The Washington herald., 1914-02-07
DAY Of VICTORY
! FOR FROCk COAT
Cutters Decree It Shall Not
Be RELOCATED to Back
ground.
RESULT OF OBSERVATION
Sight of High officials Here Wearing
Time-honored Garment Soon
Converted Delegates.

Concluding the annual convention OF
the International Custom Cutters Asso-
citation at the Willard. the fashion COM
mittee yesterday uttered Its hnal die
tum with regard to the attire Of poor
| mere man.
The most important utterance Of the
convention. which was prompt TO ratify
the findings Of the committee. was the
resembling OF the order Of banishment
! uttered earlier I'm the week against that
| time-honored habiliment Of triumphant
democracy. the double-breasted frock
coat.
The custom cutters are observing Com
ing to Washington unfamiliar with
present-dsy conditions. they apparently
had gathered from the illustrated press
and the periodicals the idea that James
Hamilton Lewis. of Illinois, s,-was the
model of the new administration.
They may have been Influenced by some
of the sartorial Embellishments OF Dudley
Field Malone. now collector Of the port
Of New York. who for the hrst few
| months OF the Wilson administration set
fashions for Washington. Also they may
have seen Assistant Secretary OF War
Henry s. Breckenridge in all the day
time panoply Of civil state. But they
had not seen the premier of the Wilson
Cabinet. the headliner of the chautauQua
circuit, William Jennings Bryan. in full
regalia-
CasEht sight Of Mr.. Bryan.
But during the convention some wan
dering members Of the custom cutters
beheld Mr.. Bryan. Hence the star
| chamber session of the committee on
fashions and the unanimous withdrawal
Of the order Of eviction for the gar
ment that has made statesmen, Missis-
| sippi River gamblers. and divinity stu
dents marked men in any community.
Also hence the following apology to
the present administration:
We wish to emphasize that the dou-
ble-breasted frock Is by no means rel
egated to the. background. While the
| three-button cutaway just at this time
is the more popular garment. the frock
coat Is worn by the highest officials
of our nation. and this in itself main
tains its dignity
In addition to this pronouncement the
International Custom Cutters also have
| decreed that sack coats shall be tighter
| in the waist. The narrow coat may main-
| tain. but shoulders will be worn wider.
Also the sack coat will be slightly longer.
| The morning coat. the coat that was to
have displaced the double-breasted frock,
until Mr.. Bryan hove In sight. must be
braided. The custom cutters recommend
| that the braid be narrow. Incidentally,
| the dinner coat. which Is the highbrow
way of saying tuxedo, will be worn more
! frequently than for several years. 1t has
| been decreed entirely apropos for small
social affairs. regardless OF the presence
! of women.
| Overcoats to BE Tisht
Comfortable overcoats are condemned.
The loose-fitting. slip-on-slip-on style OF
apparel must be replaced by overcoats
| of tightest mold. Incidentally, these
| tight-fitting overcoats will be gathered
slightly at the waist line. giving some
thing OF Dutch milkmaid effect. The
findings OF the committee conclude with
the following glimpse of the beauties OF
| the coming summer season Of 1914:
We see the approaching style OF a
very smart garment in a sack coat that
| is black. blue. or gray: straight fronts
with narrow binding. garment very soft.
waistcoat OF the same material, using
striped or checked trousers"
The committee report was signed by
| wilIiam 4. Within and w T Walker,