Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-25
MODISH SUMMER FROCKS;
MILLINERY FROM PARIS
Special Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence of The Star.
PARIS May IL. 1907.
Frenchman said to me the other day,
IAN American girl has about fifteen ell
bows all sticking out like armor, SO that
you can't get near the real girl 1t goes
without saying he was speaking about the
smart girl, the girl we know so well, who Is
always on the spot. rustling, steel plated
and emotionless. No scene of suffering
would bring tears to her eyes. Smart peo-
pie don't cry, for II is not good form to
feel. The smart girl scorns sentiment
Even moonlight has no effect on her emo
tions. and she sit unmoved through a
wildly passionate opera dealing with the
loves and tragedies of twenty persons and
go on talking society platitudes. She has
a ready made vocabulary of stock phrases,
for instance: Did you go to the BIS
racket the other night? 1t was awful jolly
sport And, of course, you are invited to
the Smiths party for the races and so
on. This foxy lady knows perfectly well
you not invited, and ten chances to
one she will be among the missing, but
these things are smart therefore she
and everybody else must assume that her
little world does them.
At heart she is often a nice kind. sim
pie girl, and this outward and visible sign
" OF "smartness' which keeps men at bay
and loses her the love of other girls is
only a mask, and a mighty unbecoming
matrimonially inclined maiden. The mar
riage rate went down enormously the mo-
ment girls began to be smart Often
man marries smart" woman, but he
seldom really loves her. He may be proud
of her style and social popularity. but the
sweet and womanly qualities which he does
admire are all lost in the stiff armor of her
"smartness." Most men are simple, homely
persons at heart and they like simple, I'M
affected girls whose s does not
tary parade. Men are also lazy creatures
at home. and they don't want a smart
sentry sort of wife to keep them always
up to the mark and ninety-ni out of a
hundred Of them would rather marry
"dowdy" girl than smart" one.
A Series of Revivals.
have talked 1 reckon about smart
ness IN the abstract long enough. and
1t Is time 1 applied it to the all-absorb-
ing question of clothes. The truth of the
old saying that there Is nothing new I'M
der the sun is amply covered by the fash
Ions for the summer of 1907. None Of
them is really new. but revivals of such
consummate art that we welcome them as
novelties We have borrowed from Japan,
China and Roumania. We are directoire
a little, and second empire more than
little. and Romney. Gainsborough, Rey-
nolds and Lancret a great deal. 1t is the
moment of things picturesque and just a
trihe bizarre, and We are letting our imagi-
nations wander toward Egypt and are tir-
Ing our heads when on dress parade in the
evening with headdresses that recall the
faneies of the great Cleopatra. When an
influence dominates, it Is fault in all the
arts When 1t merely inspires, as 1t does
at the moment 1t Is an advantage In things
sartorial.
To answer the query, What will be worn
this summer? why, everything almost.
But there are a few broad rules to be
observed. Nothing loose or blousee Is per-
mitted about the dress except the sleeves,
for the lines must be preserved in all their
natural beauty. The waist line Is rather
high and round and no longer drawn down
in front. and it looks very much as IL the
kmono sleeve and wide draped armhole as
developed in summer materials will be
killed with kindness. Let US go warily with
them. The semi-empire skirt. higher at the
waist line In the back than in the front,
Ii a popular mode for those women who
can boast an elegant figure. Otherwise a
skirt that clings around the hips and flows
out bouffantly at the feet is selected. The
type In skirts. though, is the umbrella
shape in varying degrees of fullpess. This
rule holds good both in long and short
tupes.
Trimming all kinds of frocks is con-
fined almost entirely to broad bands of in
sertion or embroidery on the skirts or for
simpler materials crosscut bands of the
stun. An attractive idea on bodices Is
to hem the crossover bretelles which are
SO general with bands of velvet or chine
ribbon.
The customary catch phrase OF the sim