The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-26
~ ELEANOR noYr BRAlNERD.

THERE was a time when the
woman who could AFFORD q fur
coat had a sea!skin coat and
the woman who could not afford
q fur coat did not have a seal
skin coat. Beyond that the situation
had Few complications. One sealskin
coat looked exactly like another and
from season to season the lines re-
manned practically the same.
But that Is ancient history. In the
first place. rea Alaska seal has gone
up so appallingly in price that coats
OF 1t are rare and very costly. It's
place has been taken by pelts like
muskrat dyed to initiate seal and at
tractive enough. though lacking many
OF the virtues Of Alaska seq.
Modish fur coats to-day do not stop
with seal. Alaska. French or Hudson
A host of other furs are pressed into
coat service; and. rs for that matter
Of line-well, a most casual tour
through the furriers' shops will show
n that fur coats are almost as
varied as cloth ones and that the only
n point In which they are unanimous
is that they make the fur coat of
other years look old fashioned.
Good fur is good fur and has a
certain distinction. however IL Is cut:
but the emphatic widening OF coat bot
toms this year puts the owning
a handsome fur coat several years
old into a dilemma. Where alteration
Is a mere matter OF a little shorten
ing here or curving there ~remodelling
"a fur coat is not very serious BUSH
ness. though II Is always fairly expen-
sive: but. when II comes to giving n
narrow straight coat the ample flare
prescribed by this years modes re-
modelling n garment OF handsome fur
means almost as much as the original
cost of the coat.
Many women confronted By this
problem are deliberately cutting up
their old fur coats and using them
Tor lavish trimming on new coats OF
cheaper fur, velvet or cloth cut accord
ing To the newest dictates of fashion.
There is usually enough of the origi-
nal coat for mum and toque to match.
and so one OBTAINS an ultra smart
costume at n cost comparatively rea-
%sonable: but many a practical and in
dependent woman is wearing her mar
'' w N''N J''N "' ~ "aS htt
and saying phiiosophically, styles
will change again.
1t is We'll, even for the who
u having her coat r~emodelled. To
keep that truth in mind: styles will
change again. and unless one has
money to throw to the birds a certain
degree OF conservatism Is wise when
n Is investing in a good fur coat.
Ngars. altA-AA- II,I- ---l-ts
shown this winter quite ignore thi,
clement of conservatism They are
frankly faddish and many Of them are
be~witching enough to tempt even {
sober minded woman to recklessness.
Those short fur coats for instance
Never were there such coquettish ant
delightful short models. The stout OF
elderly oma looks a distressing sigh
In such a coat, though many a stou'
and elderly woman seems blandly ig
rorant of that fact; but the youn.
a. I things. with their short farms
skirts and saucy toques. wear tn,
short absurdly tiaring fur coats charm
inE.y.
They all do flare, these short coats
though they vary in length and in tn,
violence of the flare. !. little sealskii
coat with narrow bordering band o
skunk reaches only just past the wais
line. is buttoned at the throat by on,
big button. closes over the chest. bu
curves away from the bust line, ha
a high, close collar and cuffs OF skunl
and widens from the narrow shoulder
toward the bottom until II falls easil,
over the hip curve and even ripple
a little in the rounded. slightly dippin,
back.
This model leaves tn more define,
and slender waist lines of the frocl
front in view and so does not shorte,
and widen the figure as n coat as shor
but closing all the way down the from
would.
The coat closing down the front |
likely to be a tr!tie longer than tn
little coat already described. though
the front often ends at the waist in
and the bottom line ripples downwar,
over the hips to a rounded back tina
may or may not reach well below tn
hip curve.
4 coat of this class in finest blac'
caracul has collar and cuffs and Dor
der of kolinski. n vertical poke
openings at each side Of the front ar
also outlined with kolinski.
Coats a little longer still are some
times loosely belted or merely fitted #
a bit at the waist line and ripple fu,