Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-10-14
BY ANNE RITTENHOUSE.

Special Correspondence Of The star
NEW YORK October IL. - Americans
like velvet as the French like satin
Whenever there comes a season of vel
Vet gowns we are satisfied. We do not
STOP to count the cost: We only know
that we like the fabric. that We fancy
ourselves well dressed in it: that it is
the trump card which We like to play
in the game of what-to-wear.
The original cost of velvet gown
when the fabric is of the best quality
is something to be seriously taken into
consideration: but the way In whlch
this fabric shows the mark of every
chair is its highest cost. 1t is difficult
to give sufficient attention to velvet
to keep it in good order; it is in the
back. from shoulder to knees, that the
worst usage comes. and where one pays
the highest penalty for buying this
material.
And yet We will wear it this season
It's beauty is undeniable: the good
taste which should govern its usage
is not always Forthcoming. but prob
ably we shall better results this
season because. so far the dressmakerS
have restricted the material to formal
house gowns.
The PreElet models are the only con-
spicuous ones made for afternoon
street wear. but it may be Safeiv Sfid
that NJ Winter Who took Nine. lie
Francs place as designer for the house
of Premet. was not governed by the
idea that his velvet coats and skirts
would be given over to the everyday
hours on crowded streets. Let us hope
they will not.
The other designers led by Worth.
have used velvet for the making of
formal gowns. Here and there is one
for the afternoon. but the occasion
ha iY.,n Sylti T.
20 warrant a gown of distinction. The
other velvet gowns are intended for
dinners. balls and the opera. The ma
terial is not advocated for theater
gowns. although there is no doubt that
it will be worn for this purpose.
Worth's Black Velvet Gowns.
One always expects the house of
Worth to turn out disnified clothes.
and it is a satisfactory sign of the
times that many of the leading
American houses are advocating his
costumes this autumn. The reason is
plain. and it may have little to do with
a revival of interest in Worth-it is
that his gowns were ready for the
commissioners in London when the war
bro::e out. The elder Worth said he
had shipped fifty models to England as
soon as mobilization started, and these
the buyers who could not get to Paris
after the LIST of August.
All the Worth gowns stand out as
pre-enlinent example of good taste. and
the Americans are turning to them
with relief after the far too many &C.
centric gowns and their more eccen |
tric copies that have flooded the French
and American markets for two years.
Worth cIings to the waist line and |
the shapely bodice. but he admits the !
moyenage line by accentuating the !
hips through line of trimming. On !
some black velvet gowns he placed a |
deep belt of rhinestone latticework
which extends nearly to the hips and
holds down the, beginning of a slightly
full skirt.
All his velvet gowns have trains. but
they are not swung from the shoulders,
as they We're last season. but are a
part of the back widths. They may not |
serve well for dancing. but there are |
many women who have grown tired of |