Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-19
SHOES NOT so HEAVY
ATTRACTIVE FEATURES IN
FOoTGEAR FOR WOMEN.

"a neat little foot in a pretty shoe has
always been mans admiration since san
dals were abandoned by our fair sisters"
said critic of ladies' apparel to a Star
reporter, and 1 have little doubt that in
the sandal epoch the ladies insisted upon
wearing them just two sizes too small, as
they now do the shoe-in fact / believe if
the truth were told, the habit has been
passed down by both custom and inher-
itance from that day to this If this con-
clusion should prove correct, though there
is no way of proving it except by infer
entail reasoning, it would let the ladies'
down easily on one Of their most tender
idosyncrasies.
THE styles in ladies shoes this winter
have many attractive features. For one
thing they are not quite SO heavy as In
former years. The discriminating student
of feminine things will recall with anguish
the 'mannsh mode for women and we all
recall how but season or SO ago 1t was
cause for tears to observe a pretty girl
skimming along the upper side of F street
shod In brogans cut low and to fit the fe-
male foot. The heels were fiat and mannish
the soles welted and extended far be-
yond the side of the foot and manish. while
the toes were bulldogesque and still more
mannish. But it was the style, and our
sweet sisters wore them complacently and
two sizes too small, just the same.
"Of course such shoes as these disfgured
the natural INES OF beauty o the FEMININE
foot, which the Greek sculptors used
to work overtime with their mallets, chisels
and marble blocks. The reaction in the d.
rection of a logical foot-form for our fair
cousins set in, and they jumped, as is US
ual in the acrobatic fashion stunts, to the
other extreme and delighted our senses and
relieved their own feet at the same time
by appearing in the diminutive and grace
full very low-cut shoes, which is really
trifie better than the old-style dancing
pump with the big bow of ribbon tackled on
in front.
French Heels Tabooed.
"The high French heels for street wear
tabooed by the really fashionable
women, though few seasons ago they
were correct; now they are relegated by
this class to the more proper spheres Of
house and reception wear. 1t was a pa
thetic and incongruous sight to see a
woman in a street raglan and high French
heels. The latter give to the average
woman an awkward pitch and it was the
exception to see a woman well poised on
high heels on the street; in the house it
is another matter.
For many years the laced shoe had I'M
disputed sway, but now the button Shoe
both high and low, especially the latter
with the three big buttons. is coming back
into style again. The button shoe sets off
a well-arched instep much more effectively
than the laced shoe. In general shape the
newer shoes follow the mems shapes with
proper notifications, and are along the So
called college lasts with the Cuban or
the military heel the latter being slightly
higher and narrower than the former.
The patent leather still holds first place
for dress wear, and it still cracks as of
yore 1t is unfortunate that no process has
yet been discovered that could make it
safe to warrant patent feathers against
cracking, checking and peeling The tan
ner cannot warrant it, neither can the
manufacturer nor the retailer, for even the
Ill
or not any particular piece of patent leather
will go wrong, SO guarantees in this re-
spect should be received by the ladies with
the proverbal allowance of salt. Gun
metal is both satisfactory and fashionable
leather, being soft, handsome and service
able. but perhaps the most serviceable of
feathers for women's shoes is the black
glazed kid, which is also termed vici kid.
Indeed, many fastidious prefer this
style of leather to the patent finish the
fine calfskn. A combination of gun metal
for the uppers and patent leather for the
vamp is very pretty and stylish.
Cut in Partisan Style.
''Shoes cut in the Partisan STYLE but
without the high French heel, make happy
those of lady friends with the high
arched insteps, because they make the foot
of these fortunate damsels seem a full size
smaller than it really is; it is just a case
of seems, because women can't make
made by nature, but the delusion is
juicy one to dream about-and to talk
about when comparisons are made with a
foot of fiat inStep.
There was a time when the ladies passed
the low shoe when the SHOWS and winds of
fall anG winter came around. but now
they wear even the one-eyelet pump, the
still lower eyeletless pump with the big
bow. right through the winter on the
streets, with open-work hose in the bar
gain Such combination would put the
average man in his grave fro-n pneumonia
in two weeks, but the ladies seem to flourish
Herewith, and If they feel the cold they
don't manifest it. Once In a lie we see
men, very young men, it Is true, but never
theless men, get into a car and pull rolled
trousers still higher when they sit down.
revealing a pair of fiercely colored half
hose and low-cut shoes-tigerish swells,
these gilded youths, in their own estima-
ton, and abominable idiots in the estima-
ton Of the other more sensibly shod men.
Taken entirety, the feminine
styles in footwear for this season show
pleasing tendency toward lightness, a more
rational and natural foot form, and ought
to be more gratifying to the woman's eye
and sense of comfort they pleasing