Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-30


7OC will remember that two
w weeks ago it was foreshad-
III owed in these columns that
q there would be restlessnesS
AGAINST the new spring fashions To-
day. wherever the important issues OF
dress are discussed in an authoritative
way, one hears the insistent phrase
that the fashions of today are already
In fux.
II might be we'll to thrash out this
condition for the benefit of those who
are just getting around to the task
of buying new clothes. There's no
denial on any side of the fact that the
immense hip drapery. the exaggerated
width al the hem and the fulsome COM
pIication of the skirt prevail wherever
gowns are made. but both the design
ers and the public are getting weary
OF these features, which have been
overdone in every gown that has been
called fashionable.
If one may be permitted to criticise
the established genius of the French
designers. it might be said that they
centuating a silhouette that had al
ready been taken UP in America by
professional dancers. lovely name
quins and the astoundingly pretty
chorus girls in American light opera.
Yet how could the French designers
know this if they were not told?
II is quite evident in number or
ways that the men and women who
1lNfI aac fnv Va inc
time in America missed in a most I'M
fortunate manner the steady intercom-
munication between themselves and
fashionable American women. They
were isolated from every one but the
professional buyers; it was not even
possible because of the saddened con-
dition of European life. for them to
try their models on the women OF
France. to whom should be given
much of the credit for the establish
ment of individual fashions
The designers were. therefore, work
ing in the dark. 1t was not possible
for any one in France to keep up with
Americans in social news, except the
Americans who were there. | think
that this is probably the most plausi-
BILE reason for the establishment this
spring by the French designers of
fashions that were already common
lied.
Whether or not the prophets are
right in foretelling a change by June
consider that the fashions have been
settled for few months to come
should hear this, note of warning.
There are thousands of women who
are recklessly buying these skirts
with an uneven silhouette and out
standing drapery. Therefore. the hun
dreds who wish something different
are turning their attention to skirts
that are full but hang straight from
the hips to shoe top.
There is no evidence of a return of
narrowness at the hem. except in the
barrel skirts. which many ,of the
French designers have exploited and
which the Americans do not like. The
American woman realizes that she may
look ludicrous in a skirt that goes in
at the waist and ankles and is dis
tended by three hoops around the mid
die. for such an outline on a larger
scale has been part of the American
jokedom for several decades. We have
laughed too often at men in barrels
on the stage and at fancy dress par
ties to look with anything but amuse-
men at a woman who is wearing
skirt in imitation OF barrel.
There is significance in the fact that
this barrel skirt has no panniers, no
o.
In the absence of these sartorial fea-
lures it might be leading more to the
future fashions than to other kinds
OF skirts.
The most important skirt included in
the present fashions is, undoubtedly.
the one that is pleated 1t subscribes
10 all the fullness at the hem that is
necessary. but il presents a straight
line down the figure; and it is relief
to see this line in comparison with
all the absurd and futile skirts that
have been offered to women in the
name of fashion.
The pleats in these new skirts are
usually single box pleats but in the
softer materials for summer the dou-
BILE box pieat is beginning to make its
appearance. On such skirts there is
no trimming. unless one chooses to
put deep band of another color and
fabric at the hem.
II is not necessary for fashions sake
that these pleats run into the waist
line; a variety of hip yokes has been
invented to keep the fullness Of the
pleat from the belt. The best of these
has series of irregular battlements