The Washington herald., 1910-10-23
BY CHARLOTTE NJ. CONGER.

not think" he says, that they are
hideous, vulgar. suggestive?" And he
goes on with many more lurid adtecuves
which emphatic language forces one TO
the belief that the writer takes himself
and the fashions very seriously. Now, no
intelligent person. not even those who
follow them. takes the fashions seriously
and no clever person takes himself Sc
riously; but whether my correspondent is
clever or stupid. his suggestion that the
present styles. viewed from the stand
point OF a looker-on in Vienna, and not
from the persons who makes them, sells
them. or wears them, would be a good
subject 20 dilate upon. is not bad one
The fashions OF the day are no worse
no more inartistic, no more dangerous
than other styles have been. as one will
speedily realize II he will leisurely turn
over the pages OF the fashion books for
the past two or three hundred years
There was. for instance. In the eos. the
monstrous hoop skirt. which was invented
by the Empress Eugenie. One would not
have expected that this makeshift. 10 con-
eeal an ungainly figure, would be adopted
by all ranks. classes, and ages OF women,
but such slaves OF the leaders are we
that IL WAS, and with the hair dressed IN
an enormous chignon or waterfall. as It
was commonly called, and curious little
'dinky" hat was worn. That was a hor-
rid period. that OF the hoop skirt and wa
terfall, and almost as bad as was the Pc
riod that followed the hoop hustle and the
pin back. The hustle came to the bottom
or the frock In the back, the front OF the
skirt being pinned back tightly upon II;
and when it switched from side to side in
walking II looked for all the world like
the swinging OF great fish's tail.
The French Hoop Skirt.
hundred years before the hoop skirt
the French ladies wore similar skirts,
but their voluminousness depended upon
stiffiy starehed and many petticoats
rather than on steel hoops. which stood
ungracefully out from the tightly laced
waists OF their wearers like great bal
looms. At the same epoch my lady Of
fashion wore mountains OF hair, and Il
sometimes took hours TO comb out and
dress the much-becushioned. perfumed.
and powdered coiffure. The process,
therefore. was only submitted TO once
every three or four days and beaux and
cronies were allowed to call while mon
Sieur the hairdresser was at work, which
could not have been an entirely agree
able performance.
Before the foolishness and frivoIity of
the great Louis court, that Of Queen
EllZabeth's set all the world agape. and
the Elizabethian run, standing out stiff
and uncomprOmisingly made the prettiest
or faces seem plain and severe. In the
SOS women of fashion carried about with
them great bottles OF cut glass and sill
yer, shaped something like a policeman's
billet, filled with their favorite perfumes.
These great bottles were carried in the
hand everywherc-to balls and dinners.
10 the Turkish bath. and shopping They
were the fashionable fad OF the moment
and 10 be without one OF these huge and
ugly vinaigrettes was 70 be out or style
AZ this period the sleeves were made
so tight that the arms could not be bent
without discomfort. and II was d queer
light TO see the fashionable lady OF the
day trying 10 manage her bottle with
those tight. tight sleeves which prevented
the free movement OF her arms Then
there was the "Grecian bend" the big
hustle below the waist. and the tight
pinning back OF the frock Just below the
hustle. which so confined the legs that
great labor as breathing. At this time
waists were in style. and
milady used to put one corset iacing over
the bedpost. and then pull on the other
until she has compressed her twenty-five
inch waist 10 the fashionable dimension
HObbIe Skirt Logical.
Reviewing these atro"ious styles. the
big peach basket hat and the hobble
skirt do not seem so incongruous. The
ncbble skirt is the logical sequence OF
the voluminous Grecian draperies that
were worn few years ago. and which.
when properly arranged and properly
worn, are more beautiful than any style
that the world has ever known II is not
he mission Of style. however. TO be beau
tiful Those who are responsible for II
seem to aim only at the grotesque.
The Grecian draperies. when they first
came in. were simple and beautiful. but
gradually they became scantler and
scantier until the gowns were directoire
rather than Grecian, Dame Fashion al
ways plays the limit, and so she has
drawn the skirts still tighter until now
we have the dreadful hObble, which is
already passing, for 1t is doubtful If
there could be anything uglier, more
hideous, uncomfortable. and inartistic 1t
makes monstrosity Of the most graceful
OF girls, and is the undoing OF awkward
wearers.
Uplift work should not be confined 10
alleys nor 10 the slums There is az
much need for II in the stratas higher
up as there is in the slums and alleys.
IL would be consistent for those magazine
which scTutiniZe the advertisements that
are offered them 10 as scrupulously CON
slider the styles they publish and the
effect they may have along moral and
artistic lines, or immoral and inartistic
lines. No one who has thought about
and studied the subject Will deny that
style does have a moral and artists,
effect upon people. Would any one look
for honesty and sterling worth I'm one OF
the becurled and bejeweled dandies OF
Charles IFS court? Was not intrigue
and deceit 10 be expected in the foolish
women with their mountains of hair. their
-Ouged cheeks. smeared all over with
patches. and their equally becurled and
painted cavaliers? 1t was a false, foolish,
artificial age-but magnificent, you will
say Yes. magnificent Anything can be
made magnificent with gliding, but the
gliding OF the upper class of that epoch
~AN iioN NVNFA tiAt obiNlu illlArIH oi the
over. There came, however, the inevit-
able slump after that tremendous swell
ng, The French revolution was the
slump.
Same Causes To Blame.
Whicn side reflections may seem a long
way removed from the hobble skirt, but
hey are not, for the very same motives
hat made the belle OF the grand mon-
lrque's court pile hair a foot high on her
head and paint and dishgure her face
With patches move the belle of to-day to
Iird her legs about with the hobble skirt
md weight her head down with the un-
raceful, unlovely, and unbecom!ng hat.
The hobble skirt is the most grotesque
hing we have had in the matter of fash |
ons for a long time. II is bad enough
when IL is worn nv a sIapdar e,-aoaf,,,