Evening star., 1916-01-02
The Boulevardier Suggests
sAfe@r-Christmaas Shoppimg

CANT and yet most inexpensive novelties
possible for him" When ! say mex
pensive. I refer, Of course. only to the
actual cash outlay required. The care.
be terrific, il one may judge. by the
prices demanded in the shops for the
completed articles. Finally. of course.
one must have some one Of the gentler
sex who is willing to do the making.
One novelty Of this sort Is a shirt
holder. designed to keep ones linen i'm
maculate and free from wrinkles while
travelling. Made Of linen, 1t resembles
envelope. with or without seps rate
compartments inside for each shirt,
The flap" is fastened with button.
The completed articles are decorated
with varying amounts OF embroidery.
and IL is probably superfiuous to say
you pay for the amount you get. And
even the cheapest of them is expen-
sive.
Such holders. the very shopkeepers
say, are extremely simple to make and
the cost of the raw material Is negli-
gible. Nor should such an article
require too much work, for whereas
the more intricate and lavish the en-
broidery. the more delightful the
article to most women, with most men
exactly the contrary is the case.
Another novelty Of the same general
may be straight, curved or hooplike.
1t may be embroidered or il may
merely be wrapped with a good quail
ity of ribbon or padded silk or satin.
Handkerchief cases for travelling kits
scarf folders for the same purpose.
collar and cuff bags and bags designed
to hold shaving kits. all come under
the same general category. All are
most acceptable not only for their util-
ity. and the time and thought they
that although appreciated by ninety
nine out of every hundred, they are
gifts that proba bly, not two men out
of /, hundred would ever think of buy
Ing for themselves. Shaving kit bags.
il one wishes can easily be made still
more attractive and altogether COM
plete by outfitting them with brush,
soap, etc.
Lounsing slippers and impossi BILE
hued smoking Jackets are like the
Christmas cigars-old standbys of the
professional jokesmiths. Nevertheless.
there are some attractive offerings in
this line at attractive prices. One
shop for instance. is Offering a COM
binatIon outfit, comprising a robe, suit
able for lounging or bath: a smoking
Jacket and easy slippers. all made of
the same ma terial, and all three for a
price well under SO. The same shop
offers a flannel shirt, intended for
cross-country walks. hunting expedi-
tions or rainy day lounging at home,
which is rather novelty. 1t has two
collars. one a soft, roll collar of the
ha ofl
knitted. The latter, ordinarily, is hid
woods or motoring on an icy, wind
swept road. 1t can be turned up so AS
to afford splendid protection to the
ears.
Another novelty in the wearing ap-
parel line comprises a shirt, scarf
and pair of silken hose, all of which
match. The three come attractively ar
ranged in box designed especially to
show them Off The set was designed
with the special object of doing away
with the unfortunate circumstance of
L man getting weird coz .sjomcration
of shirts, hosiery and neckwear. all Of
which swear at each other Individually
and collectively.
Let US now consider scarfpins. No
doubt YOU already have at least one:
perhaps several very handsome ones.
But would urge You to remember that
scarfpins are like handkerchiefs and
hosiery-it is impossible for man to
be oversupplied. Also the requirements
of Dame Fashion have undergone a
marked change within the past few
years. Time was when a single hand
some pin was all that was necessary.
Scarfs might be changed as often as
the wearer wished, or could afford, but
the same pin was worn day in and day
out. year in and year out.
x
Today finds it different. The very
expensive scarfpn is now the axcep-
tion rather than the rule, and a pin
that advertises It's eXpensiveness, far
from being smart. is merely vulgar.
Instead the we'll dressed man of today v
has a collection of pins-this one for
this tie. another for that, and so on.
Since the life of even the best scarf is
short, the life Of the pin that goes with
it is correspondingly brief. The result
of all of which is that the average
scarfpin of today is markedly mex
pensive. The price rarely exceeds 81
and the bulk OF the sales are at half
that amount.
And don't imagine that a scarfpin, be-
cause it Is inexpensive. must neces-
sarily look cheap. On the contrary, so
cent scarfpins there are that are made
of ten-karat gold and set with near
precious stones, guaranteed by the
shops for fifteen years, which probably
is considera bly, longer than they will