Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-27
WHAT WOMEN ARE WEARING


once for pleasure and once for envy
The latter quality comes about be-
cause she fears her dress allowance
will not let her get new furs.
1t is quite true that the milliners can
do wonders with the furs that one has,
but this does not keep a woman from
wanting new ones. Lovely things IN
the shape of coats, evening wraps,
hats and muffs have appeared that
have all the charms of novelty.
Women want these. Why shouldn't
they?
1t is Just as hard to do without the
new things in furs as it is the new
thing in gowns. The drawback is that
one can afford the latter more easily
than the former One feels in buying
furs that one is buying gems. They
must last forever. Yet they don't, and
even if they did the furriers have seen
to it that the styles change so rapidly
that a woman is uncomfortable In
wearing a fur garment that is not al
tered each year.
The lightning change method in fur
fashions came about through the in
PRODUCTION of semi-precious furs, the
kind that had their origin in the com
mon garden cat and the ordinary rab-
bit. Pelts that were of no Importance
in the world before suddenly became
glorifed, were made up by master
hands, given new names and projected
into a fashionable world.
THE RUSSIAN PONIES
The beginning of such economy on
the part of the furriers began with the
Russian colts These wild ponies have
been used for food for a century or
more by the Russian peasants, and
the skins are thrown away as tmpos-
sible to use. A promoter of fur pelts
saw their possibilities and sent them
f~lrn nj
used for coats.
These skins became so fashionable
that the value of Russian pony coat
was steep. The thing that a peasant
had thrown away had become the COW
ering of smart woman. SO great was
the demand for them that the Ameri-
can calf's skin was made up to look
as much like the original as fashion
demanded, and so they become the
style.
After this success furriers began t.
see the possibilities of everything that
had a hide Nothing from mole to
a mouse escaped notice. These semi
precious furs were not expensive as
furs go, and they were so plentiful that
the furriers took the opportunity af-
forded by the demand to change the
style so rapidly that their purses would
not be depleted. When it became the
fashion to change fur every minute the
precious p6lLS SunSISu WIFI liS
precious ones, and women began to
despair of ever keeping up with the
style in furs.
THE LONG. NARROW COAT
There is one comfort about the furs
of this season. The garments, like coats
and wraps and neckpieces, are so mar
row and scanty that one will have
enough to make them from garments
that have gone before. Another reason
for relief is that two or more furs are
combined on the most fashionable gar
ments, and this gives one chance to
use up all the household furs in one
new and astonishing garment.
Even the best furriers have no hesi-
tation in combining sealsl1in and Rus
sian rat, sable and skunk, ermine and
fox. Unless one has long garment
to begin with, there is trouble in store
for one who would remodel. 1t is
contrary rule that has made every
jacket short but a fur one, and insists
that it reaches nearly to the hem of
the gown
1t is this length that makes the new
coats expensive. They make up in
length what they are denied in width.
When the garment is of sable the cost
proclaims itself, but fortunately there
are lesser furs that are in good taste
and high fashion. There is seal plush
that is widely used and is exceptional
ly pretty. It cannot depend on itself
for a lovely result, but must be COM
bined with a deep hem and front bor-
der of black fox or brown skunk.
THE FASHIONABLE SKUNK
The latter is a more fashionable
choice. One sees it on everything from