The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1912-09-13
OBSERVATIONS.

Who sets the fashions? VIII,
near TINS: An acquaintance W. y:
mine has recently been in Rri,,s OI
Sast AFRICA, near where Ex-pras;I
dent Roosevelt went hunting ess
ne describes some of the costun ~ua
ne saw at heather village. hue
dies with Enthusiastically plated hai.
reeking with red ochre and c, aalr
OIL, their ears carrying disten%aoas
rings, or even empty milk ti tins us
discarded jelly glasses, and tS ana
arms heavy with brass coils 'ueif
usually prominent in the crowd are are
less these native ornaments un-
eclipsed by the ancient cast are
Prince Albert, or lady's hat wh,oa
some enterprising brave has bronaSa.
up from the coast and is strnt.sat
about in" How big was that hui
l wonder? Coming from Roiso a.,
few days ago young lady trw;,a
to pass out of car door found tas
space too narrow, and the hat r .ue
knocked almost off her head was
Brady's War Pictures, which h. ~
been recently given to the co,ian"
are many views of the immense cr;s
oline sQirts the ladies wore in thnae
days, the COS; my parents used ~
tell me of the "hOop-skirt craze, ~
the first quarter of the nineteonth
century, when the hoops were roai
ones, and SO big and stiff that whsn
the ladies tried to enter church naws
they were often obliged to turn Nv
hoops up sidewise to enter without
difficulty. And here is sometbin"
from China: 1t has been a Counts
of cast-tron customs and styles: ths
pictures Of Chinese scenes Of am
years ago might have been sketchsS
last year; but the new political
ideas have made tremendo~s
yeasting in that strange country
and now the young people are Ill
agog for western ideas and nrac.
tees, and as might be expected Il
shows itself in clothing first of ali.
that which can be seen first with
the eye. A gentleman writing a few
days ago to an American friend
says: 1T seems as if long-stand sSns
barriers had dropped away, and
they were all moving out toward
something new. What it Is, they
don't know clearly. but the re.
markable thing is, they are moving.
For instance, they move into foreign
clothes with avidity. They start At
the top, with that rare thing in
Teintsin, q Derby hat; then 70 to
the bottom-shOes. The midway &C.
compartments follow, without much
notion of what goes inside or out
But those who can afford these
things are making all the foreign
haberdashers in Teintsin grow rich,
1t is considered very nobby now to
wear light blue socks and Boston
Carriers Overy your Chinese trous-
ers."
That Is the men, mind y0u-what
will happen when the Chinese wo-
men feel the touch of liberty and be-
gin to follow the fashions? The
above reminds me of a little boy
knew years ago, who had new gar
tiers made of red, white and blue
elastic braid and on returning from
Sunday school his mother found be
had drawn up his frock, exposing
the top of his stockings, and when
asked for explanations, said 1t was
that others might see his new gar
ters!
Well, now, which is it? For
comfort or looks? Not many years
ago a New York woman Of the rich
class was told that the presidents
wife spent only $1,000 a year on
clothes, and spitefully replied: "She
looks like it," And yet, that presl-
dents wife came from an old family
of wealth and refinement and-good
taste!-and such women usually fol-
low fashion as far of as they can
and not be peculiar.
OBSERVER.