The evening world., 1911-11-25
QLOFFASH|ON
UGL|NESSF0R THE
GREATEST NUMBER
So Says Katharine Fullerton
Gerould, Writing of Trag-
edies in Dress.
SAME FOR FAT AND THIN.
Poor. Woman Must Look a
"Travesty on the Success
full Chorus Girl"
Marguerite MOOers Marshall.

Marguerite MO0ers Marshall.
"Ths most damning thing about
fashions 10 that they make In.
ev1tably, nine PEARS out Of ten,
Tor h greatest uglinsss Of h
greatest number"
THE poor woman with intel
ligsncs must content herself with
LOOKING . travssty ON the sucosss.
Sul chorus girl"
have known tragedies In
smallish American cities that be-
ran and ended In dress.
hatharine Fullerton Gerould, a we'll
known essayist. thus ~cleverly pleads tho
case against Dame Fashion In the cur
REM number of the Atlantic Monthly.
For our sartorial sins magistrate. min-
lister and moral reformer do frequently
arise and verbally smite us. But Miss
Gerould. being wise IN the ways of her
sex, has chosen a subtler castigation.
Really she seems to say. with a
discreet smile. you may be willing to
dress Illegally or immoraiiy or inde-
Gently. but. pray. do you wish to loox
ugly n absurd?
1T must be confessed that the sex OF
the more peaceful pursuits has been
the more exuberantly adorned" she be-
gins. From the earliest times Il Is the
woman who has been designated as the
sinner in this respect.
"one 10 certainly ~ liberty to In
fer from the chorus that It IL sas-
ier for . camel to pas through the
needles eye han for anything really
chic to enter the Kingdom Of heaven.
1t 10 not. however. with the moral
aspect Of fashion that ! am concerned,
nor with economic considerations. some
stat!stician every month proves to US
something appalling; that since our
women must walk gay and money buys
their gear materials are adulterated.
or sewing women are starved. or shop
girls seek the primrose path. or hus-
banis die OF the strain in the early
forties.
REALLY "0ooD" MiLLiNER
MAKES 100 PER CENT. PROFIT.
'TO much the anne music. the New
York customs officials stage. each day.
an elaborate melodrama on the steam.
ship piers. We know that from near
0OSi W NdTbAi nv PoDE va UaCEAuC0
eonfUrt 10 cut and that n really good
milliner makes n profit OF 100 per cent.
on each hat.
but ! very much doubt II either nov
el!st or stat!sticlan will turn the trick.
Yet they hav only. II would seem. 10
enlist a few other facts. as good as their
own. to be quite sure OF success"
And then Miss Gerould launches one
OF her W little .hunderbolts OF fact.
"Fo not even the cynic." she sweet
~ observes. will pretend that the real
object OF fashions is to disfigure. 1t Is
quite without intention that NJ. Worth
and Nine. Paquin and all their proto-
types. congen!tors. and successors.
have become the foes of beauty. They
have simply never stopped to consider
that the very notion of the changing
mode Is the negation of all aesthetic
law. The most damniny thing about
fashions is that they make inevitably.
nine years out OF ten, for the greatest
ugiiness of the greatest number.
"Can anything b more absurd
than to impose . single style on
the tat ana the thin, on the mini
mum wage and the maximum In
come.
II admit that no fashion has ever
been created expressly for the lean
nurse or for the fat woman. The Dress
makers ideal Is undoubtedly the thin
~millionalress. But the fat woman and
ths lean purse must make the best OF
each style. In turn. as 1t comes along.
And II one has ever seen q fat woman
In a hobble skirt-even In an academic
edition Of II hobble sl,irt-one knows
that this Is NOT n light thing TO say.
Az for the lean purse, II IL not only In
s,armIst articles that the work!ng-gtrl
goes without half her luncheons TO buy
A rhinestone sunburst. One has known
the cases"
THOSE WHO DRESS cHEAPLY
MUST BE IN STYLE.
Then Miss Gorould puts her finger on
another horn OF the dress dilemma.
"It 10 one of the few true para
doxieS that people who must dress
..chsapiy must dress IN style Tns
cheapest Eighth avsHus suit,
which, rsGay made, costs some
thing and ninety-eight cents, 10
sure to be . hasty and sieasy I'M
itstion (at many removes, and los
Ing sonasthtns with sach) OF .
FIFTH avenue model. And that II .
hard fate for the Hypothetical
poor woman with intelligence who
secretly desires garment that
VIII b no more conspicuous next
year than this, and longs to put
some Of her money int good ms
tsStsls.
1T Is only a very good land expeE