Evening star., 1915-05-02

! arranged now, battling with the first
| hot days. ire things that are not pleas
ant to think about. much less meet
But if we bring organized efficiency
| into the task we will find that the sum
mer will open out in restful manner.
| Now is the time to tackle the sub
ject to see what clothes we can alter.
how much money we can spend. how 1t
| can be divided and whether it is the
better part of wisdom to give every
thing away and start out afresh.
Through the seasons there has grown
mp a suspicious feeling concerning the
proba bilitv of any costume lasting
from summer to the next. There
are economically inclined women who
continue to put away carefully the
clothes that served until October in tine
fond hope that the next May will find
them avai1a hle. This hope is usually
frustrated by those who design fash
ions. The wheel of things moves on
with small regard for our personal
hopes. and the fates who spin out ia sh-
ions have not an ear for our tale of
economy.
Once in while there arrives sea-
son of repose in which we find. to our
hearts, delight, that the washtub or
the cleaners will set things right and
that new clothes are not needed for
weeks to come, until the heart of the
season has arrived. This season is not
upon us. The lucky woman may find
it possible to alter some of the gowns
of last summer-if they were new then
but she will find even that task not
to her liking.
If she had saved the gowns Of a
decade ago she would have better luck.
If she could open the closets and she
could find the gowns of 1860 and 1870
in the attic and bring them back into
freshness she would have a pleasant
and successful task, but to take a hob
BILE skirt of last summer and convert
it into circular or "a melon shape or
an accordion-plaited Loie Fuller affair
needs more than a dressmaker. 1t needs
an optimist who has the qualities of a
magician. 1t would take Aladdin's
lamp. a mathematician and civil en-
gineer. is the way one sewing woman
put it recently.
There is only one sensible way to go
at the task. Take a day full of sun
shine. draw back the curtains, let up
the shades and spread out everything
one possesses for the hot weather sea-
son into the searching sunshine of a
May day. There will be no concealed
faults. No fabrics will take on color
or a freshness which they have not.
Whatever is tawdry will be shown in
its full value. Whatever is torn. or
frayeQ, or stained Will De OlSCOVefeu
There will be no illusions. One will
know the worst.
A day spent in this manner is we'll
spent. 1t may save money, although 1t
may demand money in the beginning
Every woman has gone through the
experience of making over, in her mind
while she is trying to sleep some night,
gown that hangs in the back of the
closet. She ends the mental task with
feeling of contentment and enthusi-
asm. The bubble bursts the next day
when she investigates the possibilities
of the gown in her hand with the sun
shine coming through the window. Its
flaws are manifest. the task is impos-
sible. So are our dreams often dis
PEELED by sight and evidence.
1t takes courage to discard any gar.
ment which is only half worn and
which does not meet the seasons re-
quirements. and yet there comes feel
ing of elation after it is done. 1t is no
longer there to tempt one into the in
discretion of wearing it it is, or
into the extravaganza of spending more
money on altering it than it is worth.
Women who keep their clothes hanging
in the closets until they are not good
for any one. are not acting with charity
or wisdom.
1t is difficult to see why the industry
of buying secondhand clothes has
grown TO such proportion and is at
tended with SO much success when one
considers how little is offered by these