Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1916-10-13
ALONG FASHIONS
CHANGING TRACK
Will the DireCtoire Become tn
Choice Of the important
Minority?
is AN IMPORTANT QUESTION
Skirts Will Be Ankle, instead Of Shoe
Top, Length, But Narrower-Lafay-
cite and Robespierre colors
to the Front.


New York.-One of the interesting
phases of American fashions is to
stand by the side of the racetrack and
watch a few fashions in the contest for
the blue ribbon of popularity.
This race usually occurs in Septem-
Der and March. The observer consld-
ers it as a species of sartorial sport,
but the men behind these fashions re-
gard it with anxiety and deep IN
Germ.
They have brought these models
from Paris and they have probably
risIed a great deal of their money on
them, and some force outside of them
selves seems to put certain gowns and
hats on this racetrack of fashion and
bring them into a sharp contest.
Probably the manufacturer makes
his money out of this race. If he does,
he is quite content, for by the time
December comes he is ready to put
another set of models on the track.
The hlgh-priced dressmakers regard
this race in September and March as
a blessing not in disguise. Through it
they are enabled to make their discard
of certain gowns before the actual sea-
son opens. Women of fashion rarely
get their autumn and winter clothes
until October. If they buy early mod
els before then, their wisdom and ex-
p%erience teach them that these clothes
ure merely stock-gaps which tide over
the interim between the faded summer
flnery and the new winter equipment,
Will the Dlrectoire Come?
Now the puzzllng question before
the people who buy and sell is this
VIII the Moyen-age, which was so
speedily carried to popularity, become
n drug In the market, and will the
dl~rectolre loom up as the choice of the
minority? VIII the smart women who
really lead the affairs of dress decide
that the high waistline, slim hips, tight
shoulders and long sleeves will be the
fashion Of their choice, making Il di-
rect contrast to the wrapper-like
frOck that is girdled around the hips?
In France the tendency is toward the
directoire and first empire. 1t is be-
lieved that the smart women over there
have gone in for the newer line and
that the waistline dropped to the hips
was a follow-on of French styles that
had been taken up in May and June.
The belief of the experts, is that the
directoire will win before Thanksgiy-
ing. They believed that In Paris, and
this belief has been strengthened by
the action of the mul|titudinOus masses
in America in taking up the Moyen-
age and not looking at the directolre.
However, it's all a gamble. That's
what makes clothes and the discussion
of them exceedingly interesting to
those who are behind the scenes or
standing at the side Of the racetrack.
It is not probable that the extreme,
or rather pure, directoire will he in
augurated before February, although 1t
may flicker over here before that time
among the exclusive models that are
sent over to women who keep their or
ders in French houses and to those
shops whose buyers send owe some
thing different every month.
Skirts 20 Be Longer.
There would be no cause for sur
prise II one saw, at some time not far
away, a return to the tight, narrow
skirt 9Rd the long-tailed coat with its
shot, ornamented front and striped
waistcoats. We must turn somewhere (;
we have had the fashion of the mo-
ment with us for 30 long a time that,
10 things sartOrlal, a break Is sur to
come.
There is no doubt about the fact