The Washington times., 1916-01-28
Shepherd Plaid or Tweed7 Then 1t Must Be
Ever Present Serge---But Behold a Pocket
Milady's Spring Suit Must
Have Not One, But Many
Pockets, and as for But
tons - They're Every
where.
<GVu YELL" shrugged the tall
NJ or, madame can suit
" herself"

<GVu = ELL" shrugged the tall
N or, madame can suit
wv herself"
Invitation or threat?
He had rlffled over at least a dozen
fat volumes Of samples, all to no
avail. Not only were the materials
particularly uninspiring pasted on the
pages In neat oblongs, but-after the
huffiness of winter furs-positively
enefvatIng. with ranks Of tweed and
homespun and shepherd checks, to
say nothing Of a few unidentified
mixtures.
The very words tweed and home
spun Suggested life in log cabins and
an existence devoid OF porcelain
baths. Nothing is quite as depress-
ing as q shepherds plaid in the
rough. Mixtures, too. are unavoid-
ably connected with biennial trips to
the store to buy a winter coat. when
mother invariably allowed a diabol-
ical saleslady to convince her that
a meat mixture" mad splendid wear
ing qualities.
The tailor meanwhile registered
despair--Gallic despair. As a last
trump. he blAred:
Madame will find the new mate
rials so practical. Here ts mix
ture that will give excellent service
for several seasons"
That was too much--all thoughts
of an individually tailored suit took
wings In the face OF that ogre-"ex-
cellent service for several seasons"
A tour of the shops was the only
alternative.
Specter of Serviceability.
The first speciality shop dealt
largely in shepherd checks, mostly
black with hairline markings OF
white. and even the magic names OF
French designers failed to drive
away that specter of serviceability
The suits fairly screamed their con-
servative lines. good for at least two
seasons: their excellent materials.
good for twice as long: their sub
dued colorinEs. good for any time or
year or anY time Of day.
The second shop boasted a recent
Importation of homespuns-Canadt
however. instead of Scotch or Eng.
lish. to give the proper alien twang.
The homespuns were OF every color
imaginable. dull peacock blue. soft
strawberry. wistaria. ana hunter 3
green. They were strictly utlli-
tartan. to paraphrase the loudly
sung praises Of a Glib saleslady--
and were originally designed for
sports wear. but some of the most
Conservative women of the country
realized and speedily eXemplified
their Rdaptability for those who. 1t
apDeared. thought that a tee was q
drawing room drink and rapid serv-
Ice q feature of country club cuisine.
That Is the why of homespuns and
tweeds.
Department stores refused to COM
NIT themselves TO an exclusive stock
of checks. tweedB, or homespuns,
proudly, exhibiting nicely balanced
thirds of each Every conservative" i"
they murmured. "and serviceable.
they added alphabetically.
Have you nothing besides these.
er-recurrent Dlaids and horrId rough
tweeds?'
Original POlyMuriel.
Then, ever so sadly, ever so resign
ediy, they confessed to sergcs, blue
serges-eVer so serviceable, always
in good taste. always in style, the
original polymuriel, and all the rest
of the semi-annual antiphonaI
"Of COURSE" they returned to the
charge a bit reproachfuliS, ''if you
want something in dressy suit
and here a taffeta creation was In
variably produced-"this is really
very good. Here's short coat, you
see. oh, yes, it flares, of course,
and nice little pockets at the sides