Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1915-02-11

ton Says Leg OF Mutton Sleeves ana
Flounced Skirts Are Seen In Fres-
Goes of $500 Years Ago-Orisin of
Styles.
Washington.-There are no such
things as new styles in women'S fash
ions, according to Pierre Clerget, di-
rector of the high school of commerce
of Lyons, France, as it appears by the
annual report of the Smithsonian insti-
tuition
Pierre Clerget after reviewing fash
ions from the days of the Egyptians to
the present time shows that many
new styles for 1915 were known in
the period B. G.
can English archaeologist, Mr.. Ev-
ans writes M. Clerget, found in the
Mycenaean palace Of Knossos in Crete
some frescoes painted 1,4OO years be-
fore our era showing ladies Of the
court clothed in Respondent garments,
with enormous leg of mutton sleeves
held to the neck by narrow ribbon;
their f1ounced skirts, Ornamented with
embroidered bands, are expanded be-
hind by enormous bustles."
Thus is the bubble of the modern
creation of styles pricked.
1t was during the reign of Francis l.
and Henry H., in the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, that women's
gowns took on lines conforming to the
body, having previously been chiefly
tunics or robes. Women then appeared
with fitted doublets, skirts and wraps
with collars. And this, says the author,
was "the starting point Of fashion
which will sleep only for perpetual re-
awakening, making evolutions in irreg-
ular cycles at the will Of it's creators.
"The reign of Henry Nv. brought us
the great bell skirt, built on springs,
which we find later with the crinoline,"
he says "Then toward the end of the
seventeenth century the fullness dimin-
ished, giving way to padded dresses.
Reduction in the size of the skirt con-
tinued until about 1850, when fuliness
again came into fashion, and by 1885
the skirts were ridiculously full. There
gave way first to the hustle, then to
the one piece gown.
"Skirts were very full again toward
1910 and, passing through all sorts of
graduations, with a partial return to
fullness in the back, ended in 1860 and
crinoline. This marks the departure
from orientalism and brings us toward
the epoch when very simple and
straight robes were worn, until we
reach the other extreme, the clinging
gown, not forgetting the harem skirt.
eccentricities of the period from 1905 to
1916"
And so the cycle revOlves.
After outlining the effect upon styles
exerted first by mOnarchs and then
more recently by modistes, M. Clerget
gives an expose of the manner in which
many styles are created and of the
trif1e often necessary for their coming
into being.
"Any striking idea may inspire a
lippe all fashionable young men of the
capital wanted their trousers plated at
the hips like those of the African
chasseurs. Trocadero ribbons became
the rage as a souvenir Of the voyage
of the Duke of Angouleme to Spain,
and the Russo-Japanese war gave us
the kimonO. 1t is to the passion for
sports that we owe the English styles,
the success of the tailor made costume,
the fashion for furs and leather gar
ments.
Literature also has been a great in
spiration, as shown by the works of
Victor Hugo. The use Of white mus
Inns was the inspiration of Taglioni, as
were the waves of the Danube taf-
fetas, while 'Atala' collars and the
Marie Stuart hats were successfully
worn.
"And, while we have spoken up to
this point simply of clothing, we should
not think that this is the limit of fash
ions domain. It controls conversation,
the manner Of walking, how to shake
ning) owes to fashion its recent admit
lance to the Dictionary of the Acade-
N.Y. The general use of such drink
as tea, the abandonment of wine in
certain circles, vegetarianism, may all
be regarded as fashions. The passion
for travelling and for sports becomes
widespread, there is less taste for
home, there is less desire for books and
interior ornaments
"What are the economical results Of
fashion, asks NJ Clerget. And his
answer is "Many and varied"
Changing fashions, he points out
tend to aid first one commercial branch
then another, and so on indefinitely.
In the matter of materials, he says
the demand is growing greater fol
cheaper stuffs of poorer quality and
less durability.
But greatest of all sins which can be
laid at the door of fashion is that I'm
tellects are made frivolous thereby.
Those who bride themselves on appear