Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-31
BY THE BouLEvARD1ER.

=
i'll spend on that fall wardrobe?
Fine! That's plenty!
Makes very little difference how
small the amount may be-you can
get clothes, and good clothes, too.
The reason is-well. It's the same
reason that applies to just about every
thing these days-the war. Stroll
through any one of the haberdasheries.
or all of them. and see. Washington
hasn't had such prices since the days
when they hunted quail in what Is
now Mount Pleasant.
The thing was summed up pretty
well by the buyer of one Of the largest
shops in the city.
Bargains, like Tennyson's brook,
will go on forever he said, but the
brook. right now. is at flood tide. This
| is the day of the dollar"
All of which means a Saturnalia for
the man with the moderate income He
can fit out a wardrobe for these COM
| ing months, more elaborate than ever
| before. for less money.
| AS to the styles. there seems to be a
difference of opinion. a difference ex-
| tending even to colors. The buyer for
the haberdashery department of one OF
the big stores has plunged on browns,
tartans and blush mixtures for the
young chap, with the omnipresent
grays, plain blues and blacks for the
elder generation. couple or years
back, you'u recall, there wasn't any
appreciate difference either in color
or cut between the suit built for the
sophomore and that intended for his
grandfather. They were all extreme
| and all loud"
| But that's all over, at least this
| buyer thinks so. Also he declares the
more glazing patterns have had their
| day even with the very young, save
in one particular. This buyer predicts
| a return to vogue of the fancy waist
| coat
On the other hand the buyer for
another big shop takes a diametrically
| opposite view. Loud patterns for the
young and for majority of the mid
| die ged, and modest but not severe
colors for the elders, Is his prediction.
| And he has stocked up accordingly.
| Also he ridicules the idea of the fancy
| waistcoat.
| Every one Is agreed on the question
| of cut. however, and, instead of aping
! the English, we are going to have a
| mode purely American. Indeed, instead
of slavish submission to the dictates
of London, the shoe now seems to be
on the other foot. Right down the line,
and overcoats, the English are now
approving our creations. Instead of
following a London lead, the DISPOSE
ton among the smartest haberda shers
and tailors is tending toward striking
out for themselves.
All this does not mean, of course,
that England Is to be wholly disre-
garded by American designers. 1t is
not time enough for that yet. Conse-
quently, the imprint of our cousin
stylists across the water will still be
seen in the suitings this fell and win
ter. But that imprint will be faint.
Take. for instance, the coat of the
business or lounge suit The shoulders
will still be utterly devoid of paddings,
but the erstwhile lines of extreme mar
rowness will be missing Shoulders
this year should be cut so as to dis
play the full breadth Of the wearer,
and should not be too tight.
So, too, in the body, the former ex-
treme tIgnrness. devised so as to show
every line of the figure, will give way
to a semi-form fit. Lapels will still be
soft and rolling. but instead of running
straight up to the collar they will be
relieved by large notch. The larger
, The style of the coat will depend
largely on the whinA of the purchaser.
The three-button sack will be much in
vogue, and so, too, for the younger
generations will be norfolks, with a
return to the old slash pockets. In this
connection, however. I have 1t on very
good authority that there is strong
tendency toward bringing back the old
double breasted coat, which has not
been seen for some five years.
Trousers will be straight, short and
be cuffed, and should come not lower
than halfway across ones anklebone.
If anything, they might be a wee bit
shorter. Here, incidentally. lies a strik-
ing illustration of the new declaration
of independence hurled at our London
cousins. London made a determined
efforts still making it, in fact-to
give US trousers which can best be de-
scribed as spreading out" at the bot
tom-that is, the real English cut
Trousers are wider at the bottom by
nearly an inch than they are half way
between the hem and the knee. style
self Violently, born of militarism. And
such trousers are to be had, if you wish
them, in several of the shops. But, con-
fidentially, the writer would urge you
to pass them by, unless you would be
conspicuous l am reliably informed
that for every one man who accepts the
English cut there are ninety-and-nine
who insist on having the trousers al
tered SO as to hang perfectly straight.
Reverting to prices-well, they run
from $3.50 to S35-and 1 would call at