Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-11-24
BY ANNE RITTENHOUSE.
Special Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence of The Star.
NEW YORK, November %. 1913.
Roman ribbon and dull plaid are
much in favor in Paris. My artist
there writes that Premet's idea of US
ing an apron or tunic of Roman silk
in blue or Burgundy stripping has in
duced many dressmakers to take up
the idea in this and other forms.
Plaid is also favored. she says. but
it is not Scotch plaid unless all crosses
and squares of color belong to the
Highlanders. Paris has adopted plaid
which is nothing but a succession OF
bias lines in black or another definite
color going across brilliant surface.
Notice the hat, which is sketched to-
day and which was worn at the Thea
ter Maringy by a smart woman sit
| ting in one of the loges. You know the
French insist upon hats and they only
discard them when it is necessary. The
excessively fashionable woman goes
bareheaded more than her imitator in
another class of life, because it is only
the few VINO prefer the English Gus
| tom of an elaborate couture uncovered
| by hat.
The French women do not attempt
hat with very low gown. They know
better than that. as they know every
thing ABOUT dress better than any nd
ton il the world. When they cover the
head and uncover the neck, it is only
u hall decolletage and very often it
+ accompanied by long transparent
sleeves and a pearl collar or hscx-
lace OF gems.
his is the costume of the girl in the
sketch. / forgot to mention the furs
No French woman leaves these off ii
she can help it, The hat shown is Of
/ plaid velvet With parrots tail III
front.
Quiet Plumage Used.
The putting OF this parrots tail on a
plain hat is interesting. 1t is one Of
the many signs that Paris is beginning
to be careful in the use of aigrettes
There are two sides to this. the chief
one of which is that the French mil
liner Is immensely interested in her
American trade, and the stories Of
what has been happening at the Gus
tom house recently have not made her
anxious to embarrass her clients An
other reason is that many women re-
| fuse to give the price asked for gen
/ uine aigrettes. and milliners are not
willing to take the risk of keeping this
much discussed plumage in stock a. a
! possible loss.
1 And, by the way. it is an illuminat-
/ ing discovery made by the custom
house inspectors that out of $50
| aigrettes worn into port by American
women and confiscated by the govern
| ment, only fifteen were genuine. 1t
would be again interesting to find out
If these A:herican women paid for real
ones, which cost from s10O up, and re-
ceived horse hair in return, or the glori-
4 fed tail of a backyard chicken.
TIL French milliners confess that
they can manipulate white hair with
such Skill that ii would take an ex-
pert to tell it from an aigrette. After
all. il is probable that women have
not been as culpable as the Audubon
Socie,y would have us believe.
| The fantasia which has usually ap-
| peared on women's hats and which,
my correspondent writes, is still the
| first choice in millinery. has a rival in
this exotic plumage which is shown in
| the little plaid hat of the sketch.
All the tropical birds have tails of
wonderful color. and there is no reason
| why they should not come into first
fashion now that the Panama canal is
| of vital interest to the world. The
I French fashion makers are clever in
rejecting the history of the times. and
the events of the day In the fashions
which they give to the world.
Paris Adopts the Dragon Fly.
My artist is not quite sure whether
| the dragon fly has come into fame be-
cause of its resemblance to the hydro
mad. or because 1t claims kinship with
the butterfly. which has reigned for
over year Whatever the reason the
smart women are wearing dragon flies
so lifelike that one wishes to run out
and get a net And they are startingly
like those magic pieces of machinery
that we call hydro-aeropianes.
II Last September l saw many. of them
the machines. not the dra son fiies-start
on the Seine below the terrace of St Ger
in net aft thn -S.fx txAsr
/ way to Deauville by the sea for a
great prize. There is no time to de-
scribe that event in the middle of a
short fashion article, but 1t is not pos
sible to hear the word dragon fly''
| without having that scene flash
through the mind like a moving pic
| ture-the perfection of Paris morn
ing, the historic terrace of the palace
| where Henry w lived the mass OF pco-
pie that stretched for a mile III each
/ s.de the brown river. the aristocrats