The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-14
How Some Fashions Started
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By Frederic J. Haski1i.

Now that the season for buying wih- ,ar c1otbes ia at its height, what wo- man has not asked herself how the fashions she is forced to follow got their vogue? She sees certain styles reign for awhile, but knows not whence they come nor whither they go. Sne has a vague sort of idea that the fash- ions start over in Paris, but further than that, she has no real knowledge who Dame Fashion at whose shrine she worships, really is? Many an in- terested person has travelled to Paris to settle for once and all the question:: Who sets the fashions" One of the more recent of these pilgrims was an Englishman of some prominence. He had seen others fail to find the an- swer. so he went to interview the great dressmakers themselves.
 The first one he called on was M. Paquin, perhaps the head of those who cater to woman's love of fine clothes When the Englishman put the ques- ton to the Frenchmen he was told that the Americans set the fashions. It was not very pleasant news to the Englishman, and he at once sought to change the verdict by appealing to the patriotism of the Frenchman. remark ing that he had always thought the Frenchwomen the best gowned women in the world. But NJ. Paquin would not have it so. He replied that the American women wear the best clothes and wear them better than the women of any other nation.
 He told his visitor that the fashions in women's clothes emanate from the Rue de Paix, the centre Of the dress making world. He further admitted that he and his fellow dressmakers create styles. but that it all depends upon the verdict of the Americans whether they shall be the accepted styles or not. March is the busy month on the Rue de Paix. Every dressmaker and his assistant are en- gagged in trying to bring out some thing new. They ransack the IibrarieA search through the art galleries, and delye through the bookshops in the hope of finding some old print that will give them a new Idea. When they have turned every stone, they set about giving expression to these .daas in the new gowns they create. For weeks their workshops are busy. At last their collection is completed. Then the American buyers arrive. They look over the creations from one end of Rue De Paix to the other. and then settle down on certain dresses, for ders. That settles 1t. The American dress buyers action is cabled to the fashion centres of the whole civilized world. and their choice determines how the feminine world shall be array1d during the approaching season.
 The fact that the Paris dressmakers are ever searching the records of the past for ideas accounts for the fact that fashions. like planets, move In cycles For instance. take the Direc- torie gown. It is nothing but the Mer- veilleuse gown, which had it's vogue about the close of the French Revolu- tion worked over and certain modern touches added to 1t. And the Meryeil- leuse gown itself was but an adapta- tion of the tunlcs worn by the women fore the birth of Christ. These Mer- veilIeuse gowns shocked the church to such a degree that the Pope issued bull against them and their wear CTS were reufsed the sacraments of the church. Ministers of the Gospel ev- anywhere denounced them. It seems that the little slit at the bottom, which is more apparent than real in the lat est gown, was not a deception in those days. but was used to display gfimpses of fine underltnen. The clergymen of the day referred to these little lace openings as the gates of hell"
 The dresses of that day were very light in weight. and a French lady made a wager with a friend that hers did not weigh more than two pounds. When it was afterwards weighed. 1t was scarcely more than a pound that was registered on the scales. A Rus- sian nnbleman was visiting in Paris about this time. In his country wo- mans rank was shown by the weight of her furs. and when he saw French