Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-04-21
WAR TIME BOOTS
CHASE RECEDING
SKIRTS IN LONDON
Ellen Adair Finds Start
lers in Women's New
Footwear
IT'S ECONOMY, PROBABLY
By ELLEN ApAIR

by ELLEN ADAlh
written Specially for EVENING LEDGER.
LONDON. April 1.-The new boots ill
me with vast admiration. They are
triumphs. There's little else but boot
In milady's costume In oxford street
this morning 1 met half a score maidens
arrayed, blushless and unabashed, in
well, Just coate--and bootsl The boots
came somewhere up toward the waist-line,
and the skirt was no more
They were young and charming these
maidens. Certainly the men thought SO.
Several OF the ruder sex remained joy
ously rooted TO the spot while the pretty
maidens tripped by. oh yes, they were
war workers Bus conductors, female
commissionaires and all that sort of thing
And their costume was fascinating.
To watch the little conductorette skip
up and down the narrow stairs of her bus
is cheer joy. Outlines the boots are par
TALLY obscured by puttees. She's so de-
termined about her work, too None of
the soft side there. stand back !" she
shouts peremptorily to the seething mob
which struggles to board the vehicle.
''Take your tlmel There's plenty Of roomI'
CHIC BOOTS ON BATTLEFIELD.
Speaking of alluring feminine footwear,
lord Northcliffe, the famous journalist
doesn't seem to be missing anything, even
In his danger trip around the firing line.
WIh pdTdulnB III Ine ruins Oh ttneunS l.
note that In that forsaken spot he was
quite startled to encounter chic little
Parisienne, arrayed In quite startling
boots, the last scream in high hats an
unblushingly short skirt, imperturbably
picking her way through the ruins with a
Pekinese under one arm and gas mask
under the other. Truly remarkable
sex" observes the great Northcliffe
solemnly.
Has he only found that out now? Yes,
the thought of the chic little lady of
Rheims daintily picking her way among
the shell-holes and stepping 1t out jauntily
on her 21s Inch heels is quite inspiring. one
can picture her watch the approach of a
roaring Charlie Chaplin" or a 70-pound
big Lizzie" with no fear save for the
probable destruction of those boots OF
hers
The War Savings Committee has stuck
economy posters up all over London, and
alas! alasl their venom Is even aimed at
boots. Don't Wear Luxurious Boots
the big blueprint shouts. Yet boots de
luxe are on the tapis. or, to be more ac-
curate, tap-tapping it everywhere.
Speaking of boots" said a critical male
person today, cit puzzles me to discover
where all the kids are coming from. Never
was there such a slaughter of kids since |
the first kid saw the light Of day. 1 am
afraid there will be great goat famine
after the war, for no kid has chance of |
attaining goathood in these times"
But" he continues II do not grudge |
the boys their goats and girls their kids. |
1t Is not we'll to carry thrift too far. |
The British soldier is the smartest In |
Europe, and the Girl He Left Behind |
Him needs to be encouraged. Dowdiness |
is the defeat of womanhood." |
DARING! YES. DARING!
The other day in a Bond street tea
shop, much affected by the Glded Youth |
of London, perceived truly daring |
pair of boots. The little lady who wore |
them was arrayed in tartan skirt, be- |
side which Joseph's coat of many colors |
would have paled into insignifcance. 1t |
was a replica of the kilt worn by the |
wounded warrior who accompanied her,
He belonged to a famous Scottish regi-
ment, noted alike for the dazzling quail
ties of its men and of its tartan
The martial cut of the little lady's
skirt was bad enough, but she didn't stop
there. Certainly not! Her white kid lace
up boots were actually surmounted by
swathing of tartan at least four inches
wide. If she had even copied her wounded
warrior more closely and swung along
with knees uncovered she could not have
caused more of a sensation. Certainly
those tartan swathngs were "it." Heads
turned and tongues wagged But the COM
ment brought to the little lady peace
and a satisfaction which nothing else could
have afforded. She had achieved Fame!
AS the war goes on dresses grow shorter
and the tops of milady's boots higher.
Statistics inform us that one inch per
month is the climbing ratel It's all very
disturbing. And where's II going to stop,
we ask? Like the little conductorettes and
conmissionaires and farm workers. prob
ably in the discarding OF skirts altoge /
Speaking OF the new farm worlSeI-, l
cannot truly say that / like their boots.
They are much too sensible" They're a
throwback TO the type of footwear worn
by sensible Englishwomen before the
war. There's too much of the square toe
and the fat heel about them, not to men
tion the appalling roominess. The 215 finch
heels are much more alluring. So are the
long, pointed vamps-
At a popular musical comedy the other
night I saw some wonderful little feet.
Yes. even though they did belong to Eng
Mshwomen.
NOVELTIES IN BOOTS.
OF course, they were Immediately shod.
and that makes all the difference. There
were lots of white kid boots with queer
shaped little windows" all the way up
the front. cut so as to display various
hued hosiery beneath. Several were I'm.
ished with an edging to match the hem OF
the skirt. Extraordinary black buttons
were dotted with unscientihc inaccuracy
al over the lattice work. too But the
erect was superb.
Only the other day I saw Princess
Mary arrayed in a remarkably chic pair Of
boots. So even the royal family Is putting
its best boot forward. II Is clearly proved
this. indeed. viii never be bootless warl
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