The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-11-07
To-Day" a Leaf From Life,
Frankly Reveals Conditions Of
Clothes Mania La New York

sary. They give the medical students
who attend them light on how to treat
such cases. Students of the theme OF
the betterment of the race have seen
several plays under the direction OF q
medical society. If there were a vast
organization for relieving the feminine
half of humanity of the menace Of the
clothes mania that society would give
its hearty Endorsement to To-day" La
the case of misguided Lily Wagner, her
husband killed her to cure her OF the
craze that had soiled her life, but see
ing ITO Day. and thinking about 1t VIII
suggest less dramatic cure.
One of the chief problems OF every
day life in the cities and in many small
communities is how to induce women
to dress according to their incomes
Talk to any thoughtful dressmaker ana
she will tell you, unless you show I'M
mistakable signs of the mania your
self, that the grip of clothes upon her
patrons is appalling. Although earn
ing her living and sometimes fortune
in dressing women prettily, she herself
depIores the waste Of i'll considered
dressing-the waste in money, In in
terest, in sanity, for seeing things out
Of their proportion Is insanity. She
will tell you that there are women to
whom clothes are the science and art
of life. They care for nothing else,
think of nothing else. They are pos
sessed by velvets, obsessed by chiffons,
A moderate liking for pretty gowns
and hats and wraps is entirely normal.
T[ feJf in ffc cfT natural form a nv
preston of a WOman's sense of beauty
and fitness. But it is only one of the
interests that make up a woman's life.
A simple, we'll thought out wardrobe is
within the means of most women. Tt
was within Lily Wagner's. But she
cared Unfortunately for handsome gowns.
The sight of one mounted to her brain
and befuddIed it as the fumes Of wine
befuddle the drunkard. Beginning as
a pretty girl with an average interest
in dainty apparel, the liking grew into
an obsession. 1t BECAME monster that
destroyed her.
Watching the swift unfolding Of the
tragedy, the cure is suggested by the |
sight of the heroine in her home. Lily
in the silk frock she has bought, but |
phere of the honest home 1t recalled |
what one of New York's cleverest and |
most popular clubmen said to me, ITO |
meet some women outside and then in !
their homes is an eye opener" 1t was .
q comment on the snobbeFy and hypoc-
risy of twentieth century living. A
woman,s wardrobe should rise no high
er than the level of her home. If her
gown is finer than her abode the differ
ence is an ill omen of that woman's
future. Her home, as a rule, is no bet
ter than she can afford, nor should her
clothes be.
The cure? Yes, To-day" is a con-
structive play and offers a remedy.
Lily is shown as idle, as allowing her
patient, lovable moth
er-in-law, by the way-to do all the
work of their little household, while
she sits thinking of heaven knows
what" There is the remedy. LILY \
might have learned to shop intelligent
~ ana to make her own clothes or
most Of them. So she might have filled
her closets with frocks that were
pretty and suitable, and by such sim
pie means the awful tragedy Of her
life would have been averted.
To-Day" is a moral play. That play
S moral one which shows the sinner
the penalty of his sin. Lily
Wagner died for her love Of clothes.
Her fate clears the vision of every
in the audience as to the true
7alue of clothes in well ordered life