Evening star., 1916-11-26
our wardrobe is the avoidance OF the
waist to match the suit in color. and
which is covered with ornamentation.

| In this department of trade the de-
| mand has fallen far below the normal.
| Women are making a sharp distinction
| between their bodices: they choose the
most expensive and diaphanous things.
| it is true. for usage with their tailored
suits. but they are white, flesh pink
| or the new tone of mist gray When
| one wants an entire dark costume one
gets frock and covers it with top
coat And it is in this attire that the
vast mass of women appear at those
| informal evening pleasures 10 which
/ they once wore coat suits.
There is no denying that they serve
! the purpose far better than the other
! Kind of costume ever did. The con-
| tinued fashion for the low neck helps
/ the idea along Immensely Naturally.
| the high collar has again been intro
duCed. and there are ultra fashionable
women who adopt it in every kind of
bodice. but the majority go along quite
comfortably with the neck exposed.
| This majority has accepted the fact
that it is not fashionable to cut the
neck band low in the back. The proper
| line is colonial, which means that the
line each side of the neck must be
straight down from the ears. This is
arranged in thin materials by more or
less ugly boning. trick that has
proved so awkward that a lining of
thicker fabric has been substituted.
1t is rather pity that this fashion
should be adopted in frocks that serve
for house affairs. for one of the most
attractive lines in womans body is
HE one that runs from the ears to the
shoulders. and this is completely con-
cealrd and bungled by the new neck
drapery.
on the street this effect is good. The
materials used are heavy enough to re-
main straight by their own weight. and
open necks and winter weather never
went together with harmony. The in
PRODUCTION of the high-boned organdy
collar that stood to the hat brim, al
most. in the back and curved DOWN
ward under the ears in front was the
saving grace of many costumes during
the last year. No one feature in modern
dress was uglier than wearing a coat
collar fatty turned over a blouse coll
lar beneath.
NO one who is going out to shop can
fail to be bewildered by the variety Of
frocks that are offered and wonder if
they are all intended for the same oc-
casions. Velvet, satin. serge-very lit
tie of this. however-velour. medieval
homespun and chiffon follow one an
,;hcr in rapid succession through the
.,iS of those who sell.
md when all is seen satin is usually
chosen. The reason for this universal
choice is that it is the lightest fabric
to be worn under topcoat in the open
and the smartest to serve in the house.
Fashion allows satin to be employed
with more frequency than any other
material except chiffon. but the former
is better choice than the latter for
no especial reason. unless 1t be that we
are tired of chiffon as we are of taffeta.
No special pleading can make one turn
to that silk today for any purpose.
The really new note struck in fabrics
for frocks is the homespun that is an
imitation of the kind spun by the good
wives of the middle ages, for they were
not above such work, you remember;
one Of the proudest noble women of
England was noted for the excellence
OF her COW milking. She allowed no
henchman to meddle with this part of
her many duties
The master weavers of Paris brought
out this rough, serviceable and really
lovely material year after the war
started. possibly for economic reasons.
and the French women saw it's virtues
at once 1t pleased them. even the
smarteSt of them, to adopt the material
of other and simpler days when barons
the designers. falling in with the
scheme of simple things, invented those
twelfth century froCks that We're worn
for nearly three centuries by their an
ceStors.
CaHot has taken up this homespun
in the weave that is like that spun in
India and worn by the Hindoos. and she
has embroidered it in the palm leaf de-
sign which was fashionable under the
reign Of Napoleon. Other designers
have built the homespun into severe
frocks that hang straight from the