The Washington herald., 1915-11-18
AS SEEN BY A WASHINGTON WOMAN
IN PLACE OF PARIS.


successful in trying to compete with
Paris as a center of fashion creation.
sAmerican made" is a motto that in
dicstes the high-water mark in many
lines OF women's wear-corsets and
shoes, for instance-but when il
comes to fashion creation authorities
have had to admit that American de-
signers cannot enter the field with
Paris. There are so many things we
can do, and Parisisns have built up
their prestige in fashion designing
after so many years of study and
tradition that it seems rather boot
less for US to try to take this branch
of work from her.
A year ago when the American
fashion campaign was launched in
New York there were favorable
prophesies as to the outcome. Amer
lean producers did their best. There
were many contributions of real in
terest. Among them all there was one
gown that showed real originality. In
fact this full skirted model with its
tightpointed bodice created some
thing of a sensation. But-alas for
those who had pinned their faith on
American made fashions-this model,
though truly original, was duplicated
almost simultaneously in Paris. It
was but logical eonclusion-speak-
ing in terms of the art of fashion
building-of the Paris fashions that
had gone before it and the designer
who created it did so because he had
become more thoroughly imbued than
his competitors with the spirit of
Paris, built up on its centuries of in
herited dress instinct, and its atmos-
phere of art and beauty.
But it didn't very much matter to
US Americans whether we were able
to produce a school of dress de-
signers or not. There were so many
other things that we could do, and, in
spite of our first fears, war-ridden
Paris was not, even during the PAN
icky first months of the war, unable
to send us the few models that
served our reproducers as the in
spiration for the new fashions.
But in Germany the matter is quite
different. Paris fashions are, for
them, a present impossibility. They
can't get them for one thing-for the
designers may choose their custom
ers. Besides they wouldn't get them
If they could. However, broad
minded German frau might be, she
couldn't square her conscience in
wearing gown that was designed
by one of the men engaged in the
warfare that might perhaps make
her a widow. We are so far away
from the actual fighting that though
we were deeply in sympathy with
the Teutonic side of the struggle
we would not, for that reason, fore
swear the pleasure of dressing in the
mode-for there still is no mode,
strictly speaking, but as Paris makes
it.
So Germany is facing the problem
of finding a second Paris. And Ger
many, in spite of her economic eff
ficiency and her scientific achieve
ments, in spite, too, of what she
has been doing of late years in the
realm of art, has no talent and makes
few pretensions when it comes to de-
signing women's clothes. The Ger
man frau, in spite-perhaps because
of her housewifely genius, is al
most nil when it comes to that elu-
sive somewhat we call CLOTHES
sense" Still German women ad-
mire stylish clothes, and they, like
the rest of feminity, want to dress as
the rest of womankind do, for that
is being gin fashion"
Especially difficult is the German
task of clothes creation because there
is strong feeling in the land of the
Kaiser in favor of breaking absolute
ly away from Partisan influences.
And of course this was never the de-
sire of those who worked for Amer
ican-made fashions. There is even
talk in Germany in favor of a cam
pagn for German dress-reform, first
at home and later abroad. Personal
ly we would welcome good many re-
forms before this. Picture, if you
can, hats. designed in Berlin and
evening gowns from Limbergerl
In this country few pioneer
spirits still see the possibility of
American-designed clothes, though
personally we do not think that the
movement will ever bear much fruit,
nor that it would ever be of any
especial economic advantage to this
country.
But in Germany the problem has
to be solved. Not quite the least of
the troubles that the war-depressed
women of Germany have to face is
a real true fashion famine.