New-York tribune., 1910-08-28

Paris, August IS, 1910
According to the French dictionary. any
creature which is "entrave'' is bound by the
feet-and this word is supposed to refer u
animals with four feet-with a rope so thae
it has difficulty In walking. From TINS the
French journalists have evolved q new eX-
preston. "les etravees,' which, first OF aii'
was supposed to be applied only to women
who wore banded skirts. but which Is no"
taking on a broader meaning and inciuoeS
all women bound by any fashion
OF late years It has become the custom
for men writers in the reviews and the odiiS
press to devote much time and space W
criticism of the changing fashions In woin-
ems dress. The space given to this supJec'
is either an acknowledgment of the grow
ing Importance Of dress or an 1ndlcatioii
that the male writer's are often hard up ior
/, subject. but as clever woman says III
,ne Of the weekly fashion magazines
when any suggestion of beauty departed
from mems apparel it was perhaps natural
that they should turn their criticism TO
ours"
Yet this criticism of feminine modes Is not
new. for we remember that Moliere directed
much of his subtle sarcasm in this direc-
ton. And who shall say that the costumes
Of the centuries past which we have only
before US now in the interpretations oi
great artists and which stand as the rnodels
for artistic gowning did not in their tliIie
have their satirists? 1t would be interest
Ing to write history of les euavees oi
all ages The women who wore big rucheS
in the time of Catherine de Medicls.' dld any
gtbes cause them to discard the fashion?
And the iron corset Of the Middle Ages.
beside which the modern straight corset is
as an infants swaddlng band, did 1t nave
no decorators?
hasty review OF feminine models Will
reveal iron chains worn as garters, mead
dresses put on and attached to the Skull
with bands of steeI-and at that time heao-
ache powders had not been 1nventeo-ndI
a dozen skirts put on one over anotner ana
held out with wooded hoops, the forerunner
Of the crinoline of the COS and skirts much
more scanty than any that have ever been
worn by the advocates Of the modern band
ed skirt.
The banded skirt Of 1910 will probably go
down to history as the fashion of the year,
but its prominence Is not due TO the women
who have worn It, but to the men who nave
talked about 1t. Any one at all au courant
with what we'll dressed Frenchwomen are
wearing knows that the fashion has had no
vogue worth considering, and yet every few
days we read in some Paris journal that a
woman has fallen and broken her leg,
victim to fashion" 1t Is interesting TO
note that the last reported accident OF THIS
sort brought out a storm OF protestations
from half a dozen of the leading dress
who all denied having launched.
advocated or made the tightly banded skirt,
while some went so Ear as TO declare that
II was simply another ugly fashion brought
over from America" The sequel TO this
story was that the victim Of the accident
wrote a most indignant letter to the press
denying that she had ever worn such a gar
ment Evidently she regarded her reputa-
ton as a dame du monde" at stake
A correspondent from Trouvtlle writes
that some attractive little short jackets are
being worn. One costume described in de-
tail is a two-piece suit of white tussor, orna-
mented with Russian embroidery in dull yell