Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1913-03-18
CONFERON FASHIONS
Partisan Modlstes Consult Before
Setting New Styles.
Individual Ideas Developed Only After
Main Points Have Been Settled
Some Of the Fanoles for the
\ Coming Season.

dering enough In all conscience
but It is not enveloped In the al
together impenetrable fog with which
many persons imagine II to be sur
rounded. One OF the picturesque fal
kies common to many awe-struck
women has to do with the precautions
with which the great French designers
work
This mistake, It must be understood
does not apply to the secrecy which is
maintained with the utmost rigor in
the individual ateliers after they real.
ly begin work on their new models
No pains are spared in protecting this
stage of the game. But many women
do not realize that this period of con.
cealment is preceded by one of mu.
tual consultation and agreement.
Weeks before the dates recognized
as those on which the seasons styles
are to be launched the Paris dress
makers who sit on the thrones OF
fashion agree among themselves con.
ceIning a general basis on which to
tk. They decide what shall be the
chronology and the geography of the
styles they are to create.
In other words, these rulers Of the
I'm of chiffons make up their au.
Nsdst minds as to whether they will
adopt the Orient or the Occident as
the source of their inspiration; wheth-
er it shall be a period" season,
breathing the spirit of the moyen age,
the Directoire, the early Victorian, or
something else. That they must agree
on at least the general trend is per
fectly evident. Otherwise we should
Ind ourselves confronted with a mere
bodgepodge, a confusion which would
leave us only worse confounded. For
their own protection they must work
from some central idea, and that Is
precisely what they do
Individual FancIes Followed.
But, having agreed upon the main
scheme, every member OF the hierar-
chy Is free to follow his or her own
fancy in working out the notifications
and details. And it is at this point
that the epoch of closed doors and
closed lips begins. Each of the great
dressmaking houses of Paris has
many separate ateliers, with an expe-
rienced designer in charge of every
one of them. Each Of these ateliers
produces its own model, guided, oil
course, by the head of the general es
adjustment; SO that, in the end, the
whole Paris output of fashion. while
lice by the original agreement, is new
ert bss characterized by great va
risNiNlnd originality.
AS a matter of record, really revolu
tionary changes are not often intro
duced very abruptly. Abruptness, in
fact. is the only thing that would
make them revolutionary. The large
Mays gradual, not violent. They come
RAltingly, affecting first one detail
then another, SO that any woman has
time to adjust her wardrobe to it be
fore 1t becomes the accepted order
All of which is here set forth as con
tribution to feminine peace of mind in
this period of hesitation.
Straws that show which way the
wind of fashion will blow may be
looked for in such details as trim
mings, colors and accessories. Last
autumn, for instance, the conspicuous
showings of beaded and bugled laces
of yards and yards of rhinestone trim
mings, OF brocaded gold and silver tbs
sues, were an unmistakable prophecy
OF the evening costumes with which
the winter season has glittered.
New cublst Ribbons.
In the same way one can now find
a very large straw indeed In the rib
bons which are being shown by the
iaA2rters. 1t happens to be a straw
Hhas been preceded by enough OF
tkgsame kind to make a stack of re
spectacle dimensions; but this partic
ular one is a new piece of drift The
ribbons referred to are in rather VIC
lent Balkan colors. AS for design they
look as If they had emanated from the
studio of a cubist or futurist painter
Possibly these new ribbons may rep
resent long rows Of portraits of la
dies, but they certainly look more like
disordered dreams of rugs, or like
rugs which have been shaken into q
4pnfused mix-up of colors and design
Sther ribbons have a stir border oil
fruits and leaves In crude colors along
one side. They are not pretty, but
they are undeniably striking. And they
repeat the hint given by the cubists
ones TO the effect that the coming sea
son viii be marked by strong con
trasts Of colors.
Changes In Cotton Frocks.
One of those changes usually de
scribed as radical has taken place IL
the cotton suits and frocks that have
been shown during the past weeks te
attract women bound for southern re
sorts. Immediately after Christmas
the show windows were full OF white
embroidered linens and elaborate
models in Irish lace. OF course. these
were simply the stock left over from
last summer, when Irish lace had al