Evening star., 1914-12-20

the frociS VIC buy from her countrymen
iand women. the English refuse to pay
even the price ot hotel suite as 1t is
asked Of an American, and every restau-
| rant demands higher tips. more eXpen-
sive orders and Il better quality of dress
ing from an American patron than Is de-
manded of a European.
| Nowhere is this practice more thor
oughly carried out than in the great
| houses to which the American fashionable
| HES for her coStumery, and yet 1t must
be admitted that the initial price OF any
garment made by the greatest artist in
Paris is not as much as the same KIND
| of gown made here.
! Several strong and striking arguments
have been brought forth in defense of this
| fact, the best of which is the high cost of
| labor in this country. where a cutter, fit
ter or head worker gets far far more than
! the most sllillful worker in France All
other prices being equal. however, the
workers here do not reap any especial
ADVANTAGE from their high salaries.
| Eut what of the lady and the kimono
sleeve? In the beginning she was quoted
because 'her type is rare. unhappi1y, and
J the truth Of her statement not only true
I but il is worthy of emphasis. The kimono
sleeve is death to comfort unless one in
tends to sit in the attitude of Mr. Whist
| lers mother IN her undyinS portrait. Why
women have endured them so long is one
| OF the Sartorlal mysteries of the decade
The French designers. have tried to ex-
plot the fitted sleeve, with its regulation
arnholc, but the women would refuse it
and go on their way, seemingly content
with the kind that was rarely right and
never comfortable. True. it's shape con-
| tributed to that careessness of figure
which has been considered the desirable
thing by the fashionable and their vast
number of followers. And probably the
flN..t xl- fyN,.t
fashion itself has dropped it by one of
those subtle underground processes which
no one woman can put a finger on.
For three successive seasons the new
gowns have had long fitted sleeves that
reached TO the wrists and were nationally
placed at the top of the arm into an arm
hole that was sufficiently large for the
arm, but no more
First our women refused them on the
score that the fashion would GUST the ell
bow sleeve, which was far too comfortable
to relInqu1sh without protest or without
being given something equally easy to
was that the designers had foolishly in
froduced this form of sleeve at the an
prodch or spring and they had not reck-
oned, as they never do, with the billiards.
OF neat Tor which the American has to
prepare.
After three trials they refused it on
every variety of pretext. The truth
vas that they didn't want it, and no
uTeSSmdKerS
make them take up with anything they
didn't like. The only reason they ac-
cept 1t now is that they have changed
.helr minds concerning it, or they have
Wearled OF the slouching kimono. or
they realize that the new silhouette.
growing in power each day, does not
admit of a sleeve of this kind
Ihere Is no Sainsaying the truth OF
the assertion that the fitted sleeve is
difficult one to arrange. and any lack
OF skill in its placement makes it as
uncomfortable as the kimono with its
underpart extending to the waist.
winch prevents one from lifting the ell |
bows higher than the bust line.
There are three recognized feats of
skill in dressmaking-to fit a collar. a
long sleeve and arrange a decolletage
that neither says nor binds, that is
neither too high nor too low. It is no
wonder that the little seamstress and
the home dressrnaker do not feel con-
fident of success in doing any one of
the three.
Possibly women will end by being
more uncomfortable in the newly re-
vived tight sleeve of the 1870 period. |
which was a revival of the Napo1eonic
war period and now comes in with the
world war, than they were in the XII
mono which they learned to put up
with. they have the narrow skirt:
but. at least. We know 1t is finally es-
tablished in fashion. although there are
many women who prefer and wear the
sleeve put into Il dropped armhole,
which maintains that careful fit across
the shoulders to which we are accus-
toned. and which we like. although
and fashiona BILE silhouette. which de-
mands slenderness across the body, will
abolish even this type Of armhole.
There are many who wonder why the