Evening star., 1914-10-26
STYLE SHOW OPENS,
BAN ON SLIT SKIRTS
Girls Will Wear Big Elastic
Bands So They Can Dance
and Board Street Cars.
RED CROSS Benefit
DRAWS AT RAUSCHER'S
Dancing and Exhibit of War Relief
Work Among Features of the
Opening Today.

Girls. so ho,pc and sew M your slib
skirts. They are '-passe." they are m
longer fashionable. they will not bs
worn this winter at all,
mere man reporter. with his miu,k
cut on the bias" against said Sits, dis.
covered this piece of news at the styl.
show and dansant which opened 80
Rauscher's at o'clock this afternoon,
for the benefit of the war relief fund
of the American National Red Cross.
In words of one syllable. suited to his
comprehension, the exhibitors of :.
number of creations" and the ma kers
of the styles explained to the reporter
for The Star that the girls are to be
aided to get on street cars and to dane,
this winter in a new way. The skirts
they will wear. IL they want to be in
the style, Will be tight, just AS they
have been for several Seasons past, but
instead of having slits in them they
are to have big, heavy elastic bands
IN them. about two or three inches
from the bottom. That is the decree.
Mems Clothes Shown.
Gowns. wraps. tailored suits. waists.
corsets, scarfs. shoes. stockings, all OF
them the latest thing out" have been
placed on exhibition at the show Thers
are a lot Of mems clothes on exhibition.
too. but what man reporter has the
time to bother with descriptions OF
mems clothes when his city editor asks
him to report a show where women's
clothes are on exhibition? He is too
busy.
Visitors to the opening of the display Y
this afternoon had their breath taken
away by the display of a jet robe, fair
Ix- n1 Int Harlf -1a.Nr a
very short sleeves, the latter edged
with silver spangles. 1t is a decollete
evening gown, one mass of handmade
Spangles. There must be "A million lit
tie spaneles on it, 1t is of net. made
over black silk. and the masculine sup
position is that when woman gets it
on she looks as if she had been melted
and poured into it.
There will be very few of these SPAN
gled gowns to be bought this winter
These handmade spangleS come from
Europe. and the war has stopped their
manufacture and expectation TO the
United States.
Wars Effect on Clothes.
The war, according to the exhibitors
and makers of the styles of the show,
has had its effect on women's clothes
and styles, just as it has had on al
most everything else in the United
States. About the only thing not SO
affected is dancing. The latter form
of entertainment is one of the princi.
pal features of the style show and
dansant at Rauschers. and the green
room has been roped off for that di-
version.
A number of exhibition solo dances
are being exploited by professional and
amateur dancers. This afternoon Miss
Mildred Anderson was one of the solo-
jsfc iubt Rrtfb
Myron Parker, Jr., and Miss Effie Baker
will be the soloists. The ia tao "a
new Chinese dance), the lulu fado. the
Brazilian polka, the fox trot, ma1xoy
the tango. and new one-step arS
being shown.
One of the features of the exhibition
is a Red Cross relief group in which
wax figures show how the wounded
are treated on the battlefield. Red
Cross nurses in costume show gar
ments and hospital supplies contribut-
ed by Washington women.
Style Principal Feature.
But the principal feature of the ex-
hibition is the style show, and many
handsome gowns and other articles Of
feminine apparel are on view from the
stores of New York and Washington
houses, many of them imported.
The exhibition was thronged this
afternoon by Washington modistes,
there for the purpose of acquiring
ideas.
One afternoon frock attracted much
attention. 1t is of pearl gray chiffon
velvet, very simple, with but the sug-
gestion of a bodice. The basque idea
is lacking. The entire back is one
long panel. perfectly straight. A new.
big, full overskirt, which the makers
of the styles say is the very latest
thing, features this frock, the overskirt
being four and a half or five yards in
width at the bottom.
This does not mean, however, that
the tight skirt has gone out of fashion.
for underneath there is drop skirt.
which. around the feet. is of about the
same size as that worn by women the
street car size.
Fashionable Colors of Winter.
The fashionable co,ors this winter,
according to the makers of the styles.
are to be such colors as can be OBJ
tanned because of the war and the
difficulty of obtaining dyes heretofore
made in European countries now at
war In other words, the fashionable
colors this winter are to be black.
navy blue, brown and green.
Living models exhibit the womens
costumes shown. One of these models
tomorrow afternoon will wear street
costume seen today that was much ad-
mired by visitors to the show. This is
a brown velvet, close fitting. with
straight up and down lines, with an
empire waist, this empire waist being
emphasized by a band. of fur. This
waist will be nothing like the basque
which women have been talking about.
according to the style makers. The
basque, they say. is a thing of the past.
With this brown velvet costume VIII
be shown an entirely new scarf and
muff, made of velvet and satin. an imi-
tation of leopard skin. a very handsome
of any womans costume.
Scarfs, it is said at the style show.
of which SO many are seen on the
streets this autumn. should only be
worn for skating parties and other
outings. 1t is being said that in Wash
ington when the women like new
article of apparel, such as the scarfs.
they appropriate it to any use. whether
it is appropriate to wear or not on
the occa sion selected.
Scarf Out of Place.
For this season, it is said. the scarf
Sc ont of Dlace for an afternoon reef