Arizona republican., 1910-11-19
THE WOMAN AND HER GOWN


others eXclaim as they passed, What
a beautiful gown" would feel that
they had achieved a triumph, but the
woman who had taken a course in
costume designing at Teachers col
lege would know better than to be
elated by such remark Instead, she
would go home in 'meditative mood
and try to discover what was the
matter with her gown that people
should notice it rather than her. For
she would know that if she had car
ried out the correct principles of cos
| tuning people would have said not
What beautiful gown!" but What
! a lovely woman!" Not the gown, but
the woman is the motto which Miss
Grace Lillian Hitchings, instructor in
costume designing at the college, seeks
to keep ever before the minds of her
pupils.
1T is the whole effect produced by
the combination of woman and gown
which makes up the beautiful picture
you want people to admire in YOU
she explained to a Tribune reporter
Just think for a moment of the diff
ference between the pictures of Queen
Elizabeth and of Queen Louise. You
remember Queen Elizabeth in her
gorgeous gowns and jewels and ruffs ?
Don't you always think, Poor soul,
how many clothes she was carrying
around!' And I'll wager you never
think much about her face Now,
with Queen Louise, how different it is.
You see a lovely woman descending a
stairway in soft, flowing robes, and
you say, What a beautiful queenn
The difference is that in one picture
the dress is conspicuous, and in the
other the woman.
"One of the things we do in this
course is to study great painters of
women just with an eye to their
treatment of costume. They didn't
paint gown because it was stylish,
you may be sure, but because it was
artistic and suited that particular
woman.
THAT is another important point
Dress must be individual So many
women wear something because it's
fashionable, or a pretty color, or
bought at a bargain, and never think
whether or not it suits their particu-
| lar type Of beauty. Oh. yes, every
woman has something of beauty about
| her. The reason we don't see it is
that she hasn't dressed with reference
to it. She may have lovely hair, and
probably she covers it up with. big,
| conspicuous hat, or she may have a
delicate sea shell complexion, and she
affects bright pinks, which kill the
soft pink in her cheeks and make her
look pale and wan If she understood
the principles of costume designing
/ which are nothing more nor less than
the principles of all art-she would
make her beautiful points noticeable
+! and her ugly ones incOnspicuous"
4 Unfortunately, all women are not
blessed with an ability to recognize
their own good points and separate
the wheat from the tares, but in the
4 Teachers college classes such unfor-
! Inmates are helpel out by their sister
students. They stand up on the plat
/ form, and the class discusses them
You have good eyes, they say, but
your figure is dumpy." perfect frank
ness and good nature are in the order
of the day) Another girl was found
to have a splendid rudy color" but
her shoulders were narrow and her
hips broad The costume designed for
her is a fine example of the kind Of
work this extraordinary class does. 1t
was an afternoon gown. Now, a
splendid rudy color is a fine thing"
the class decided. for country clubs
or for automobiling, but in polite So
ciety it needs to be toned down a lit
tie" So they gave her a gown of
soft, silvery gray, with just a few bits
of pinl<y, opal -colors here and there
/ mi 4
look broader, they massed all the
trimming in horizontal lines around
the bottom of the yoke and over the
shoulders. and they made the erst of
the gown with long, unbroken lines
and no Waistline, to render the hips
less conspicuous. When the design
was finished she of the ruddy COM
plexion knew she was going to look
handsomer in this gown than she had
ever hoped to be before.
This sort of thing is the invariable
| practice of the French women" said
Miss Hitchings. THAT is why they
always manage to look so well. They
have a reputation for being artistical
ly gowned simply because they design
their clothes on artistic principles,
| thinking of line and mass and color
harmonq The American woman has
not yet learned that because a gown
| is handsome in a store it is not nee
essarily the gown to make her look
her best. In the case of tailored suits
Americans excel the French, l think
but as designers and wearers of fancy
costumes we have much to learn"
| There are about seventy five stu
dents in the designing classes. some
regular students, who intend to be
teachers of the art, and others "spe
| Gals" who are studying it for per-
I sonal use. When the design is fin
/ ished they carry it across the hall to
/ the dressmaking class and make ii
up Some are so Industrious that they
design and make costumes for their
friends and relatives, as well as for
| themselves. 1t is said that the teach
ers in the college get a chance to pose
! as models and so acquire in the
course of the year two or three
gowns specially designed to accentu-
ate their individual best points. 1t is
also one of the traditions which every
freshman on Morningside hears early
! in her course that the COSTUME girls"
always design and make the gowns
with which they charm the eyes of all
beholders at the annual college ball