The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-03
Happenings in the Realm of Society = The August
Quietude Chiefly Broken by Small Dinners and
the Weekly ner-Dance-Engageme
pective Parties-The' Departures and Returning
Traveers-Society Briefs

The critics of the disappearing clothes
fashion. heard SO frequently these sum-
mer days. have raised considerable dis
cussion; they are, however probably
aware thatNadvanced dressmakers in Lon
don and Paris are trying to rescue their
clients for this vogue for thin apparel
But as<yet they are making very little
headway.
Though the mice" woman, here and
abroad as we'll will have absolutely
nothing to do with the mmodestly thin
frock or the too lowcut corsage worn
In the daytime or the slit skirt worn to
the knee, she has nothing but appre-
citation for the principle of the fashions
today.
Never again surely will women consent
to drag along the weighty petticoats and
frocks that impeded the progress of and
wearied the limbs of the id-Victorian,
and which induced her to lead seden-
tary life and encouraged ailments born
of inertia and laziness. Nor will woman
abandon the low cut corsage so long
as it is becoming. Because ii not only is
comfortable, but it beautifies the contour
of the neck, prevents headaches that
come from compression and wards off
tendency to sore throat and colds by
gradual process of hardening. Nor will
woman go back to the bondage of the
long dust and germ-g gathering frock for
walking.
returned exile was talking the other
day of several recent impressions of his
nj 10 cai nv
last visit home that l saw in a restau-
rant a Frenehwoman take out little
pot and a powder puff in the middle of
dinner and unshamedly make her face up.
4 thanked heaven dixie the Pharisee) that
cur athletic, healthy American women
were not as other women are" Now"
he continued, II look back upon myself
congratulations with a cynical smile. This
time on my trip home, l find that the
fashion has spread from Paris to London,
and from London to America, and that
the habit has taken firm root here. 1t
was at the theatre not long ago that
noticed one face after another that was
clearly not nature unadorned. Cheeks
glcwed with a borrowed radiance. Eye
lashed betrayed the. work of the pen
true. spoke of this with hesitation to
the woman who had invited me to be in
her box. She laughed. My dear man.
she said, we all do it. Why not?' But
surely, stammered, you don't mean you
wouldn't-I could tell in a moment. or
course you don't And she laughed
again. That's because l don't overdo It,,
she said. Men are so funny about 1t.
They always think they can tell. l have
a friend whose husband throws away her
little pots and boxes wherever he finds
them. He thinks this keeps her from
using the things they contain. She let's
him think so, but she keeps on using them
all the time.
Il suppose I looked shocked, he puff
sued, because l was I could not believe.
her when she said: We all do it. Next
day, and for many days afterward l
took notice of womens faces critically.
/ am afraid from what have seen that
she was telling me the truth In broad
daylight, there is nearly as much 8evi-
dence of makeup as at night. Tt is dain-
tily cleverly done by most women, and
ooes net make them look meretricious or
common, but-it is palpably there
isn't it odd that he has been so long
finding it out? For while it is not alto
gether correct to say: I'VE all do it," still
the art of making up has its part to
play in the new scheme of things modish
And it is not so Objectionable, when one
reasons about it bit. Women who 20
years ago would declare making up to be
mot respectable" buy comestics nova
days as a matter of course Even girls
use them. They like TO be in the fash
ion. Directly a woman feels that she
is looking pale or a bit pulled down
(Which is pretty often in the ceaseless
rush of life today) she SAYS she must
have touch of color" The rest quickly
follows. 1t is an exaggeration, of course,
to say that "ali" women do it. Again
it would be an exaggeration to say that
more than a few women really alter their
appearance by make up. The few who
DO are well past the age of "bloom."
The others simply accentuate their good
points, or at most help out their defi-
ciencies. See them without the makeup