Evening star., 1913-12-07


thority insist that the time for set
tied fashions is over and that we
must begin to lool. for a change in
another six weeks Probably this is
commercially important to all those who
make a business of clothes; and surely no
one can complain of lack of variety and
lack of change during the last four years;
but the women who wear clothes, not
those who sell and those who write, ex-
perience a panic at the suggestion that
their coats and skirts will be out OF fash
Ion before February blows itself iato
March
No matter how obstinate or strong
minded a woman is concerning the change
In current styles. and matter how
strongly she declares that she will not go
with. the current. she finds that it Is no
more possible to remain anchofeGi than
IL she were a straw in the eddies.
Whatever the near future may hold. the
present is quite agreeable. now that we
understand it. and We do not want to
change. We rather like these loose
vague. shapeless things We call clothes to-
day. None but the stout object to the
corsetless feeling. the huge waist line, the
unboned neck and the unbound arm. We
know ne are in danger OF being careless
because "sIoppiness'' is tolerated. but we
have a feeling of contentment and we'll
being that We do not care to relinquish
We put cotton in ears when au-
thoritative persons whisper darkly with
fingers TO lips that the pointed basque, the
tight waist. the small sleeves ard the out
lined figure is coming into fashion in the
spring. We will have nothing TO do with
IL, We frantically cry. Let 1t remain in
the limbo of the past. and as free think
ers, let wear free garments.
We refuse to be shackled and bound
and boned and tortured longer: we have
tasted the delights of Greek drapery and
we hate the very name OF Catherine de
Medici. who invented the. corset and the
thirteen-inch waist.
modern version of this boned garment
that was invented to give women
waist line? How do the corset makers
feel about women's insistence in wear
Ing rubber and elastic girdles. or bro
cade that Is only bone below the waist
line? Do women really wear these
things. or Is 1t all talk? And what say !
those who wear them?
I asked all these questions in one
breath. and found that they saddened |
q leading corsetiere. She deplored the |
fact that women wore them, she con- |
feSsed the fact that she made them |
she admitted that she hated them. and |
she said. in ominous manner that !
they would be the ruin of the American |
figure.
Possibly it would interest you to hear |
the two sides of the Question as 1t was |
discussed that day. The women who
were buying the rubber corsets We're !
expressing themselves in no uncertain
tones. They were delighted. So much
one could easily hear. One wom-
an, a hostess of renown, who had |
returned from Carlsbad. where she |
went to get herself thin. not well. in
sisted that her waist never looked
small and that one could not see
whether or not she had hips.
Another woman, her companion. ex-
claimed with happiness that she could
dance five nights in n week without
feeling fatigued. and that she could wear |
more becoming bodices than ever before. |
IAN the women are wearing them,' was |
the summing up of this side of the con-
versation.
And the corsetiere? She continued to
shake her head and refused to smile.
You are all wrong" she said. your
figures look worse than ever. You are
shapelesS- You do not ook like women. /
but like bags. Worse than that. you I
win be unable to reduce your fisures to 1
any kind of dignihed lines when the |
fashion changes.
that this mad fashion would last for only !
three months. and yet ! am compelled |
to confess that in the eighth month of /
the fashion II is growing stronger every /
day. The slim and the stout insist upon |
these rubber and elastic hip g!rdles: |
even the conservative woman comes TO /
me and demands corsets that are cut off |
at the waist line and says she will wear
brassieres when she needs them. 1t is |
depiorable. 1t is not question OF cost |
to me. for / get $40 for girdle of web |
bling, and l can make it with my eyes
closed
So much for the corset maker and the
verdict Of the fashionable woman. What
about II from the viewpoint OF the doctor
and the physical director? Wrong-all
wrons-both of them cry al once. AS
wrong heelless slippers and fiat-heeled
walking shoes.
1t sounds astounding to hear men of
such professions cry out against fashions
that have always been held up as natural
and normal. The critics of the tight
waist and the high heel have tried to
persuade woman to go back TO the slatu-
ralness OF the Indian and the Tanagra
maiden Now. when she Is going there
as fast as she can, those in charge of her