Evening star., 1915-04-02
RESULT Of RESEARCH
IN REALM OF FASHION
Smithsonian Institution Expert
Shows There's Nothing New
Under the Sun"
Pamphlet Deals With "Once Upon
Time Styles in Apparel for
Men and Women.

Young women who are fussing and
furning over the grave question or
whether or not the military styles in
millinery and clothing Will be the
proper caper this spring would do we'll
to consult the Smithsonian lnstitutlons
researches on the subject of fashions
Although the Smithsonian Institution
| deals. more in pterodactyls and mum
mics. sun radiation and Peruvian eN-
cavations than in ribbons and the skirt
measurements for the prevailing styles,
it has taken a flier in modes and IS
sending out q little essay on the eco
nomic and social role of fashion. which
is but another way of saying there's
nothing new under the sun. The
pamphlet is written b. Pierre Clerget,
director Of the High School of Com
merce. Lyons. France. and bandies the
names of Worth. Paauin and other
style inventors about with the abandon
of a woman's page editor.
Speaks of Striking Ideas.
The Smithsonian Institution says.
speaking of styles of women's dress:
"A striking idea may inspire fash
ion," and then tells how under Louise
Philippe all the fashion plated men of
Paris became smitten with the way the
African chasseurs wore their baggy
| trousers and wanted their trousers
plated at the hips" Trocadero ribbons
| became the prevailing mode as the re-
| suit of the voyage of the Duke OIL
Agouleme to Spain. The kimono, says
| the Smithsonian Institution, is the re-
| suit Of the RussoJapanese war. Bear
| it in mind. when next one is worn.
! This brings TO mind the Bulgarian
blouse. which is certainly the F street
reflection of Balkan politics and the
| declaratio of Bulgarias s independence
| a few years ago.
| Fashions change rapidly these days.
| but, according to the scientists re-
searches there was a time when wom-
| en- wore the same style Of dress for
| years before any one had the temerity,
nerve or ingenuity to suggest some
/ thing else Those we're in the days
| when a grand dame" could wear the
same velvet dinner dress for eight sea
| sons or more without having some
/ spiteful remark directed toward her
from the chateau on the next noun
| tain peak. II is also found by the
| lSmithsonian's expert that woman was
the height Of simplicity in style until
the thirteenth century. She wore
chiefly tunics or long robes.
Change Comes in 1444
They might well have been burlap
bags as far style was concerned.
and it was not until the reign Of Fran
els |, in 1444 that dressmakers began
to find out that they could devise
dresses which followed the lines of the
body The first indication of it in
Europe was the balloon sleeve. which
has gone the rounds over and over
again, and when next you look upon a
balloon sleeve. if it should be revived
again. remember that this device
marked the rebirth OF fashion.
Years previous. In tho old Egyptian
and Chaldean. Greek and Roman days
1t il stated by the. expert. there were
modes and .@s.lions with which the
selves out u. Eaery for an afternoons
spin IN a chariot. The reign of Henry
III gave the world the pointed waist
held in place ~ stin corset, and il
is also stated hat the hoop skirt ap-
peared then for the first time, only to
reappear a few centuries later to mar i
the era Of the thirties in our owr
land.
Origin of Crinoline.
Henry " brought the great bell
skirt, built on springs. which after
ward appeared again in the well known
crinoline. Skirts began growing fuller
and fuller, until the end Of the seven
teenth century. when they suddenly
shrank. only to return to the former
style in the Easter parade OF 1880. The
small skirt. noticed SO much today
had its prototype in the period OF 1850
and in 1885 were ridiculously full again
Women of this generation who went
into raptures over the one-piece dress
might be interested in knowing tina,
the Smithsonian Institution says the
original appeared in 1898 with run.
ming string and no ornamentation'
The dress of the directoire period in
France "resembled the trousers skirt OF
recent date. The empire costume, with
the waist high, was only another
Transformation of the directoire dress
showing at that time a tendency tc
fullness In FORM"
During the periods mentioned styles
changed slowly and 1t was not until
1905 that the cycles began to shorten
and then the researches Of the Smith
sonian show that for the first time q
general style was adopted by al
classes of society. Skirts went through
variety of gyrations until 1865, the
year Of the death of the crinoline, ano
after that a new era began.
i Departure From orientalism.
This marks the departure from ori-
l Nof <hA Stntt h