be used for any but the
hottest summer weather.
Naturally they are worn with the
narrow tie pulled 80 tightly as to hold
the collar up. IL is probably this
popularity of the style that will
prevent them from gaining any vogue
for city wear among we'll dressed men.