Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-25
BY ANNE RITTENHOUSE.

Take heed to your clothes this spring.
The air is full of disaster. With slight
effort you could easily he grOtesque. The
common verdict is that wOmans apparel
was never SO ugly. The exclusive verdict
is that it was never so full of the posi-
bilty of beauty.
Granting the judgment of the latter as
correct, yet strong clothes, like strong
physic. must be in skillful hands to be
successful. That it will be time OF alb
surdity and ugliness in the mass OF dress
ing there Is no doubt Even the most
ardent advocates Of the new Kind OF
dressing freely confess that it is dis
astrous time for the amateur.
This prediction of grotesque in mass
will not come true If the amateur leaves
all experiments in the hands of the artist.
How, then shall the amateur, who is In
the majority, dress? asks the critic. Is
she to eschew all the new fashions ana
wear the clothes of one who uses them
only as a covering for decency's sake and
not as an expression of taste?
The answer to this is that here is the
amateurs chance to make herseli al
mired; to draw attention to herself oy
reason of what she has omitted ratner
than by what she has chosen.
To achieve this distinction she must
steer between two headlands-One Is the
slender class of women who nave taste:
wealth and opportunity combined, ana
the other the huge class without any one
of the three conditions. The former is
made up of those who lead the good
dressing Of the world in whatever city
they live and the latter has been con-
spicuously increased by the thousands
since the era of eccentric dressing began.
To realize the actual beauty OF the new
fashions one must see them worn by the
,irst-class: to realize their possibilities FOR
hideousness one has only to see them on
the second-class Unhappily for the work
of the designers the public at large only
has the opportunity to see them at their
worst and thus they have received very
bad name. Realizing as every exper.
does that it Is the womans character
that is exploited by the clothes she
chooses. it is laughable to hear the pull
piteers, in and out of pulpits. thunder
against the deviltry of the designers anu
the iniquity of the dressmakers -, r.,re
pamut of a wOman's qualities by the
clothes she wears and the way she wears
them. The student of human nature the
ANALYST the literary dissecter would DO
well to bear hard upon this point, and
when a bishop of state descends from
the gospel of Christ TO the gospel OF
clothes in his preaching it might be Well
for him to study this fact. Rest assured
it is all inside the woman. She can uplift
or debase any fashion.
Clothes for the Amateur.
What. then, shall the amateur wear?
Is there an artistic mean between the
yaucheries of the alleged futurist clothes
and the costly dignity of Worth? There
is. And the amateur would do well to
achieve it. Every designer and all the
middIemen offer smart clothes that are
not extreme o. costly They are to be
had for the asking and the choosing.
1t is true that no woman can wear a
full, fiaring skirt and double-breasted
coat without appearing hopelessly out
of the modern picture. and few women
care for this distinction, for. after all,
il is as conspicuous to be too old fash
toned as too new fashioned. And one
does not have to go to ungraceful ex-
tremes 10 show ones defiance of what
is new One can choose graceful
method of pointing moral and a way
by wearing what is best in the modern
fashions and eliminating what is gro
tesaue and foolish.
The temptations are great this spring
in clothes and it is easy to yield to a
desire for cuts and colors that one has
never worm but that way madness in
dress lies, for one must be certain or an
experiment in the phase OF dress. and
how can one be? So the amateur has a
beaten track to follow this year and the
pleasant satisfaction OF knowing tnat II
| Is the path of distinction.
OF Cohen a diplomatist from this coun-
| try was asked if he did not feel morti-
| fled at foreign courts in his plain black
dress suit: he said. Not at all. One
could always distinguish him from a
| funky.
Simplicity. in the best way. is quite
| an achievement in day OF eccentricity,
o.
member 1t when she goes forth to buy
new spring raiment. II she has not the
money to indulge in a splendid supply
OF varied costumes and the opportunity
with cotton IL she feels tempted to heed
| the call of what is wild in dress.
IL she yearns for what Is queer, dar-
| ing and careful let her assuage her de-
'rc- arcthe~ time " she does il