The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-04
STRESS is LAID
NOW ON PERSONAL APPEARANCE

strong enough)-not whether she can
or cannot afford it.
Most women do not have a GER
tain specific amount Of money to
spend for clothes The clothes item
simply completes with all the other
items in the domestic budget for its
share OF the total amount Of money
she has to spend, and II too much
Is spent for a silk dress, II puts q
nick In the grocery item.
There is a very important thing
every woman should know about some
silks. particularly tafretas.
the very feature that makes them
desirable TO the wearer, their crisp
ness and slime and ability to shed
dust. renders them unreliable, as they
are stinened by process Of metallic
Clues. which very often causes them
TO rust when they are laid away for
while, and purchasers of taffeta
silks must not expect any guarantee
for wear from the merchant
If you want to know IL a piece
or silk is properly dyed or detect
adulteration. take sample and apply
match to It. II the silk IL pure, II
VIII burn away like wool. leaving
black or gray ashes. which will smut,
whereas. when 1t IL heavily sdulter-
ated with metallic salts. Il CLOVIS red
and leaves an ash which retains the
shape OF the fabric until shaken or
crushed between the fingers
Every season has its favorite fab
RIGS. This seasons vogue will pass
and a new fad will appear with the
next. The popular materials this fall
ana winter are: French serEes for
one-piece dresses or skirts; tafreta and
satins for more dressy one-piece
dresses; crepe de chimes for evening
wear and lingerie: broadcloths for
coat suits; Bolivia cloth and velours
for separate coats.
In the realm OF linens there ar.
so many delightful hooks. where your
fancy may lead you to pause and ad-
inire the many things. for which II
alone can supply the wanted fabric,
Long before Moses led the chill
dren of Israel through the Red Sea
and erected by Divine Command
tabernacle in which fine linen was
embroidered and made into curtains to
acorn the meeting place of Gods light
and His people: linen was used for
the apparel of royalty and the robes
OF the priesthood
From the time YOU can first re-
member, YOU have learned to love fine
lihens' and the dearest thing to the
heart OF the housewife is her pretty
linens, so ] have not must opportunity
to enlghten or entertain you along
this line
However as / must confne nv re-
marks to the dress materials. / will
only touch upon few points which
may be new and interesting to YOU
and probably helpful when you pur-
chase dress materials of this desir-
able fabric.
Woven From Natural Flax.
Linen Is woven from the natural
fax. most OF which is raised in Eu-
ropean Russia. It's natural color Is
tan and must be bleached by one OF
two processes. One is natures way.
the grass bleach, and the other Is the
artisans way. by the use OF chemicals
The climate and the green swards
of Ireland make that country the ideal
place for grass bleaching linens The
process Is slow, and 1t takes from six
10 twelve months to bleach linen cloth
by the sun and the dew and the grass
BY the chemical process the cloth
is hleached from tan to snow white
In four to six weeks. A grass bleached
piece OF linen will cost about 90 per
cent more than the other sort. but II
Viii VICAR tWtCS as long, COnG6QuSnt-
ly 1t 10 more economical in the long
run.
Linen cloths get thinner with each
laundering while cotton cloths will
become thicker; this Is because the
linen has gone through the water
process from the time the nax 10
pulled from the neld and It Is hard
ened ana tou@hened. The cotton. be-
ing softer hber, Is thickened by the
washing.
THE durability of linen Is about
three times that OF cotton. ordinarily.
Though we have in the museums linen
cloths over four thousand years old.
Probably you would like to know
why We do not raise much fax for
linens In this country.
Well. according to experts the cli-
mate. the land and the water have
much to do with the cultivation OF
max for its fber. but experiments are
being made In Oregon and have been
for several years. because the con-
dittons there are, the best Of any Sec
ton Of the United States.
European Russia has the best land
for raising fax ibsr: the River Lye In
Belgium has the perfect water for
retting the max and ireland has the
ideal climatic conditions for bleach
ing the cloth: and that 10 the route
most of our plain linens take
1T takes more and stroneer dye
to color linens than 1t does for cot
tons. because the linen threads are
harder and tougher
beth Absorb Water Quickly.
1T 10 hard for an expert to tell a
piece OF pure linen cloth from one
mixed with cotton. and the best way
II to pick to pieces a small sample
and examine the threads Of both warp
and woof. Chat IL the way the gov
eminent experts DOB but don't moisten
1t with your tongue or finger. Some
think to wet tho finger and touch the
cloth II linen test. but II isn't now
adays; for the finishing of cotton has
been % perfected that both linen and
cotton win absorb water quickly.