Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-07


has been excited by the edct which she
has caused to be issued by the lord cham
berlain. forbidding the wear at court of
those extremely tight and clnsing skirts
which for some time past have been die
lated by Dame Fashion.
For the latter has always shown her
self rebel to the duly constituted author
fly, no matter whether monarchical or
republican. History teaches us that there
are no DEGREES that excite a greater
amount of popular resistance than those
OF sumptuary character.
In Russia. for instance. the Eeges Of
Peter the Great. who had submissivelv
accepted all of his sweeping western re-
forms. preferred to suffer the knout. the
horrors of Siberian exile and even death
on the Scaffold. rather than obey his com
mands as to what clothes they should
wear and as to the cut of their hair and
OF their beard. Queen Mary has at her
disposal less drastic means of enforcing
her beheStS.
Under the circumstances. it remains to
be seen whether or not she will prove
more successful in her determine ton to
dominate La Mode than all those other
royal and imperial ladies who have at
tempted the task. and who have all been
compelled to acknowledge defeat-with
the exception of Empress Josephine and
Empress Eugene. neither of them Of
cially described as a parvenue. in the
proclamation which her husband issued
announcing to his people of France his
choice OF a consort to share his throne.
1t may be questioned whether Queen
Mary had in view any war upon Dame
Fashion when she called the lord cham
berlain to intimate 10 the leading dress
makers and their customers that she as
we'll as the king would view with dis
pleasure the wear Of the hobble skirt at
their court or at any entertainment which
they might honor with their presence. In
deed, she probably never contemplated
the possibility of any such conflict as that
in which she now finds herself involved
1t Is understood that in giving exprc<-
sion to her Ideas to the lord chamber
lain about the matter she was influenced
in the first place ly Ter sense of pro-
priety, which was offended bv the fac.
that the fashions BILE skirt o. TO-DAY il SO
excessively scanty' as to accentuate the
lines and the curves Of the we1r"i TO al
most the same degree as - she wei
CARRIED t mere tights. 1t must nc borne
In mind that The LngliSilwoln.tn. in the
matter of dress, is usually disposed to
eXaggerate the Partisan modes. thereby
lmpairing their eieg l1ce. And so il has
been with the Jupe Colian.e. which is fat
Ell
woman than any Parisienne would VEN
ture to affect.
Then, too. the tight SKIRT is ais, !utely
fatal to any graceful curtsey. Formerly
very deep and sweeping in its r. ovement.
this form of tonnage To the members of
the reigning house degen1rat I'd diving the
closing years VI the reign of Queen Vic
toria into a mere dip. sometimes known
as the charity bob, which betokened
Indifference. carelsssness and undue
familiarity.
The worst offenders in this respect were
the smart Englishwomen Of the younger
generation. and one of the reasons which
caused not only Queen Victoria. but also
King Edward and Queen Alexandra to
acknowledge with marked tokens of gra-
ciousness and good will the obeisance of
American women presented to them was
that the transatlantic curtsey was very
deep. slow and stately. carrying with it
a flavor Of eighteenth century courtli-
ness instead of the hustle and hustle of
the present era.
In fact, Englishwomen of the present
day, though natives of monarchical