Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1907-09-11

W ~ Styles yesterday, WQon TaSh-
GA ions were so fixed, so decid-
& 81 ed, have come to the con-
80 J clusion that there is one
paramount difference, one paramount
improvement, namely, the reason back
of changing fashions, the cause of in
novations.
That cause is the demand for COM
fort, the demand on the part of wom-
en- for clothes that shall suit them,
not for gowns and coats designed for
somebody else.
Styles for autumn are strikingly IL
Illustrative of this demand. The long
coat is likely to become the thing.
And why?
Because in New York, for instance,
the climate and our steam-heated
homes are forcing us more and more
to wear thinner gowns even in mid
winter. And as companion to the
hghter-weight dress the long coat is
almost bound to come in with a rush.
1t will make the thinner gown possible
even for the street, and in all proba-
bility put an end to the day when it
was deemed necessary to hurry out in
September and buy a heavy cloth
gown.
Just here word to a certain class
Of women who accuse me of writing
solely from the viewpoint of the rich
Obviously the rich are the people who
can experiment with clothes. So by
watching them, we may gain valuable
suggestions. But there is no primary
law Of dress that does not apply equal
ly to rich and poor.
So when say that lightweight
dresses should be worn all winter,
add the plea that women will not i'm
mediately fly at me with the cry of
impracticability Thin clothes are no
more expensive than heavy. They
come in shades just as serviceable
and two long coats are sufficient for
changes in the weather and certainly
are not mad extravaganza
But, extravagant or not extravagant,
the fact remains-there is no longer
a marked difference in the materials
used for summer and winter gowns.
Graceful, clinging fabrics such as chif-
fon cloths, marquisette, crepe de
Chine, the different silks, muslins
even, are entirely possible for winter
when worn in conjunction with the
long coat.
And I see nothing unsuitable, even
for women who are obliged to walk a
great deal, in coats such as have been
sketched from my models. These are
of light cloth, and in some instances
of silk, but they can be duplicated in
the most durable materials.
Thin dresses are, then, an example
of the way in which to-day's styles are
more and more largely the result of
common sense. 1t was far from SEN
sible that we should so long have been
governed by the calendar, since back
of the calendar is the weather. But
many people go through life with the
two telescoped. When they see Octo-
Der 1 staring them in the face, they
bow to what they accept as the inev-
liable and buy wooden underwear.
find such people particularly aggrayat-
ing. And 1 challenge any class of work
-ers to meet more of them than does
person in my position. long since de-
cided that to know a woman's real
character, you must make dress for
her.
And this whole state of affairs is
bolstered up by the medical men.
Their theory of fresh air, of hardening
instead of softening the system, of
becoming so used to cold that it is a
tonic instead of a danger-these theo-
ries have shaken even the maddening-
ly conservative set into something like
recognition of our principle Clothes
must be regulated by the weather, no
matter at what season of the year.
Although the thin gown is the most
radical development ia the seasons
fashions. it will not catch the eye so
often as does its associate, the long
coat, which will be worn in varying
styles by all women, those who walk
and those who ride We have seen its
approach during the past summer.
when the fashionable thin, unIined
coat has been so useful over light
dresses
I consider that the long coat has an
intrinsic value. If it did no more than
undermine the so-tiresome shirt-waist
system. it would have done mission
airy work. You see, 1 feel aggressive