The Washington herald., 1913-09-20
BY FRANCES sHAFFER.

In these years of grace. pray tell us,
where are the old ladies" who used to
wear snug little grandmotherly hats that
belonged to them and them alone. who
sedateIy laid aside the trappings of youth
and frankly gowned themselves as If
to say.
The wine Of life keeps oozing drop
The leaves of life keep falling one by
one"
They have all disappeared down the
tide with other discarded fashions. and
the seIf-confessed old lady is seen no
more. For women are happily living in
the Golden Age and nave drawn close
to the fountain OF perpetual youth. In
the years gone by, odd age gathered
them in long before they were ready.
gathered them in by way of their close
drawn hair. their funny little bonnets
that fairly sung of life gone by, by their
oh, by their everything that just had
to be old" and that was all there was
about il.
But now. There is nothing inhexible
about it, for they are almost as young
as they want TO be; and one grows fear
ful sometimes that the pendulum may
swing the other way.
should Be Dividing Line.
Because in matters Of dress there
really Is or really ought to be. just
bit of dividing line between extreme
youth and well-settled years. And 1t
is not for the sake of marking the pas
sage of time and of granting to youth
an advantage that age does not know,
but for the wider sake of the fitness OF
things and the eternal feminine-becom-
ingness.
Youth can. il 1t likes and u it counts
il good taste garb itself in the French
lest of high French heels. can wear
a hat that sweeps and sweeps away
from its face and rests far down on its
shoulders. And the most that happens
is tolerant smile, because youth is
dear and sweet of itself. in spite Of its
foolish bunders. But when the face is
old and the grace is gone, there is some
thing pathetic about it.
As for me, I am glad 20 see older
women subscribe TO the gayer tones that
fit in with their spirits. glad 10 see them
gown themselves in the latest modes. so
long as the modes are within reason, ana
always pleased to see them oetray, IN
their manner of dress, that the years
have not robbed them of their joy in the
brighter, the softer things.
But there comes time when too much
fuss and feathers. too close adherence TO
girlish styles. strikes a note that is plain
Iv ridiculous. And then the dignihed
grace that should come with the years
Is all swept away, with nothing to take
its place.
Dignity Becoming.
And if dignity in dress rests becomingly
when the years have stolen the fresh
ness of youth, what shall one say OF
dignity in manner?
One easily enough excuses goodly
bit of gush and effervescence in the
davs Of sweet sixteen" but one does
not like to see mayprer years left stand
ing with youth, with all its airy man
ners gathering none of the fruits that
time and experience should yield. As
time goes by. men and women must keep
pace with its, fight, for it is pathetic
never to grow up. And II is hard TO
make allowances when middle-aged folk.
and those still older, cling to their youth
full follies.
As TO the spirit Of youth, the heart
that never grows old, that is where the
real triumph Of age comes in.
And il is one of the glorious sights we
often see-real grandmothers, as years
are reckoned, with not thing TO sepa-
rate them from the ways of youth beside
greater dignity in dress and manner, and
a wider, perhaps more beautiful outlook
on life Because when it happens, as 1t